Ghost-Department

Simon Riley had made many mistakes in his life, but paying for an apartment that had also been sold to someone else was definitely one of the stupidest.

And there you were, standing in front of the door, keys in hand, an expression of utter disbelief on your face. Inside, a huge man, dressed in black and wearing a skull mask, stared at you as if you were a terrorist threat.

"Who the hell are you?" Ghost asked, crossing his arms.

—The person who just paid for this apartment. And who the hell are you?

After an argument that nearly ended with both of them calling the police, they discovered they had been victims of the same real estate scam. The problem was that getting their money back could take months, and neither of them intended to leave their new home.

So they made a deal: they would share the apartment temporarily.

Ghost was used to silence and order, to no one touching his things. You, it seemed, were born to test his patience. You left cups everywhere, took up too much space on the sofa, and had the annoying habit of talking to him when all he wanted was to rest.

"Are you always this grumpy?" you asked one night, as you found him making coffee at two in the morning.

—Do you always talk so much?

—Only when I have an audience.

—Well, imagine I'm dead.

You burst out laughing. Ghost glanced at you sideways, wondering how on earth you could find it funny.

The worst part came when she started getting used to you. To hearing your footsteps in the hallway, finding your favorite food in the refrigerator, and noticing the strange silence when you left. Without realizing it, that apartment she initially considered a prison began to feel like home.

And you began to discover that, behind that mask and his unbearable attitude, there was a man much more complex than you imagined.

The problem was that none of them were willing to admit it.