Yes, Haman, sit down.” The king waved to a chair which suddenly appeared as if jerked from the sleeve of some servant. The king made a brief fanning motion with his fingers and they were alone.
“I have been thinking over some opinions you had expressed some time ago.” The king paused, but Haman was muzzled by awe and, quite uncharacteristically, remained mute. “I think there might be some points to consider…..ah….(the king was playing with his humble pie with obvious reluctance to take a legitimate mouthful)…. especially the concept of focusing more resources on internal compactness and efficiency; I believe those were the terms you used, were they not?”
Haman had to visibly struggle to assimilate and respond. In his thirty seconds with the king he had realized firstly, to his great relief, that he was not in trouble. Secondly, a ball was being pitched into his court by the king himself. Thirdly, he was astonished that the king had really heard the words he had spoken that day almost three years ago and repeated them verbatim. Fourthly, he had better remember that this man was not as out to lunch as he often appeared. Lastly, he hoped fervently it was a short conversation as the second cup of aromatic tea he had that morning was reminding him why he usually only drank one.
“I believe you are correct my king. I do think those were my words.” (‘ Did that make sense? That was not a very profound answer. Smile you idiot. Why DID I drink that other cup?!’)
“Yes quite…..well…I’ve been thinking myself that we might profit much by some realignments, downsizing in certain areas, redirection of resources, etc.” (Royal pause for royal subject to indulge royal pride with thoughtful nodding assent)…Yes, well at any rate since you seem to have been seeing some of the same concepts I was feeling…..I thought it might be good if you put some of these into such terms that our line of reasoning might be comprehensible to some of the others.” His voice rose slightly in unison with one eyebrow. How could he just raise one eyebrow? Haman made a mental note to try that later at home; it was very effective in making a point.
“Why, yes, of course. Majesty, it would be my pleasure to do so, for I believe I have perceived clearly the clarity (“‘clearly the clarity’? Come on boy that was dumb” Haman chided himself and dribbled on) of your insightfulness.” (‘Did that sound good? Did I keep the light on him? Is he smiling? Yes, but good or bad? He’s pausing too long should I say something more? I will NEVER drink two cups before 10 am I swear’)
“Okay, fine Haman; do so and we will get together at some later date to go over some of these new directions.”
Haman normally would have blossomed with some more calculated political fluff, but the vanishing servant abruptly reappeared with the dexterity of a conjurer precisely one microsecond after the quotation mark at the end of the king’s last statement (see above) and was effectually pulling the chair out from under him. (That was a pretty long sentence so I’ll give you blank lines to catch your breath).
The servant was good at his job; he wasn’t exactly throwing Haman out of the court, but he was definitely being dispensed with polite alacrity. He had no idea where they had come from but as he looked over his shoulder, he saw the king already surrounded by yet another ubiquitous group of hovering supplicants and schemers. The afterglow of that ambiance lingered in Haman’s spirit for days, like good wine on the palate. He headed straight to his home to share this success with Zeresh. Before he could traverse the three hundred meters, the longing of his spirit crystallized with incarnate clarity: more.
