Through her husband's eyes, Cecilia observed the outlined shadow Benjamin had painted on the wall leading down the stairs.

"You see where he's looking?" Benjamin asked Bob/Seas. "At those spots of yellow paint on the floor below? Then where he is standing -- where Ché's shoes will be glued down -- that's where the red path starts, following Mahui's footprints up the stairs."

Bob/Seas admired the artwork, but found his/her eyes stuck on one print. Cecilia made her husband's face scowl over knowing who it belonged to.

Benjamin was astute. He sensed Cecilia's discontent. "You know how this piece of art correlates with your bas relief in the trophy room," he queried. "Right?"

For a time that rarely happened, Cecilia didn't see the artistic connection. Benjamin sought to explain.

"I spent weeks cutting up little bits of carpet and gluing them to the floor in there, making it look like water. And Dean spent months on his piece."

"Let's not talk about Dean," Bob said, as Cecilia apologized again in his mind for her tryst.

"Okay. But that piece of art took a year. This one took only a day," Benjamin said, referencing the stairs. "The only visible medium besides paint is the shoes."

He paused to see if his point sunk in. Realizing it hadn't, he carried on.

"The whole piece of art that you and... you know. That guy made. It's enormous. It's huge. It can't be ignored. It dominates the room, and can't be moved or made to go away."

Benjamin paused to gather his houghts, while Bob and Cecilia sought comprehension. They followed the path outside to the portico, where they sat side by side at a table. Benjamin played with a leather fob, while Bob/Seas idly picked through a chawan filled with colored beads.

"You're big," Benjamin said, referencing Seas. "Your personality is huge. Everyone knows who you are, and feels your presence when you enter a room. Their behavior changes, because who you are alters the flow.

"Dean... Ah, I mean that guy -- he was big like you. Even bigger, but now he's gone. We had to choose between you and him, because together you would have imploded, destroying everything."

"I'd eat him up and spit out his bones," Bob said for his wife, agreeing with her in her mind.

Benjamin also agreed. "Yes. That's right. But that thing -- not the artwork, but the thing you guys had -- it will never go away. Everything you did remains frozen here, and everyone will always know what happened between you and that guy. The sea monster frieze only proves it."

Forgive me, my love! I was wrong!

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I can do nothing but forgive. I need you! You're everything!

Benjamin touched Bob/Seas' hand, to regain his/her attention. "Now, Bob, we know you're a good man. Honest and trusting and faithful. You and I together, we're a pair of great friends."

"Thanks, Ben. You're the best."

"But nearly no one else knows who you are when you hang out around here. You're not around much anyway, and when you are, you just don't stand out. You know?"

Bob nodded. "I'm like the shadow on the wall."

"I could cover this path with a carpet, or paint the wall black and you'd be gone. All that would be left is the shoes, and they belong to Ché. And that is all you'd be. You would be the guy who didn't wear the shoes.

"And Mahui too. She's like you, Bob, in that way. Nobody understands her. She's the skinny woman hiding in the woods. If it weren't for the fact that she takes off her shoes and leaves them lying around, we'd never know she was here.

"But her husband? Makani? He's the most famous of all, and by a country mile. A football star, a big philanthropist, a patron of the arts. He's internationally known! And now you, Bob, will be too. You'll soon be widely known. You'll probably be a supermodel, leaving Mahui to still be unknown."

Together, they looked at the path.

"To be nothing but little bare feet," Benjamin said to one of her yellow prints. "Running to hide in the woods."

Tears nearly formed in his eyes as he continued explaining. "I'm not going to let that happen. She won't be unknown. I won't let her become another Dean either, forcing us to have to choose between you and her. I like her, and I like Makani. And I know for a fact they like you." Benjamin pointed a finger at Bob. "And I mean you, Bob. You specifically. They like you a lot."

Benjamin spoke with more cheer. "And together, we're making it happen! You and Mahui will be known around here, and not just as the the spouses of somebody more famous. So this art is a very good thing!"

Bob felt his wife grow understanding. He filled her with resolve.

"Could we be alone for a while?" he/she asked. "We kind of want to be with our thoughts."

"Oh yeah. Sure!" Benjamin got up to leave. "I'll bring you hot water for tea."

"That would be nice," Bob/Seas said.

She's like me, Bob thought into his wife as they picked through the beads. She doesn't fit in with the crowd, but wants to because she knows how important it is to her husband. And she loves him very much, just like how I want to fit in because I also love you.

And through you, now she does.

Yes. And through her and Makani, I will also fit better.

You do have me, you know. I'm pretty popular too.

It's not the same, Bob thought back, making his wife think about Dean.

In silent shame, Cecilia had Bob pick out red beads that were flat with no holes, like the ones Mahui had glued to Ché's shoes, now sitting on the stairs by the shadow. He/she lined them up on the table, making a little red path.

She threw paint at you, Cecilia reminded her husband.

Well, I did knock her down the stairs.

She attacked!

Bob laughed. I really don't think she could hurt me.

I don't know, Monkeypants. She seems tough.

Well if she ever comes at me again, I'll hit her in the face with another door.

Bob and Cecilia both laughed at that, she into her coffee at the coffee shop with Bab, and he into the bowl of beads at Benjamin's manor. He returned with hot water for tea, making a cup for Bob/Seas as he/she played with the beads they had lined up on the table.

"So?" Benjamin asked. "Are we good?"

"We're great, Ben. Thanks a lot."

Benjamin sat down and made another cup of tea for himself. "Can we do somethng?" Cecilia had her husband ask.

"Sure," Benjamin said. "What's up?"

She had her husband push the red beads towards Benjamin. "Let's glue these to the little spots of paint on the basement floor. The yellow ones that aren't part of the path."

Bob/Seas smiled big into their best friend's eyes. "That way, they'll match the shoes."

Benjamin rose to take on the project. "Oh! That's a good idea!"