She arrives at the door like a question wrapped in winter light, hands full of margins she learned to draw around her heart. The hallway breathes a low, indifferent hum. She steps inside and lays the rules like paper on the table: no sudden touch without the asking, no late calls after midnight, no rearranging of the furniture that holds the stories she keeps. Beneath the list, a small, defiant signature — her name in ink that won’t smear.