The food served at the Orlando Veterans Retreat looked delicious, Sonya saw. Jordan had just handed her a plate of grilled chicken and salad that she could quite easily have sat down to eat herself. It wasn't served with the panache that Mandy would have managed, but it was a lot better than anything Sonya could have come up with herself. Her chicken would probably have turned out burned on the outside and raw in the middle, she thought with a smile.
"That looks nice," Mandy commented.
"Simple, but yeah, nice," Jordan said. "We do potato and veg with dinner, but something lighter like this for lunch. You can take that out to the guys," he added to Sonya as he set about plating up the second portion.
Sonya left the kitchen and walked through to the dining room. She felt a bit nervous about approaching the three veterans, for a reason that she didn't fully understand. It wasn't as if they were going to attack her or something.
Noticing someone approaching the table, the woman called Lisa looked up at Sony and her eyes widened somewhat. "Oh, we've got someone new today. Who are you?"
"I'm Sonya," she replied with a smile. "I'm a wrestler, working for the same company as Ember."
"What about the other girl?" the man with the long hair and beard asked. Sonya thought she recalled Ember saying his name was Jim.
"That's Mandy. And yeah, she's a wrestler too."
"She's fucking gorgeous," Jim said, surprising Sonya and making the other two veterans shake their heads at him.
Sonya did her best to take the rather inappropriate comment in her stride, and managed to smile. "Yes, I know she is. She's my girlfriend."
The man called John laughed at Jim being put in his place.
"Good for you," Lisa said. "Ignore this pig's manners, he's not so bad once you get to know him."
"Maybe I can get on his good side with some grilled chicken and salad," Sonya wondered, setting the plate in front of Jim.
"Thank you," he said. "I didn't mean any offense. I sometimes speak before I think."
"Don't we all?" Sonya said, graciously letting him off the hook.
Mandy came into the dining room, carrying the remaining two plates of food. "Hi!" she said brightly to the three guests, as Ember had referred to them.
Muttered greetings were sent in Mandy's direction before she put the plates of food down on the table.
"So, how come you guys are here?" John asked as he started attacking his food.
"We wanted to come and help out," Sonya said in a friendly manner.
"We think it's disgusting that people like you who served our country get, uh…" Mandy floundered for a word, not wanting to offend anyone.
"Abandoned," Lisa suggested, drawing unhappy murmured agreement from the others.
"Well, yeah," Mandy said. "We think this project of Ember's is such a good cause, so we wanted to get involved."
"And we're going to make a donation, too," Sonya added.
"Good of you," Jim said through a mouthful of salad.
"We try our best," Sonya said, feeling touched by his words.
Mandy said, "Since it's our first day here, we wanted to start off by serving food and drinks, and we were hoping to maybe sit down and have a chat with one of you, or more. It would be nice to get to know you."
"Chat to her," Jim said, looking at Lisa. "She could talk a glass eye to sleep.
John laughed.
Lisa managed a smile at the humour, but she answered the request seriously. "Let me eat this, then I'll sit and talk to you."
Sonya nodded, belatedly realising that she and Mandy should have left them to get on with their food in peace. "Can I get anyone another drink?" she asked before leaving the table.
Jim was the only one to take her up on the offer. "Another coffee, please. Jordan knows how I like it."
"Coming up," Sonya said. She followed Mandy back to the kitchen, where they found Jordan cleaning the grill. "Jim would like another coffee. He says you know how he likes it."
"Yeah," Jordan said. "I'll fix it for him in a minute. Did I hear you two volunteer to wash up?"
"You heard me volunteer Sonya to wash up," Mandy said, giving her girl a cheeky grin and getting an eye roll in reply.
"If I'm washing, you're drying," Sonya said, grabbing hold of a nearby towel and flicking it at Mandy.
"Hey! Enough of that!" Mandy squealed as she dodged out of the way. Both women were laughing, having a great time.
There was no sign of Ember. Sonya assumed she had gone to start on her task for the day, painting the two bathrooms. Either that or she had gone back to the dorms to speak to the workmen.
"Right then, I guess it's time to wash up. I feel like I do this enough at home," Sonya said, walking over to the sink. As she did so, she tossed the towel to Mandy so that she had something to dry the dishes with.
Getting the water running to fill the sink, Sonya decided she might as well try and give Mandy the pleasure she was hoping to get out of this situation. At least making her horny would likely lead to sex when they got back to the apartment. "Hey, Joran, do you have any gloves? I don't want to ruin my nails," she said, quickly making up a reason that didn't sound as weird as, 'it turns my girlfriend on when I wear them'.
"There's a bunch of stuff one of the other volunteers brought in the other day," Jordan said. He pointed to a row of cupboards above the work surface that ran from the sink all the way to the wall. "She put it all in that far cupboard."
Walking down there, Sonya opened the cupboard. Inside, she found several bottles of bleach, a multitude of sponges and clothes, and a couple of unopened pairs of rubber gloves. She opted for a black pair, taking them out and opening the packet. "Black ones, Mand. I hope that works for you?" she asked, enjoying embarrassing her, mindful that Mandy had started all of this by volunteering her to do the washing up.
Mandy glanced over at Jordan, who mercifully didn't seem to be paying attention to them. "Stop embarrassing me!" she said to Sonya under her breath, trying her best to hold in a laugh.
"I was only asking," Sonya said, a picture of innocence. She wriggled her hands into the gloves, happy to see Mandy watching her. With that done, she made a point of stroking Mandy's cheek, knowing full well that it would drive her crazy. "Sadly, time to work," she said coyly.
"I think I need Daria to come around real soon," Mandy said, unable to stand still, such was her excitement.
"Be good, and we'll see what happens when we get home," Sonya said, grinning.
Washing up everything that had been stacked in the sink took Sonya ten minutes, by which time Jordan had gone and fetched the plates from the three guests, who had finished their meals. Sonya washed them up as well, passing each one to Mandy to dry when she was finished. She was surprised to find herself feeling turned on while she worked. The only reason she could think of was the public setting in which she was indulging Mandy's fetish.
"Why do I feel like that was the best part of your day?" Sonya asked when the task was completed. She peeled off the gloves and put them on the work surface next to the sink.
Jordan had wandered out of the kitchen, so Mandy was free to say what she wanted. "It might well have been. I can't confirm or deny. What I can say is I think Daria should get herself some gloves like that. She's never had black ones."
"You never know what might happen," Sonya said in a noncommittal tone.
"I know Daria has black tape she can use on me," Mandy said, trying her best to entice Sonya's alter ego into an appearance.
"Yes, she does," Sonya said.
At that moment, Ember walked back into the kitchen. She was now dressed in overalls, and was carrying a couple of large cans of paint. Sonya realised she must have gone to her car to get her supplies, and then gotten changed into the overalls in the bathroom.
"Hey," Ember said happily. "I'm about to start the painting. How are you guys getting on?"
"Great," Mandy said. "We served the food and washed the dishes. We're about to go through and talk to Lisa. She said she would like it."
"Great work. Thank you so much," Ember said. "You'll like Lisa, but she prefers to be called Ivory, her code name in the Special Forces."
"Noted," Sonya said with a nod. "She hasn't said that to us yet. When she does, we'll be sure to do as she wishes."
"Thank you. I'm sure she will appreciate it," Ember said. "Well, I'm going to get started with the painting. I just need to grab a few things."
"I'll hold the door for you," Sonya said as Ember walked over to one of the kitchen cupboards. She put her paint cans down, opened the cupboard and started taking out brushes, rollers and paint trays.
"Here, let me help you with that," Mandy said, going over to pick up the cans.
"Thanks," Ember said.
Sonya stood and held the door open to allow Mandy and Ember to walk out. When they left, heading for the bathrooms, Sonya followed them into the dining room. She found Jordan sitting with John and Jim, playing some kind of card game, using candy instead of money. She guessed Jordan had provided it all, and would likely be sure to see the other two leave with it. The thought made her smile.
Lisa had moved over to another table, where she was reading a newspaper that had turned up from somewhere. She looked up from it as Sonya approached her.
"Can I sit?" Sonya asked.
"Of course." Lisa motioned to the seat opposite her, closed the paper and tossed it aside onto the table.
"Thank you," Sonya said, taking the offered seat. "Ember was telling us you were Special Forces. I have to say, that is seriously impressive. I have massive respect for you."
"It was the best part of my life," Lisa said, seeming happy to talk about it, which made Sonya feel a little relieved. "My code name was Ivory. I still like people to call me that."
"Alright, Ivory it is," Sonya said, not betraying the fact that she had already known that piece of information.
Mandy arrived at the table then, and smiled at Lisa as she sat down.
"Lisa was just telling me that her code name in the Special Forces was Ivory," Sonya said to her girlfriend. "She would like us to call her that."
"Ivory, I like it. It sounds badass," Mandy said, smiling across the table.
Ivory nodded, expressing a vague sense of appreciation. "I was just starting to tell Sonya that my time in the Special Forces was the best period of my life. I had never found my calling in life until I joined the military. I never had a job I aspired to do. I never knew what I wanted to be. I was never comfortable with what I was doing until I was on active duty."
"Can I ask exactly what you did in the Special Forces?" Sonya asked.
"I was a sniper. I hunted people."
Sonya felt a chill run down her spine at the terminology Ivory had chosen to use. It was cold in the extreme.
"Hunted people?" Mandy said quietly, glancing at Sonya.
"That's right. Enemies of our country. I hunted them, and killed them."
Trying to force her discomfort aside, Sonya went with the first question that came to mind. "How far away could you, uh, shoot someone from?"
"My longest confirmed kill was just under a mile," Ivory said matter of fact, pride the only emotion in her eyes.
"It sounds like you were an extremely distinguished soldier," Mandy said. "How did you, uh…"
"End up of the streets?" Ivory finished for her. "Yes, I was distinguished. I won medal for my service. And do you know what they mean one you leave? Fuck all. I came out with not much money saved up, nowhere to live and no job. I found somewhere to rent, but I couldn't get a good job. I struggled to make rent, and eventually my landlord kicked me out. Once you're living rough, you've got no chance of finding work. No one wants to take you on. It's a vicious circle. I've been living on the streets for more than a year now. Orlando Veterans Retreat is the first time anyone has tried to do anything to help."
"That is awful," Mandy said quietly, sounding sympathetic, but also disgusted that it could be allowed to happen.
"That's why this project that Ember, god bless her, has started will be so helpful to people like me. Once she's up and running properly, she wants to have programs to help people get back into work. That's all I want. I've never wanted handouts. I want the chance to work and take care of myself. I'll stack shelves, I'll scrub toilets, I'll tend bars. I don't care what work it is, if it pays enough for me to put a roof over my head, I'll do it."
Sonya could not have found Ivory's attitude any more admirable. "I can promise you that Mandy and I are going to do what we can to get people to donate to help Ember, to help you guys."
"And we're going to encourage people to volunteer, too," Mandy said. "A lot of wrestlers live in Orlando. It's where we have to come to train when we sign for WWE."
"You guys are good people," Ivory said warmly.
With the ice broken, Sonya and Mandy sat there talking to Ivory for more than two hours. By the time they got up from the table they had made a friend, and were very much looking forward to the next time they visited Orlando Veterans Retreat.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter. Your continued support means a lot.
Next time, it's Christmas! How would you like to see Sonya and Mandy celebrate?