The day was dull and dark from the morning. Heavy clouds traveled across the sky, pushed by gusts of wind, yet it didn't start to rain until the afternoon, when she was nearing her destination. She ran to hide under the windowsill and rang the doorbell of the old house.
Around her, the few people on the narrow alley in Monastiraki also hurried to take cover in any way they could, lifting their bags or shopping bags and quickening their pace, while a pair of teenagers laughed loudly, lifting their faces to the rain as if challenging it. The tall, slender girl with short blond hair smiled at their scene. The carefree and defiant spirit of youth, she thought, impatiently ringing the doorbell again, as the rain now fell in sheets. Their simple sneakers would already be soaked, just as hers had been on the day she met the hostess of this house, who had hurried to protect her then under her old-fashioned raincoat and host her until the storm passed.
The beginning of a rather mismatched friendship, she reflected now, always smiling and ringing the doorbell for the third time. The smile faded from her lips as she realized how long she had been standing there, despite her friend waiting inside, and impatience was now replaced by worry. She opened her bag anxiously and searched for the key her friend had given her at an unexpected moment, "for any eventuality," as she had said with a mocking smile.