Angelica Lost and Found

Chapter 65. Jimportantly, A Commitment

‘OK,’ I said to the Jack Daniel’s bottle, ‘you know and I know that the only way to get on the other side of this thing is to go through it, right?’

Getting no argument from Jack I fortified myself as required, strode into the bedroom and laid hands on the painting. So far, so good.

I took it into the office, set it on the sofa as before, and sat down without looking at it. Then, after a brief consultation with Dr Daniel I turned the full power of my trepidation on the painting. While I held on to the desk to keep from falling out of my chair I asked myself: Why was I trepidating? I think we know instinctively, all of us, when we are going into something from which there is no way back. So the question arises: Do I want to get to that place from which there is no return? From that question arises a second question: Do I have a choice? And a third question: Why do I have to bother with this painting at all? Angelica has warned me that it’s a lot of bad luck. But my instincts are telling me that it is also the way to make Angelica mine.

Where I am now is like being in a flooded cave and what looks like the only way out is to swim underwater through a narrow tunnel towards a faint glimmer which may or may not be daylight. And you wonder if you can hold your breath long enough.

So how much do I want Angelica and am I a man or a coward? OK, Jack. One for the road and in I go.