Forward Operating Base Eagle - Afghanistan - 2014
My name is Sarah and I'm a 22 year old female Marine Corporal. I'm white, 5'4", with a great toned ass from A LOT of squats and lower body workouts. I'm currently assigned to a Female Engagement Team(FET) at FOB Eagle in Afghanistan.
I've had the same boyfriend, Ian, since high school. Ian is also 22, but he went to college when i enlisted. Ian graduates this spring and I'll be exiting the Marines this summer. Being in Afghanistan has been hard on us since we can only talk a couple times a week, but I'll be going home in another month and we won't have to be apart ever again.
As a female Marine assigned to FET, I go out on patrols with the Marine infantrymen and act as a liaison between the male Marines and female Afghans we come across. I'm proud to say I'm pretty good at my job. Part of what makes me good at engaging with the female Afghans is my proficiency in speaking Pashto.
I had taken language courses prior to my deployment, but what really helped me the most was engaging with Amir, one of the Afghan interpreters assigned to my squad. Amir was very pleasant to speak with and was often smiling. Amir was significantly nicer to me than some of the Afghan army soldiers we shared the FOB with. I knew it was a cultural thing on their part, but it was simply not pleasant to interact with a lot of them. Amir, on the other hand, voluntarily helped me improve my Pashto. At five months into this deployment, we could freely converse in Pashto. It didn't hurt that Amir was handsome and easy going with a great smile. He could dole out compliments in Pashto akin to a French guy in a rom-com, often making me blush.
My troubles started when I logged into a video chat service to talk to Ian. I tried calling him a few times but he wasn't answering. I saw my friend Liz was online, so i gave her a call. She picked up almost instantly. "Hey, girl! What are you up to?" I asked her in greeting.
"Hey, nothing good. I was actually writing you an email when you called." She sounded upset and angry at the same time.
"What's going on?" I asked her, concern in my voice.
"It's Ian," she said, "I saw him with another girl at the coffee spot by our school. She was about your height and size but blonde hair instead of brunette like yours." I was speechless as she continued, "They seemed to be laughing a lot and I saw him show her a diamond ring. She was very excited and hugged him, but I couldn't see if she put it on. I was pretty mad he would cheat on you so I went to storm out of there when he saw me. He actually had the balls to say "Hey Liz" like I hadn't just caught him with another woman."
By this point, I had tears coming down my face. I said, "I have to go, thank you for telling me," as i ended the video call.
I immediately tried to call Ian, but again, he didn't answer. I tried two more times without success. "That bastard!" I thought to myself, "I've been in Afghanistan the last 5 months and he's apparently having the time of his life fucking college sluts. And what? Getting ENGAGED?!"
I quickly logged off the computer and left the building. I was walking back to my barracks tent with tears streaming down my face. I was so upset I walked right past the entrance to my tent without even realizing it. When I reached the end of the row, I turned right and began circling the rows of barracks tents. The more I walked, the more my pain turned to rage. I really didn't think Ian was like that, and to have strung me along for all those years, I couldn't believe that asshole!
It was about 10:00 p.m. local time and I was on my fifth or sixth lap around the living quarters, I had really lost count. I heard a familiar voice with only a hint of an accent, "Sarah, my beautiful friend, what are you doing?" I knew it was Amir before I even turned to look at him. When I did, the tears came back to my eyes.
"Oh Amir, it's Ian. He was cheating on me this whole time," I told him as I wrapped my arms around him in a hug, tears flowing freely down my face now.
Amir held me in his embrace, "oh Sarah, I am sorry this has happened to you. These are my quarters, please sit with me and have tea and we can talk this out." I simply nodded with my head still pressed into his chest. We released our embrace, and he placed his hand on my back as he showed me into his quarters. Amir offered me the lone chair as he began making us tea.
I began pouring my heart out to him as we sipped our tea and I asked him if he had anything stronger. Amir smiled, "Yes, Sarah, I have some traditional wine. It is an old family recipe dating back centuries. Would you like to try some?"
"Yes, please," I told him and he poured each of us a glass. Once he sat back down on his bed, I leaned over from my chair and we gently touched glasses before taking a sip. "Mmm, that is excellent!" I said.
We continued our conversation, some of which was about Ian, but we also chatted about other things, easing me out of my bad mood. I noticed our glasses were getting low so I retrieved the bottle of wine, topping off both glasses as I sat down next to him on his bed. There was a moment of silence as we looked into each other's eyes, each of us taking a slow sip of the wine.
Amir really is a handsome man, I thought to myself, as we sipped our wine and made small talk. I looked into his brown eyes, as he looked into my green ones, there was an air of comfort and mutual attraction. Amir's dark skin was a great contrast from my own white skin, even with five months of Afghan sun under my belt. He was especially dark compared to Ian, who remained pale no matter how much sun he got. Amir's well toned arms and torso are also much more muscular than Ian's. How had I not noticed how truly HOT Amir was until now.
Without realizing it, Amir and I had both stopped talking. We slowly leaned in toward each other, Amir's left hand finding my own right. Amir's right hand reached up behind my head and pulled me closer, our lips briefly touching as we looked into each other's eyes. We both leaned in a second time, this time with our eyes closed, as we kissed passionately on the mouth.
I could feel my hunger for Amir rising higher and higher, further fueled by the wine we had drunk. We sat on the side of Amir's bed, kissing for several minutes.
I pulled back from Amir, "I'm not ready to move any further," I told him, "I should probably go back to my tent."
"Yes, you are right, Sarah," Amir said respectfully. "Sarah, you should know this, you are quite beautiful and perfect, like a sunrise over the mountains. What Ian has done is shameful and you do not deserve such treatment."