Tag: revenge

The Circle

On By vequinoxIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

excerpt

Ibrahim comes and leads him away as Emily is busy talking to Mara and three
other women.
“Come with me, son. I’d like you to meet a couple of important people.”
“Gentlemen, this is my son, Talal, from the United States,” he addresses a
group of men standing together in a small circle. “Talal, this is the Minister of
Finance whom you met before, Omar Salem, the Minister of Transportation and
Tourism, Khaled Al Marsi, and the Minister of Natural Resources, Omar Bin
Housein.”
They all shake hands with Talal and exchange the customary greetings.
“He’s a chemist,” the Minister of Finance says to the other two, referring to
Talal.
“Now, here is one person I would like to have working for me,” Omar Bin
Housein says.
“We’d all like to have the generation of educated people with us now at this
time when our country needs them the most. You are the people who will take
charge of our future. I welcome you back to Iraq anytime, young Talal,” the
Minister of Transportation and Tourism says.
Ibrahim tells them all, that although Talal is coming back soon, he needs him
as well, so they had better not become too aggressive in recruiting him for their
ministries.
“But, of course. After all, this is one of your orphans, isn’t he, Ibrahim?”
Omar Salem asks.
“Yes, he’s one of my seven sons.”
“When I’m back, I’m sure there will be plenty of work to be done, and
gentlemen, I’m not about to disappoint any of you,” Talal says with a light laugh.He
notices Emily is trying to get his attention, so he excuses himself and goes to her.
Omar Bin Houseing bows slightly to his host. “My dear Ibrahim, your Talal is
a very fine young man. You must be very proud of him.”
“I’m proud of all my orphans, my friends. Yet, the one I’m most proud of is
my beloved Hakim, whom you’ll meet soon.”
“I hope he comes very soon, Ibrahim,” the Minister of Finance says.
“Yes, he will.” Ibrahim is assertive in his tone.
Emily is on the far side of the big room enjoying the attention she gets from
Mara, who introduced her to her closest friends. At one point, Mara tells Emily,
“You’re my invited guest, my dear, and it’s my privilege to present you to my
friends and other visitors; after all, you may be here for a longer period the next
time and these women, whom you have met today, will also consider you a
friend when you return.”
“I just hope I haven’t taken you out of your way, Mara.”

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562817

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0978186524

The Circle

On By vequinoxIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Excerpt

IT’S A CLOUDY TUESDAY morning in Washington D.C. as Matthew Roberts
arrives at his office. The night shift has gone home and he hears the sound of
vacuum cleaners as they do their work. Matthew is early as usual. He had no
reason to remain in bed longer. Where was his Emily to warm him? However, he
likes to be in the office before the others to get organized, which gives him an
advantage for addressing the day’s challenges.
This morning he has to work on the Balkan file, a review he promised Bevan
he’d look into but never found the time for. For a long time now, the attention of
the United States has been focused on that side of the globe, and more so since
the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially since the administration felt they
were losing some of their grip there. After the Bosnia fiasco and the Croatian
genocide they turned their attention to the country of The Former Republic of
Macedonia (FYROM) a small country wanting to call itself Macedonia against
the wishes of Greece and her northern province, Macedonia. FYROM’s
ambitions of joining the European Union, has changed the dynamics by sending
soldiers to Iraq, along with the United States, thus vying for clout when standing
up to Greece. Similarly, Turkey has ambitions of joining the European Union
with the support of the U.S., although the Europeans view the Turks with a
different eye.
Matthew’s attention today is on this file, and he has to come up with
solutions to suit the government’s goals before turning it over to his superior
Bevan Longhorn. A marine and one-star admiral, Bevan oversees the work of
120 people in the office, although Matthew and two mid-level supervisors take
on the majority of his responsibilities. This leaves ‘the old man’, as they call him,
with time on his hands to enjoy the odd game of golf.
Mathew reads his messages from the receptionist’s desk, takes the file from
his briefcase, and spends the next two hours working on it.
At 9:15 the receptionist calls to tell him Bevan Longhorn wants to see him.
“Right now?”
“Yes, right now.”
He wonders to himself, what now?, gets his notepad, and walks into the
boss’s office.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0978186524