Chapter 197
The delivery guy sat on the floor for quite a while before he finally managed to get back on his
feet.
He was clearly, bruised from the fall, but thankfully, he’d bundled up in enough layers that he seemed mostly okay.
Briony quickly called the building management.
The hallway had security cameras.
A property manager soon arrived with a cleaner in tow. Once the sudsy mess on the floor was scrubbed away, the manager led Briony, Gina, and the unfortunate delivery guy to the security
office.
Inside the surveillance room, a staff member spoke up.
“Found it.” He paused the footage and turned the monitor toward them.
The video showed that just before seven that morning, the little boy from the apartment across the hall had been playing with bubble solution in the corridor.
The kid looked to be about five or six years old.
He raced up and down the hallway, sloshing soapy water everywhere. The most infuriating part? There were a few moments where he quite deliberately poured bubbles right in front of Briony’s
door.
“Don’t the parents ever watch him?” Gina fumed. “This is unacceptable. They need to come out and apologize!”
“Don’t worry,” the manager assured her. “We’ll get in touch with them right away.”
He immediately called the apartment’s owners.
Unfortunately, the man of the house was away on a business trip and had no idea what was going on. He hung up without much concern.
Clearly, they weren’t taking this seriously.
The delivery guy, anxious to get back to work, waved it off. “Forget it. Just my luck, I guess.”
He started limping away.
Briony, seeing how shaken he still looked, called after him. “Wait a second.”
He paused, glancing back at her with confusion.
Briony walked over and pulled out her phone. “Show me your payment code.”
He stared in surprise, then shook his head. “No, no, it’s not your fault! You didn’t spill the soap. It’s not your responsibility.”
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“Maybe not,” Briony replied with a gentle smile, “but if you hadn’t slipped, I might have been the one to fall. In a way, you took the hit for me. Let me send you something for your trouble–think of it as a little help for medical expenses. It’ll make me feel better, too.”
The delivery guy looked embarrassed and tried to refuse.
“Just a small sum. Two hundred,” she insisted. “Just take it, please.”
At that, he gave in and pulled up his payment app.
Briony scanned the code–but instead of two hundred, she transferred two thousand.
The delivery guy stared at his phone in disbelief. “This is way too much…”
“Keep it,” Briony said, tucking her phone away and giving him a calm smile.
In her mind, two thousand was a small price for the safety of the twins she was carrying.
The young man scratched his head, awed. “You’re a really good person. Good things will come your way, I’m sure of it!”
Briony just smiled quietly.
After he left, Briony asked the manager to take her to speak to the family across the hall.
After all, they were neighbors–better to clear the air now than let things fester.
The manager agreed and walked with them to the apartment across the hall.
He rang the doorbell. It took a while before anyone answered.
Finally, the door opened to reveal a plainly dressed woman in her sixties, holding a porcelain bowl. At this hour, she’d been feeding her five–year–old grandson breakfast.
She looked at the group with confusion. “Can I help you?”
“Good morning, ma’am. I’m the building manager,” he said, showing her his work badge.
The woman eyed the badge, then glanced at Briony, looking a bit anxious. “Is something wrong?”
He explained, “This is Miss Kensington from 3201. We reviewed the security footage and saw that your grandson was playing with bubble solution in the hallway this morning. He spilled quite a bit of it outside Miss Kensington’s door, which caused a delivery man to slip and get hurt.”
“Your grandson’s actions put others at risk. As his guardian, we hope you’ll take this matter seriously.”
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