Monday Rewrite He enters, head high, shoulders back, face fixed in a concrete kind of stare. Eyes not moving yet somehow taking everything in. He walks as if he owns the place. The CEO. The Boss. The millionaire. And yet he’s not. And when the real Boss steps in he walks with a completely different manner. His smile is genuine, his eyes clear. No pretence, no angle. He merely nods at the others and sits, while the other guy clears his throat and sighs at the effort of having to pull out his own chair. Accusers can be like that. Ten feet above everyone else.
‘Any other business?’ the Boss asks, starting with the final point on the agenda. He often likes to upend the plan and mix things up a little.
The accuser lifts a straight finger. Says one word. No emotion.
‘Job.’
‘I know him well,’ the Boss replies, ‘a good-hearted, courageous, well-blessed man. We’re on good terms.’
‘You missed something in your analysis there,’ says the accuser,’ his voice cold and reptilian.
‘Oh?’
‘Yes. Wealthy. Cataclysmically wealthy.’
‘But not greedy. Not at all. Not self-serving or foolish in anyway. He shares everything he has.’
‘Which makes him popular and powerful.’
‘But not power-hungry.’
‘With respect,’ says the accuser, sounding like he hasn’t got a jot of respect, ‘you’re missing the point.’
‘Which is?’
‘Oh come on! Do I have to spell it out?’
Silence. The others round the table have been watching the two ends play off each other, heads swooping right then left, like they’re at a gripping tennis match. The Boss says nothing.
‘All right,’ says the accuser, ‘I will say it. It’s cupboard love. This good man Job, loves and serves you and does all the right things because you give him what he wants. Take it away and you won’t see him for dust. I promise you.’
And all the while a family go about their business. This day no different to any other. They have things to do, jobs to complete, children to educate and entertain. The table sits there in the sunshine, laden with breakfast. Fuel for another full day. And one by one, bleary eyed and in various states of readiness, the family gather for another normal day…
An extract from the start of the forthcoming Job Done…
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