Chapter 4
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
I’d been good friends with the lawyer and writer Mohammed Massaad Alsaleh since the mid-seventies. He was the editor-in-chief of Alwatan newspaper, and I was a new writer publishing my short stories in its cultural pages. When he moved to write in Alqabas, I moved with him to write in the same newspaper.
After I received a copy of the contract from Khalid’s office, I visited Mohammed. He welcomed me with his usual friendly smile. We sat together for a while before he asked me what he could do for me.
“Do you know Mr. Khalid Khalifa?” I asked him.
“Of course. The man is well known in the business world.”
“He wants me to write a novel based on his life.”
I waited for a comment but he didn’t say anything.
“A novel about his work as a businessman, usin
