A short story

The president-elect's term of office expired quite a while back according to the Constitution (very few have laid eyes on it), but he still feels around for his title every morning. The President. His Excellency the President. Mr. President. Yes, yes. They are all there on the lips of his entourage and the millions he controls, opps, he meant the millions he rules. It's there in newspapers, magazines and online (he regularly checks that himself). His title is also on the lips of many media personalities who criticize him (and others, he reminds himself). But when they criticize him, they still call him Mr President. So it's okay.

The best part is that he's not obliged to declare his desire to run for a new presidential term, thereby avoiding a whirlwind of discussions. No one doubts that he will remain president. He compares himself to Queen Elizabeth. Always smiling. Well loved. Living beyond 100, like her mother, and still on the throne. He doesn't sympathize with Prince Charles. Children always squander everything their parents build; they are rarely deserving heirs. History has shown that repeatedly, and he knows history. He watches it daily on the History channel. 

He drinks tea, Earl Grey, just like the queen (as he imagines her). He drinks his tea in a room that is neither bedroom, nor sitting room, nor waiting room. Naming this room has given him tremendous stress since his first day as president. In the end, he settled on naming it The Room. "Bring my tea to The Room". "Don't disturb me, I'm in The Room". 

He has silk pajamas, but they're not his favorite. He prefers his cotton pajamas. They remind him of those he used wear when he was a boy (it's the only thing from his past that he allows to storm his present). He likes to wear a shiny, satin robe du chambre over his pajamas (and in his mind he see imagines Farid Shawki, Rushdi Abaza*). 

He falls asleep very easily, but he always claims the opposite. That's much more befitting of The President.

Fadwa 
*Two famous Egyptian actors from the golden era of Egyptian cinema.