Second delivery

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{elseif Day>0}

{if BONUS=100}Wait! Take this!” Mindy calls out, catching me as I am rolling off the driveway. She runs to the van window and presses some folded cash in my hands.

“What’s this for?”

“You need to replace the champagne we drank, right?”

“Yeah, but you don’t—“

“I insist. You told me that you have money concerns. Just take it.”

I feel a small relief as I accept the money. “Okay. Thanks, Mindy.” With the $80 in hand, I wink and dive away. I'm hoping that there were enough spare bottles that a few missing will be negligible.{endif}

When I get to the drop-off location, an old man answers the door. He calls over a strong, young assistant to help me move everything inside. As we carry the boxes, the old man directs us where to put them. I cringe when I see he has a clipboard and is counting bottles.

“What happened to these?” He asks me, peering over his glasses. Half of the cardboard boxes are soggy on the bottom.

“It was from the storm yesterday... The ground was wet at the pickup location. The boxes that were on the bottom of the stack were soaked. Then there was an accident... One of the boxes tore open and three bottles broke.”

The man stares at me coldly. In reality, I had filled Mindy’s utility sink with a couple inches of water and dipped three of the boxes in it, tearing the flaps of one of them in a way that the “accident” looked plausible. I hope he buys it.

The man scowls. “That is going to be a problem... How do you intend to solve it?”

Crap. I knew it was too optimistic to think they would let it slide. “Uh....I can buy some replacements this afternoon....when the liquor stores open.” Thank goodness Mindy gave me some cash.

He squints at me. “I highly doubt a corner liquor store will carry this. It isn’t some jug wine.”

“I see... I’ll check around and see what I can find.” I pull out a bottle and take a picture of the label.

“We need something for those tables. It would be insulting if three tables end up with...notably inferior products.”

“Right.”

He shakes his head and continues counting bottles. I get the crate unloaded with help from the assistant.

“Here... Set it here,” the man directs us. “Did this receive water damage as well?” He asks with a hint of concern, bending over to look at its bottom edge.

“No, it was sheltered.”

The man writes some notes on his clipboard. “Very well. See that those bottles are taken care of.” He turns away and I take my leave.

The wine shops won’t be open for a couple more hours, so I have some time to kill.

{else}Play in game mode.{endif}