A painful journey home, filled with the knowledge of incoming pain, a career demolished, a marriage crushed…..
She leaned forward. “Nicolau, you did what you did. Any small thing that can pull you out of the deep crater you created in your life is worth considering. I’m not suggesting that this is good, and I wouldn’t tell you to do it. But it may be something that’s suggested to you, and at that time you need to be prepared with an answer.”
He turned his head to stare out the carriage window. They were clattering along the main road that ran to the capital, the metal rims of the wheels rasping on the flagstones. At this point they passed beside the sea, and a fresh breeze blew the scent of salt water into his face. A golden beach ran for miles along the coastline here, and he thought about how grand it would be to get out of the carriage, remove his shoes, and just start walking on the soft warmth of the sand, going and going without any thought of coming back. Where he’d end up didn’t matter; it couldn’t be any worse than what lay ahead.
But that wasn’t reality. He had this carriage ride to consider the truth in Angela’s words, come up with some kind of response to the crushing wave of contempt headed his way.