2: 2
"Lucy, the storm's here, it's pouring outside, we can't leave! Please, just let us stay one night!"
Doris's voice cracked like she was about to cry.
I glanced out the window. It really was blowing hard, rain coming down in sheets.
Doris was soaked through, hair plastered to her face, looking pitiful.
Joe stood beside her, his expression none too pleasant either.
"Lucinda! What are you dragging your feet for? Open the door already!"
"Doris is your best friend! We're getting engaged any day now. You're really going to leave the two of us standing out here in the rain?"
I clenched my teeth. I knew he was baiting me.
But he had a point. Throwing people out in weather like this wasn't something I could easily justify.
Better to turn their own scheme against them than to just sit and take it.
After turning it over a few times, I opened the door.
Doris threw herself at me and hugged me. "Lucy, thank you. I knew you were the best!"
Joe followed her in and shut the door, muttering, "Would've been fine if you'd just opened it earlier. So dramatic."
I ignored him and checked the time.
Seven in the evening.
In my last life, it happened at eleven at night.
Four hours to go.
Since I couldn't stop them from staying, then I'd leave behind as much evidence as I could.
With that in mind, I picked up a bag of fruit from the coffee table and knocked on the door across the hall, Unit 801.
The door opened. A woman in her forties stood there.
"Hi. I'm the new owner across the way in 802. My name's Lucinda Winters. I hope we can look out for each other from now on."
She took the fruit, beaming. "Oh, a new neighbor! Welcome, welcome! Just let me know if you need anything!"
I glanced at the security camera by her door and confirmed the red light was on, still recording.
"Ma'am, your camera runs twenty-four hours, doesn't it?"
"It does. The whole complex has them installed. Very safe."
"That's great." I smiled. "I just moved in and wanted to film a little vlog about buying my first place, to remember it. Would you mind sending me that footage?"
"No problem at all!"
I went back to 802, but I still wasn't easy about it.
So I sent a message to the property office. "Hi, I'm Lucinda Winters, the owner of Unit 802, Building 8. I just moved in. Could you add me to the residents' group chat?"
The reply came quickly. "Of course. Right away."
The moment they added me to the residents' group chat, welcome messages popped up.
I sent a payment gift with a note: "New owner checking in. Looking forward to getting to know everyone!"
The gift got snapped up in seconds, and the chat lit up.
"Welcome, welcome!"
"Now that's a generous new neighbor!"
I screenshotted the entire chat log and saved it to my cloud storage.
By the time I was done, Doris had a full spread of food on the table.
I didn't pick up my chopsticks. Instead I opened the camera and pulled Doris and Joe in for a selfie.
Doris smiled and flashed a peace sign. Joe looked reluctant, but he leaned in anyway.
Three of us in the frame, with my newly bought apartment as the backdrop, and the full table of food Doris had made.
Even the durian in the corner, tied with a housewarming ribbon, made it into the shot.
I posted the photo to my social media feed: 【First meal in the new place. My best friend and my childhood sweetheart came to warm the house!】
Once all of it was done, I looked at the clock on the wall.
Eight in the evening.
Three hours to go.
