New Recruits

Chapter 32

For the second time, Sonya and Mandy were on their way to volunteer a few hours of their time at Orlando Veterans Retreat. It had been a while since their first visit. Back then, work had still be in progress on the dorms, which Ember Moon had wanted built so that the veterans her charity took on had somewhere warm and dry to sleep at night. When Mandy had spoken to Ember and offered their time, she had been informed that the construction and fitting work was now completed.

"I can't wait to see how it all looks now," Sonya said as they neared their destination.

As was often the case, Mandy was in the driving seat. "Neither can I," she said. "I'm looking forward to seeing Ivory, too. That chat we had with her last time was quite something."

"Yes it was," Sonya agreed, thinking back to the couple of hours they had spent sitting at a table with Lisa Moretti, the former Special Forces operative code named Ivory. The thing that had come through most clearly was Ivory's desire not to be a charity case. Handouts were now what she wanted. What she hoped for was a chance to get her life back on track. In time, Orlando Veterans Retreat intended to offer exactly that kind of opportunity to the people they helped.

"Still looks the same from the outside," Mandy commented as the building came into sight.

"They could use a better sign out front," Sonya said, looking at the current one, which was small enough to miss entirely if you were driving past. Exactly that had almost happened the first time she and Mandy had visited.

"We could maybe donate some money for one?" Mandy suggested.

"That's not a bad idea. If we did, we could work it so that we could be here the day it gets put up, and we could get a picture with it. It might encourage fans to donate. Even if they only go a couple of bucks each, it would mount up."

"I'll speak to Ember about it," Mandy said. She pulled into the lot and parked up next to the couple of cars that were already there.

They got out of the car and Sonya waited for Mandy before heading for the building's entrance. "Just so you know, you're not getting me into washing dishes this time," she announced with a grin.

"That's no fun," Mandy grumbled. "But I'll let you off since you'll do them at home after dinner."

"Deal," Sonya said. "At least at home you can obsess over my rubber gloves to your heart's content."

Blushing, Mandy said nothing more as they walked over to the entrance.

Following her girlfriend through the door and into the dining area of the retreat, Sonya saw a few new faces. In addition to the people they had met on their previous visit, there were two more male veterans there, and another woman. The woman was sitting at a table talking to Ivory while they ate lunch. She had long black hair and looked to be a similar age to her dining partner. Looking up when they entered, Ivory gave them a wave, which Sonya returned while Mandy smiled.

"Ivory looks in better health," Mandy observed.

It was an understatement, and it applied to Jim Duggan and AJ Styles as well. They looked well fed, were dressed in better clothes and their hair was no longer greasy. Living at the retreat seemed to have taken five years off their appearances.

Another new face appeared at the serving hatch, having heard the door open and close. Sonya saw a blonde woman, maybe in her early forties, very attractive for her age. She was wearing a plastic apron, presumably having just finished serving the lunch that the veterans were currently digging into.

"Hi. You must be Sonya and Mandy," the blonde said warmly. "Ember told us you were coming to help out today."

Sonya and Mandy walked over to talk to her. "That's right," Sonya said. "I'm Sonya, and this is Mandy."