To Love is Illegal
Amira and Layla had been walking a tightrope, precariously balancing between the two worlds they had come from, their love a secret to everyone. Amira was a beautiful young Saudi woman with piercing green eyes and long, flowing black hair. She had always known that she was attracted to women, but it was a secret she had kept hidden from her conservative Muslim family and society, and only a few of her closest friends knew. She had resigned herself to a life of lies and loneliness, willing to marry and have children as her community dictated, until she met Layla at a party in the Diplomatic Quarters in Riyadh.
Layla was a striking woman with curly brown hair and sparkling brown eyes but had never been considered conventionally beautiful. Amira had still noticed her from across the room because when Layla laughed, it turned her from quite plain looking into a stunning creature who laughed as if she knew all the secrets of the universe and delighted in them. Amira was enraptured by her and knew they had to meet.
“Who is that?” she asked her friend Rami, a well-to-do Lebanese diplomat she often went out with.
He, too, was gay, and together they were able to lull people’s minds into the belief that they were together. It would still be an issue for Amira’s family, as he wasn’t Saudi; however, he was Muslim, so at least that would be easier than having them accept a woman.
“That, my dear friend, is Layla. She’s Australian and works as a nurse at King Faisal hospital. Quite delightful, isn’t she? Would you like to meet her?” He winked conspiratorially at Amira, and before she could object, he moved off towards Layla, with Amira having no option but to follow.
“Layla darling,” Rami crooned, “I’d like you to meet my dear friend Amira.”
Layla stepped forward, hand outstretched, and smiled at Amira, her brown eyes twinkling as she took in the dark-skinned beauty in front of her.