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the smiles were genuine, the Shadowed Soul chuckled into the corner of my mind breeding doubt.
    “They were overly-friendly,” insisted the Shadowed Soul. “They’d been talking about you, Thomas.”
    “Hello, Thomas!” Pete had exclaimed, rushing from their secret triangle to shake my hand with his giant bear like paw. “Listen, we were talking and I want to put something to you.”
    “His voice betrayed discomfort and hesitation,” wheedled the Shadowed Soul. “They all know what you fall victim to, they know you’re depressed, Thomas, that’s why they often tiptoe around you.”
    “Dorothy and I have extra room here,” said Pete, chortling.  “Since we married off Beth to you, well, her room isn’t doing anything special.”
    “And you’re special,” interjected Dorothy.
    “We were thinking if you kids wanted then you could all move in with us?” said Pete.
    “At least until you get something else sorted out, anyway,” said Dorothy, persistent like her daughter.
    The gesture had been born of kindness but the Shadowed Soul saw it as something different.  He knew were I to move then he would have competition.
    “I know it’d be great for Beth and the baby, and me, too, except that, for work, I’d have to leave an hour earlier and I’d be an hour late getting home.
    “That is a lot of commuting,” agreed Pete. 
    “He’s making it too easy for you to stay away,” whispered the Shadowed Soul.  “He’s trying to help you save face, Thomas.”
    “Nap on the train,” suggested Beth.  “You’d get more sleep than we’re getting with the baby, anyway.”
    Sleep was a huge issue for me.  Fatigue made me easy prey for the Shadowed Soul.
    “Beth, honey, we’d still be paying rent on our apartment,” I said, deliberately creating obstacles.  “Our rental release notice is six months and we can’t afford to lose our deposit.”
    “Doesn’t really make sense to pay rent on a place that you’re not using,” agreed Dorothy.
    “The landlord will probably try and keep our deposit to fix the leaks,” I said.
    “The journey to and from work would be hell for you, Thomas,” added Dorothy.
    “Wouldn’t you start feeling crowded?” I put the question to Dorothy and Pete.  “I mean, that’s three extra people in your home.”
    “You’ll all start hating each other,” assured the Shadowed Soul picking dirt from under his pointy, yellowed nails.  “They already hate you, Thomas.”
    The resolution was far more sensible:  My wife and son would abandon me and I would live in the apartment for the next six months alone.  During that time we would save for the deposit on a bigger, nicer place closer to work.  Bizarrely, this suggestion had calmed me down until I had returned home to be greeted by Bailey.  Only then, did it occur to me that if Beth remained with her parents, Bailey would have to stay with her.  I saw the Shadowed Soul doing a little victory dance in a dark corner. 
    “Divide and conquer,” sang the specter.  “Dog’s gotta’ stay with you-know-who .”
    “Your competition,” I muttered.  Damn, my best friend would be gone from my life. A thousand invisible fists punched me in the gut.
    “It’s a dog, Thomas.  I am part of you,” snorted my nefarious beast. “Anyway, your days together are numbered.  I’ll just bide my time.  Alone again, naturally …”  The demon sang Lennon, laughing hysterically as he continued to riff tunes.  “ You set it up so well !”
    “It will be like an insane asylum,” I murmured. “Alone, in this damned apartment with you!  I’ll be lost.”
    “We’ll be lost, together, Thomas,” hissed the creature.  What could I do?  How would I function?
    I certainly couldn’t disagree with Beth and her parents because the new arrangement was truly better for my son and my wife who was still recovering from surgery.  But for me it was the worst.  I had never mastered living alone. 
    “I need the comfort of my