The Deville You Know Ch4
Sonya was coming towards the end of her shower when she heard a loud knock at the door. "Dammit, if that's UPS again I'm going to..." she mumbled to herself while she put a robe on and went to open the door. Luckily it wasn't a delivery, but her best friend waiting on the doorstep with two boxes of some sort.
"There you are! I've knocked for ages, and where's your cellphone?" Mandy asked.
"What? I was in the damn shower!"
"That's a long shower Sonya. I've been here over 30 minutes. Having some fun with the shower head were you?" Mandy laughed as she walked past, into the apartment, ignoring the dropped jaw of her friend.
"No I wasn't! I was just, erm, just...30 minutes? Really?" Sonya couldn't believe it had been so long. It had felt like no more than five minutes to her.
Mandy nodded with a smirk. "Yep, you must have gone into your own little world. Maybe planning your date in your mind?"
"It's not a date, I told you that."
"And I told you that I'd be here half an hour ago. I bet you didn't even get any food for us did you?" Mandy put her hands on her hips as Sonya tried to look anywhere so she wouldn't have made eye contact. She'd meant to go out the previous evening to pick up some food for them to snack on, but the evening had been lost to sleep as she passed out on the couch while watching Netflix. She had managed a load of laundry, but that was it till now, and when Sonya looked up, she was met by a glare.
"I knew it." Mandy shook her head, not surprised. "I should have picked something up shouldn't I. Well, you count yourself lucky I'm your best friend and know how your mind was turning to mush. Here you go." Mandy opened one of the boxes to reveal a dozen donuts.
"Donuts? Should we really be eating them? I mean, they look amazing, but, is it a good time?"
"Honey, Paige isn't going to be turned off you because you had a donut or three before your date."
"It's not a date." Sonya repeated.
"Whatever. But you need comfort food. And what's better. Now go put some coffee on." Mandy instructed as Sonya headed to the kitchen.
She came back with two hot steaming coffees, to find Mandy had taken over the room with her makeup case.
"It looks like there was an explosion at Sephora in here. Why did you bring so much?
"I didn't know what was going to work best, and there's so many options. I may have splurged a little, but it'll be worth it when you look like a million bucks to Paige. Now let's start at the beginning, have you picked out your lingerie?"
"Amanda!" Sonya didn't look impressed.
"Come on, what if the date goes well? You don't want to be prepared for every eventuality?" Mandy smirked, and Sonya's temper blew.
"It's not a date! How many times! I'm meeting a friend for drinks! If you can't keep making stupid date jokes, then just go home!" Sonya screamed, storming off to her room and slamming the door behind her. Mandy sat on the nearby chair, realising she had gone too far with her teasing of her best friend. She waited several minutes before going near Sonya's bedroom door. She knocked, but got no reply. After a second knock still gained no answer she dared open the door and put her head inside.
"Sonya?" She asked, finding her friend sat on the floor on the other side of the bed, facing away from the doorway. What made Mandy's heart sink was that she had her face in her hands. "Oh honey." She said as she knelt next to her. "I'm sorry, I clearly went too far. I hoped that I'd stop you feeling nervous."
Sonya lent over and Mandy hugged her, the dark haired woman gripping onto her friends arm to reciprocate.
"I know, but every time you call it a date, you draw attention to the fact that it's not. But it is what I want. And if I am ever going to get to it, then this evening has to go well. She has to see me the way I want her to. I'm not going to make that happen tonight, but I could certainly make sure she never does if I blow it. Mandy, what if I blow it?"
Mandy gripped Sonya tighter. "You are not going to blow it. You are an amazing friend, an even better woman, and by the time you walk out of here, will be the sexiest looking woman in America."
Sonya laughed. "Just America?"
Mandy smiled, knowing she had successfully atoned for her teasing. "Ok, the sexiest woman in the universe! But if we don't start now, you'll never make in time."
Sonya stood herself up quickly. " Fine, then get out so I can get dressed, and I'm choosing all of my clothing, thank you very much." Mandy laughed as she closed the door behind her.
Sonya didn't take long to emerge. She was dressed in a black sleeveless top and skinny black jeans.
"You look perfect, it's kinda like the way Paige dresses." Mandy said as she looked impressed.
"Shows how she's so right for me." Sonya said, trying to sound confident.
"You don't have to convince me, just yourself, now sit." Mandy sat Sonya down and worked meticulously until her makeup was perfect. She gave Sonya a mirror to check it, while she grabbed her hair care products. "So, hair up or down?"
"Down, I'm not anticipating a fight tonight, not that kind of fight anyway."
Mandy plugged in the hair straighteners while Sonya got her phone out and booked her Uber, seeing a short wait for the car. She watched the app while Mandy made her hair look just as good as the rest of her. She finished right on time.
"There's the car. Wish me luck." Sonya said as they headed out.
"You don't need luck, just remember you have a shot with her, that she has an interest in women, and hasn't had a lot of luck with guys in her life. Show her how amazing you are, and have fun together. And of course, call me when its all over, I want all the details."
Sonya laughed. "You got it, thanks Mandy, when you aren't teasing me, you're a good friend." Sonya got into the Uber and quickly disappeared around the corner.
There wasn't a lot going on outside the bar Sonya had been told to come to. Despite all the issues getting ready, she was only about 15 minutes later than the time she was given, so she went in, thinking she'd sit at the bar if there was no sign of Paige. Almost as soon as she was through the doors though, she spotted the unmistakable sight of the woman she was looking for, standing at the bar, talking to an employee. When the bartender went away, she looked round and the two made eye contact.
"You made it!" Paige said in delight as she threw her arms around Sonya. The hug was returned and Sonya couldn't help holding her tight, or a small smile forming on her face.
"Sorry I'm a bit late, you haven't been waiting too long have you?" Sonya asked when she let go.
"No it's fine, we've been here a while." Paige replied. Sonya picked up on her wording, but before she could follow up on it, the bartender returned.
"Here are your pitchers, the food will be about ten minutes." He said, putting down two large pitchers of beer.
"Great, could we get one more glass please?" Paige asked, and was given the glass. "That ones yours, could you grab one of these?" Paige pointed to one of the pitchers and Sonya picked it up. Slightly confused she followed behind Paige, who went between two four person tables, both with several people sat at each. She put one pitcher down and took a seat.
"Everyone, meet Sonya Deville, one of my new partners at work. You'll love her. Sonya, this is, Joey, Raquel, Danielle, Justin, Jenna and Kim." Paige counted off the remaining members of the group then took the last remaining seat on one table. Sonya stood there like a deer in headlights for a moment.
A call of "Hey, you ok?" Came from the other table. Sonya snapped out of her trance to look at the woman who said it, and nodded. "Good, then could I get a beer?" Just before Sonya took offence, she realised she was still holding one of the pitchers. She quickly brought it to the table and then took a seat herself.
She spent the early part of the evening staring across the tables at Paige, who was having a great night, laughing and joking with her friends, while cursing herself for staring at the same time as doing it. She felt embarrassed, with no idea how she was going to explain this to Mandy after all they had talked about. She thought about texting her, but didn't want to appear rude to Paige's friends be being on her phone all the time. Instead she listened to the conversation they were having and found they had similar tastes so she was able to join in the conversation quite easily, sharing the drinks and the good times, making sure she bought the next pitcher for the table.
It was a while before Sonya felt a hand on her shoulder, looking round to see Paige standing there.
"Hey! Look I'm so sorry I haven't gotten to talk to you till now, Justin just got back from 3 months straight working in LA and had a lot of movie set stories for us. I got way too interested."
"Movie set? What does he do?" Sonya couldn't help but be intrigued.
"Costume department for Paramount. He goes wherever he's needed, but a lot of time in Hollywood. Only get to see him on occasion, but that's not the point. I invited you, and I've ignored you. I'm sorry."
"It's fine Paige, your friends have been really nice to me, they're great."
"She's great too, she bought us beer. Feel free to invite her again!" One of Paige's female friends called over, lifting their beer glass.
"Sounds like you don't need more beer babygirl, but don't worry, she's got a permanent invitation to hang out with us whenever she wants."
Sonya looked at her feet at that comment, feeling embarrassed at how happy she felt to hear that.
"You ok?" Paige asked.
Sonya realised how long she had been looking away and stopped. "Yeah, fine, I just appreciate that, and you inviting me out at all. With Mandy spending time with Finn, I don't have a lot of other close friends, and my family are all in Jersey. Feel like I've struck gold tonight with you guys."
"Aww, listen babygirl, you've clearly passed the test with them, and I've always known you are one of the good ones. You're one of us now, and this is the best group of people I could hope to be around, they didn't turn their back on me when I made bad choices, and now it's like nothing happened."
"True friends will stick with you no matter what you do. I know you have had a really bad year, I wish I'd been in a position to help."
"That's really sweet, but I don't think anyone could have helped me, I had to get myself out of it. Getting back to work and my real friends was the key."
"Well I can help with that for sure." Sonya said.
"I hope you do, you certainly have tonight." Paige gave Sonya a smile and they sat back down and kept talking, almost to the point where the others in the group weren't even there. The only thing that broke their connection was when the bar announce the beginning of Karaoke night.
That brought a big reaction from Paige. "Woooo! Oh yeah, karaoke time. Come on Sonya, what are you going to sing?"
Sonya wanted to crawl into the nearest hole, knowing she had the worst singing voice. "Oh, I don't think so. I can't sing. If you heard me, you might all change your opinion of me pretty quick." Sonya laughed at herself as she spoke, trying to mask her horror at the idea of singing, but also keeping in good humour as much as she could.
"No, come on, it'll be fun!" Paige tried to pull Sonya towards the stage, stopping only when a song started up and some guy began butchering 'Don't Stop Believing' on the microphone.
"Are you going to sing?" Sonya asked.
"Yeah, I love karaoke. 'Use Somebody' is my go to, but I can do others."
Sonya smiled. "I'll see you perform, but then I better head home."
Paige feigned sadness. "Ok, you spoilsport. But you owe me at least one karaoke song another got it?'
"Got it, cross my heart." Sonya said, playing along, hoping Paige never remembered she made that promise. She watched her friend climb on stage and Kings of Leon began to play. She watched Paige sing and couldn't help let her imagination run away. In that moment, she was the only other one in the bar and Paige was singing to her alone. As it drew to a close, she shook herself out of it as Paige came back over.
"How was I?" She asked.
"That's why you get up there and sing, and I don't. You were amazing. Ever thought of being a singer?"
"Stop it, you're making fun of me." Paige blushed.
"I mean it, that was really good. I shouldn't have been surprised really. You've had so much success in what you've done so far, and they are even making a movie about it."
"Oh don't, that still feels like a fantasy, but thats so sweet of you. You've got a great story too though, and I think it's only just beginning. I'm lucky to be getting to be a part of it. Make sure they cast me well when they make your movie alright?"
It was now Sonya's turn to blush. She looked into Paige's eyes, all her feeling bubbling to the surface.
"I, Er, I mean, That's a deal, I'll save you a seat on the casting couch, but I really better take off, it's getting late and I've got to be somewhere tomorrow."
Paige walked outside with Sonya and found there were taxis parked outside the bar.
"That's helpful, right, so when are you flying out to Texas for the shows?" Sonya asked.
"Hmm, Houston on Friday, so I'll fly really early Friday morning."
"I'll talk to Mandy, maybe we will do the same."
Great, might see you at the airport, or at the arena."
Sonya nodded. "Can't wait, see you then."
The two hugged, and Sonya got into the cab. Paige watched it drive away as one of her friends came out. Paige didn't hear her and jumped when she put a hand on her arm.
Her friend laughed. "Sorry, but quick, Joey is going to sing "Bad Medicine". You ok?"
"Yeah, just seeing Sonya off."
"She was fun, what made you invite her out?"
Paige took a look back at the taxi, which was now out of sight. "You ever meet someone, and the two of you just click?" Her friend nodded. "That's what happened with us. Hopefully you'll see more of her."
Her friend smirked as they went back into the bar.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Sonya did well to keep her feelings in check, and was a hit with a friends, and with Paige, who seems to be having a good time with her.
Much like the last chapter, this is only happening because of the encouragement that I've received in messages and reviews. It means a lot and if you've enjoyed this so far, please let me know. I hope to see you next time.