Chapter 1: The Door That Was Never Meant for Me

Kostas had registered my fingerprint to the smart lock on his apartment.

“Come over whenever you want,” he’d say each time he added it.

“My place is always open to you.”

But every time I came over, the lock played the same message.

“Fingerprint not authorized.”

This time was no different.

I stared at the blinking red light on the lock and called Kostas.

He picked up on the second ring, his voice already apologetic.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Eleni was messing around with the lock yesterday and deleted your fingerprint.”

“Just wait there for a bit.”

“I’ll add it again when I get back.”

The same excuse. Again.

I clutched my phone, a wave of déjà vu washing over me. It was the same story every time.

The time before, it was a “system update glitch.”

Eleni’s fingerprint, however, worked just fine.

Last time, the lock was “broken,” and he’d had the whole panel replaced.

I only found out later that was because Eleni had casually mentioned it wasn’t safe to have too many people registered.

He always had a reason.

And he always did exactly what Eleni wanted.

She was staking her claim, turning his apartment into a space that belonged only to her.

Kostas was still talking on the other end of the line. “Just wait for me. I’ll open the door when I get there.”

The moment I hung up, I heard the distinct click of a deadbolt sliding into place from inside the apartment.

Eleni knew I was out here. She’d just locked the door on me.

I straightened, brushing invisible dust from my jeans.

Forget it.

I didn’t want to go in anymore.

The night wind snaked down my collar, and I shivered.

I wiped at my face.

I wasn’t crying.

The wind was just sharp.

I stood on the curb outside his building and pulled out my phone to call an Uber.

“Romy? What are you doing here?”

I looked up to see Nico, a mutual friend of Kostas and Eleni’s, walking toward me with a 7-Eleven bag.

He lived in the building, too.

“You’re here to see Kostas?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said, forcing a casual tone. “It’s locked from the inside. I can’t get in.”

Nico frowned, confused.

“Isn’t Eleni here?”

“She just sent a voice note to the group chat,” he said.

“Said she’s cooking at Kostas’s and told everyone to come over for drinks.”

He kept rambling, oblivious to the way my face had fallen.

“Does she come here often?” I asked.

“All the time,” he said with a grin.

“She probably knows her way around his place better than he does.”

“We always joke she’s the real lady of the house.”

The words hung in the air, and his smile faltered as he finally registered my expression.

“Ah, I didn’t mean it like that…”

I tried to force a smile, to tell him it was fine, but the words caught in my throat.

Nico’s phone chimed with a notification.

An iMessage group. I caught the name on the screen: The Parthenon.

Eleni’s voice message was followed by a string of emoji reactions. Replies were already popping up.

“On my way.”

“Save me some moussaka.”

Nico shoved his phone back in his pocket.

“Hey, why don’t you just come up with me?” he offered.

“Maybe she was busy and didn’t hear you knock. We’re all friends.”

We’re all friends.

Except I was supposed to be Kostas’s girlfriend. But with them, I always felt like an outsider.

I shook my head.

“No thanks.”

I turned and walked toward the street.

After a few steps, I couldn’t help but glance down at my phone again.

The screen was still lit up with Kostas’s last message.

“Wait a few minutes. I’ll be right back to open the door for you.”

Ten minutes had passed.

He wasn’t coming.