New Recruits

Chapter 26

Any day off was something to look forward to for employees of WWE. While it was true that the NXT schedule was lighter than that of the main roster, Sonya and Mandy were still always grateful for rest days when they came around.

This particular off day was one they had been excited about even more than usual. Thanks to Zelina acting as an intermediary, Sonya and Mandy had been introduced to Ember Moon via a telephone conversation. Ember was a current Smackdown star, and the founder of a new charity for homeless veterans. Today, they would be visiting the charity themselves, and would be spending a few hours helping out. Having only recently opened the charity, largely using her own money to get it going, Ember had been delighted to hear from them, and incredibly appreciative of their offer of help.

Personally, Sonya couldn't have been happier to get involved. If a few hours of her time could make a difference to people who had literally put their lives on the line for their country, she considered it the absolute least she could do. Pleasingly, Mandy had seen it exactly the same way.

"Orlando Veterans Retreat, there it is," Mandy said, pointing out of the windshield at a single storey building up ahead on the right.

"Good eyes," Sonya said. The small sign fixed to the side of the building was the only way to identify it. She could easily have driven by and missed it if Mandy hadn't been there.

Hastily slowing the car, Sonya pulled into the small lot in front of the grey concrete building. There was nothing remarkable about it at all, in fact it looked dreary. But Ember had needed somewhere to base the charity without having to spend a fortune on it.

There were five parking spaces in the lot, two of them already occupied. One of the cars was an almost brand new Honda, which Sonya instinctively knew belonged to Ember.

After Ember and Mandy had agreed the date when they were going to volunteer, Ember had said that since it was an off day for her too, she would make sure to be there in person to meet them and show them around.

Parking the car, Sonya killed the engine and got out. She had dressed simply, in a pair of black pants, a dark blue t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Mandy had gone for jeans, with a grey t-shirt. Mindful that they were there to work with homeless people, they certainly hadn't wanted to be over-dressed.

"I feel really good, Son," Mandy said as they walked towards the entrance. "Like, we might make a difference to people by being here."

"I've been thinking the same thing," Sonya said. "Honestly, I think it's appalling that people who serve get abandoned after they leave the military. What do you think about making a donation? We could speak to Ember about it."

Reaching the entrance door, Mandy stopped before opening it and looked at Sonya. "I agree with the idea, but we don't have a lot of money after spending so much on the furniture and everything for the apartment."

"True. But we could spare a couple hundred dollars or something. I'm sure every little helps, especially now, while Ember's trying to get up and running. It must be costing a serious amount."

Mandy nodded. "Alright, yeah, we'll tell her we want to give a couple hundred dollars. If they have a website online yet, we could tweet it out and ask fans to consider donating. We don't have massive reach, but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing."

"You're totally right," Sonya said. "That's something else we can ask Ember about. Come on, let's go in."

Mandy opened the door, and Sonya followed her inside. Entering into a relatively small dining area, she stopped for a moment and looked around. She counted eight tables. Currently, there was only one homeless person in the room, a man with a mess of long hair and a beard, who was sitting at a table at the far end of the room. He was nursing a cup of tea or coffee and looking down at the table top. Sonya felt instinctively sorry for him.