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Not on My Bucket List

When Sam goes on a gay website looking for romance, he finds more than he bargained for. Rejecting all the usual requests for hook-ups, he searches for something more sincere. And he finds it in the most unexpected of places, as he is drawn to the profile of a man in a faraway place.<br><br>Amir, an Algerian descended from desert nomads, has posted a profile looking for the love of his life. Sam finds it amazing that a gay man born in the Algerian desert has the bravery to not only declare he is gay, but also to admit his dream is to find a husband to spend his life with.<br><br>While Sam doesn’t consider himself the marrying kind, he starts chatting with Amir, telling himself he just wants to learn about another culture. His friends laugh at him, saying this man just wants to use him to emigrate to the west and take him for his money. But he refuses to believe it, sensing a sincerity he has never seen with anyone else. The two begin a dialogue that moves to weekly Skype sessions, discussions of religion and world politics, assistance with life challenges and, finally, a declaration of love ... and an invitation.<br><br>Can these two men from vastly different worlds and cultures meet and find common ground for a romance? The challenges are great, and spending a life together seems like an impossible dream. While Sam’s friends continue to discourage him, he knows he cannot give up this man. Is Amir sincere, or is Sam being used?<br><br>There is only one way to find out if Amir is really sincere. And Sam knows what he has to do.

Tom Monroe · LGBT+
Not enough ratings
55 Chs

Chapter 9

“Habibi, I want to meet you. I want to be in the same room with you. I enjoy our Skype sessions, but I want to be with you. I want to show you my country, my culture. I want to prepare meals for you, to show you my talent at that and for you to taste the food we eat. You do not want to visit me, to meet me?”

I was beginning to squirm now, as he was putting me on the spot for an answer. How could I possibly meet him? In a small town in the desert in a not too friendly Muslim country where there were ISIS cells and where I would be perceived by the residents as a wealthy American that someone might want to kidnap and hold for ransom?

But I didn’t want to lose him. I didn’t want to say anything that would discourage him, as I understood well his hopeless situation. He had had the misfortune to be born a gay man in the wrong place, and I was his only connection to the world he belonged in.