A Hologram for the King Page #2

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Where are we

supposed to eat?

Guys, come on!

We are in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

With the deserts and the camels

and the sheikhs and the tents!

Oh!

Oh, my God!

Are you okay?

Yeah.

Don't you know?

They can only kill me

with a golden bullet.

Golden bullet,

you get it?

It's "Lawrence of Arabia"?

Who?

- Hello there.

- Hello.

- What is your name?

- My name is Maha.

Maha. Great.

Where are you from?

My name

is Alan Clay.

I'm with

the Relyand Group.

I have an appointment

at 3:
00

to speak

to Mr. Karim Al-Ahmad.

I'm sorry to say

he's stuck in Jeddah.

He won't be able

to make it today.

- He's stuck in Jeddah?

- Yes, sir.

But he said he'll be here

tomorrow all day

and you can name the time

you want to meet.

Oh, okay, but I'm

with the Relyand Group

and we are out

in that tent down there.

And we can't get

a good Wi-Fi signal,

which is essential

to our presentation.

I think Mr. Al-Ahmad will be the

one to speak to about this.

- He's in charge of the vendors in the tent.

- Understood.

And any time tomorrow

will be fine.

It will all get sorted,

I'm sure.

Okay.

Thank you, Maha.

You don't know how to pay for college?

Sell the house.

How long does it take to

sell this f***ing house?

- Ruby, I can't change the real estate...

- Bullshit!

Just sell it,

for Christ's sakes.

Then pay for your daughter's education.

College is your thing.

- Welcome to the Hyatt Jeddah.

- Good night, guys. See you in the morning.

- Hello?

- Hi, Alan. I've got Eric Randall for you.

- Okay, great.

- What do you mean he didn't show up?

Well, he got stuck

in Jeddah.

It's tomorrow now,

but we'll be fine, I'm sure.

Okay, but don't forget to call me

first thing after that meeting.

- I've got Mike Winston on the other line.

- Oh, put him through.

Hello, Kitty.

Hey, Dad. I hope your trip

is going well.

Is it hot over there?

A little dusty?

That's a joke.

I'm a joker.

Everything is fine here.

Not totally fine.

Mom called last night

and wanted to do what

she always wants to do...

blame you for everything.

But I'm fine missing

a semester or two of college.

I'm so sorry, Kitty.

It's actually doing me good.

Dad. It's okay.

I can use the break to rack up some

extra tip money. I'm good at this.

Yeah, but don't get used to it.

You're going to college.

Listen, Dad. I trust you.

Don't listen to Mom.

She said, "What's he doing in the desert?

His problems are here."

I told her that

you know what you're doing.

And then she gets on me

for taking your side.

She says I'm like you,

can't see the big picture, lacking ambition.

The usual bullshit.

Maybe just

prove her wrong, Dad.

Prove her wrong.

- Front desk.

- This is Alan Clay.

Is it possible for me

to get a beer or something?

I'm sorry, sir,

but consuming alcohol

is strictly prohibited

in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ah, yes, of course.

- How about a Diet Coke?

- Diet Pepsi?

Sure, okay.

Thanks.

- Hello?

- Hey, Dad. It's Alan.

Alan? You sound like

you're on the moon.

No, I'm in Saudi Arabia.

Oh, what are you doing

in Saudi Arabia?

Well, it's actually

pretty interesting, Dad.

I'm here with Relyand,

and we're pitching a new

IT system to the king.

We have this remarkable

teleconferencing equipment

and we're presenting

to the king himself.

It's a three-dimensional

holographic meeting...

Know what I'm watching

on TV here, Alan?

No, what are you watching?

I'm watching this thing

on how a gigantic bridge

in Oakland, California,

is being built in China.

Can you imagine that?

They're building

our goddamn bridges.

I got to say, Alan,

when you took Schwinn over there to China

and sacked 900

of our homeland people,

I could see

the rest of it coming.

Makes sense if you're some

shitass bloodthirsty executive

hell-bent on hollowing out

the economy for his own gain.

Nature of the beast.

But the bridges?

I did not see it coming.

Oh, Lord, and you're

over there in Saudi Arabia...

- Dad, you're breaking up.

- ...selling holograms to the pharaohs!

- Are you there, Dad? You're breaking up.

- Now that takes the...

Oh, damn it.

God damn it.

- I missed my shuttle again.

- But it's my day off.

Just kidding. I'm available.

- How long do you need?

- 17 minutes.

Make it 23.

You were in the lobby

for, what, five minutes?

What kind of bomb could anyone

install in five minutes?

How would I know?

I watch the same TV shows as you.

- Ready?

- Don't make it more dramatic.

Whew.

- Hey, you like Electric Light Orchestra?

- Yeah.

The city streets

are empty now

The lights

don't shine no more

And so the songs

are way down low...

Hey, that's the mosque

I see from my balcony.

There was something

going on there yesterday.

- A lot of people.

- Yeah, that's where they do the executions.

You mean outside,

publicly?

Yes.

You want to go back and check

out what's going on now?

No! No.

Hey, do you mind?

Not at all.

Turnin' to stone

'cause you ain't comin' home

Why you ain't comin' home

if I'm turning to stone?

You've been gone for so long

and I can't carry on

Yes, I'm turning, I'm turning,

I'm turning to stone

The dancing shadows

on the wall

The two-step in the hall

Are all I see

since you've been gone

Turning, turning, turning

Through all I sit here

and I wait

I turn to stone,

I turn to stone...

Good morning.

- Do we have good Wi-Fi?

- Nope.

All right.

Hello.

Maha,

what's happening?

Excuse me?

- Is Mr. Karim Al-Ahmad in?

- I'm afraid he's not.

- He is in Riyadh today.

- You assured me he would be in all day.

I know, but his plans changed last night.

I'm so sorry.

Let me ask

you something, Maha.

Are you sure there

isn't someone I can talk to

about our presentation

to the king?

I'm afraid not. Mr. Al-Ahmad

really is your primary contact.

He'll be back tomorrow.

He guaranteed it.

Excuse me.

I'm sorry.

You look new.

Oh, hi. I'm supposed

to meet somebody.

- Are you Alan Clay?

- I am indeed.

Hello, my name is Hanne.

I work for Karim.

He's not going

to be in today,

so he told me

to look out for you.

Well, it's nice to meet you, Hanne.

Where are you from?

I was just about to have a smoke.

Join me?

- Water?

- Please.

- Wow.

- I know.

We live

like teenagers here.

Hiding our vices

from that...

shadowy army of parents.

- Oh!

- Oh, my God.

- Are you okay?

- I'm fine.

- Sure?

- Yes. Thank you.

Aw, that's...

I'm having a squabble with

the chairs in this kingdom.

- Sit with me.

- Yeah.

This is better.

- So you're from Relyand?

- Recently, yeah, yeah.

We hope to supply

the city with its IT.

But I'm trying

to get an idea

of the timeline of when

the king will come in.

I hope they didn't

make any promise to you.

Well, no. No, not really,

but I was led to believe

our process would

be fast-tracked.

Wow, that would

be good for all of us.

The king hasn't

been here in a while.

How long is a while?

Well, I've been here 18 months

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