"What a day," Sonya said to her reflection. She was standing in front of the mirror in the master bedroom, in the apartment that she and Mandy had finally moved into two days earlier. What a couple of days would have been a more accurate way for her to have put it. Getting all of their belongings from their old rented apartment to this one would have been a mission by itself, but that had been the easy part. Somehow, they had been able to coordinate the deliveries of all of their new furniture and appliances to come during their first two days in the apartment. Getting everything set up and in the right places had been much harder work than Sonya had expected ahead of time.
There was no time to take a relaxing soak in a bath, though. In a decision that she now partially regretted, she had talked Mandy into having their housewarming party on the night of that second day. A rare Friday night without an NXT show to work had seemed like the ideal time to party with their friends, but now they both felt tired and ached all over. There were bottles of wine, vodka and whisky in the kitchen, though, so Sonya knew she had a choice of ways to take the edge off the tiredness and get into the party mood.
Any moment now, the invited guests would start arriving, which was why Sonya had just changed into a pair of black pants and a black and red plaid shirt, and had hurriedly put her hair up and applied some makeup. Thankfully, it was a gathering of friends that was at hand, not a formal occasion. She hadn't needed to dress to impress anyone.
Satisfied with her appearance, Sonya left the bedroom and walked through to the living room, where she found Mandy setting up the TV to play some music during the party. They had purchased a surround sound system too, but it wasn't set up yet. The speakers were currently in the bedroom that they were using for storage, along with countless other boxes and bags.
"I can't believe we're actually ready in time," Mandy said when her girlfriend entered the room. "I never thought we were going to do it."
Sonya blew out a sigh of relief. "I hear you. But we did it. How do I look?"
Happy with the playlist she had selected, Mandy put the TV controller down on the coffee table and looked at Sonya, immediately giving a smile of approval. "Beautiful, of course."
"But not as beautiful as you," Sonya said, taking in Mandy's stunning figure in the white dress she had chosen to wear. It showed off just the right amount of breast and leg to look both sexy and classy.
"I don't know about that, but I'll take the compliment," Mandy smiled. She moved over to the dining table in the corner of the room, upon which she had placed three platters of party food for consumption by any guests who wanted to indulge themselves. "I got the finger food ready," she announced unnecessarily.
"So I see," Sonya said, stepping up behind Mandy and putting her arms around her waist. She admired the way the three platters were laid out in a triangle shape on the table, each one excellently presented in its own right. "Somehow, you even manage to make finger food look appetising and delicious."
"I don't know about that," Mandy said with a chuckle, nestling against Sonya and enjoying her embrace.
"I do. A woman of many talents," Sonya said, kissing the side of Mandy's neck.
The sound of the intercom by the front door buzzing cut into the moment. The first of their guests had arrived at the gated entrance into the community where their apartment was. The added security of living in a gated community was nice, but visitors having to stop and wait to be admitted was an inconvenience.
Sonya walked over and pressed the button to speak through the intercom. "Who goes there?" she asked, making light of the situation to get into the party spirit.
"It's Bayley!" came the excitable, tinny-sounding reply through the speaker.
"Bay!" Sonya cried. "I'll buzz you in. We're apartment eight, to your left as you come in."
"See you in a sec," Bayley replied.
"How did I know Bay would be the first one here?" Mandy said with a smile. It was well known that Bayley was almost always the first to arrive for every NXT show. She lived life on the basis that if she wasn't notably early, she was late.
Sonya opened the front door to make it easier for their guests to see where the right apartment was. Mandy came and stood with her, both just inside the doorway. They saw Bayley come around the corner, hand in hand with Seth Rollins, her partner of a few months. Sonya was happy to see that they had felt comfortable enough to dress casually, as she had suggested. They both had jeans and t-shirts on, and Bayley had a baseball cap on backwards.
"Hi, guys!" Sonya called, waving to them.
Seth waved back, being almost pulled across the courtyard towards the apartment by Bayley. Sonya and Mandy had to laugh at the sight.
"Hey!" Bayley exclaimed as they neared the apartment. "I'm sorry we're a bit early."
"We expected nothing less," Mandy assured her in good humour.
"I've never been with a girl who got ready for things quickly before," Seth said. He reached his two hosts and gave them both a peck on the cheek, starting with Sonya. "Thanks for inviting us over. This looks like a nice, private place to live."
"Yeah, we've been the only noisy ones today," Mandy said. Standing aside, she and Sonya admitted their guests and Mandy closed the door. "There have so many delivery trucks in and out of here the past couple of days the neighbours must have thought we were opening an Amazon warehouse or something."
Everyone laughed as Sonya led them into the living area. She motioned towards the buffet of finger food. "We have delicious food on offer, courtesy of my Queen, and there is wine, vodka, whisky or beer in the kitchen."
"Well that's me sorted out. I'm not sure what the rest of you are doing," Seth said, drawing more laughter from the group.
"I'd give you the tour, but we might as well wait until everyone else gets here," Mandy said. "For now, let me get you a drink. What would you like?"
Seth requested a beer and Bayley opted for wine, saying she would only have one glass as she was driving. As Mandy headed for the kitchen, Bayley had a question for Sonya. "Who else is coming?"
"We invited pretty much everyone in NXT, but some people had other arrangements. It's understandable, wanting to go and see their families or whatever while we have a weekend off. Lacey is coming, as is Becky. She was saying she might bring Dean."
"If they've decided they're dating again this week," Seth said, shaking his head. Becky and Dean had been on and off more times than a light switch in recent months.
"And of course Zel is coming," Sonya added.
"Naturally," Seth said. "The three of you are joined at the hip these days."
"Is that jealousy, Mr Rollins?" Sonya asked, not afraid to get involved in banter with him. "You have your two buddies to play with, you don't have to begrudge me mine."
"I didn't know you played with both of them, I thought that was just Mandy."
"Seth!" Bayley exclaimed, laughing as she slapped him on the arm.
"My hair is up. Don't make me square up," Sonya warned him playfully.
Seth laughed as Mandy returned with the drinks for the two guests. "Who are you squaring up to?" she asked Sonya with a smile on her face.
"Seth. At least I will be if he carries on."
"Don't get blood on our new furniture!" Mandy admonished her, making everyone laugh again.
The buzzer sounded.
"You get that, I'll fetch you a glass of wine," Mandy said to Sonya.
"That's the kind of deal I can get behind," Sonya said on her way over to the intercom. "Who goes there?" she said when she pressed the button to talk.
"You favourite lady," came the in-character reply from Lacey Evans.
Sonya laughed. "Lacey! I'll buzz you in. We're apartment eight, to your left as you walk in."
Pressing the button to unlock the gate, Sonya opened the front door to make it easier for Lacey to find where she needed to be going. To her surprise, a minute went by and there was no sign of her friend. All she'd had to do was walk around the corner from the gate. Sonya couldn't understand what was taking so long.
"What did she do, have second thoughts?" Seth asked, walking up behind Sonya to look out of the door for himself.
Sonya chuckled. "I don't know."
Mandy arrived with Sonya's glass of wine at the same moment as Lacey walked around the corner. The reason for the delay became immediately apparent. Becky, Dean and Zelina were all walking with her.
"The whole gang is here!" Mandy cried.
"Yay!" Bayley squealed hurrying over to join the others at the door.
"Alright, give us a bit of room," Sonya said, laughing. "We're trying to let them in, not keep them out."
"Sure you don't want to reconsider that decision? Z looks a bit suspect to me," Seth asked, to more laughter.
"You won't tell her that," Mandy said.
"Damn right I won't," Seth said. "She'd murder me."
They were all laughing again as the group of new arrivals approached the apartment. Zelina was the first to walk in, followed by Becky, Dean and finally Lacey. Greetings were exchanged all round. Sonya found herself particularly happy to see Lacey. Due to her move up to the main roster, chances to spend time together would be few and far between for them now.
"It was a real stroke of luck the Raw schedule had an off weekend at the same time as us," Sonya said to Lacey after they shared a peck on the cheek in greeting.
"Much needed, I can tell you," Lacey said. "The schedule you're on once you go up, it hits like you like a train. I've never felt so tired in all my life, including when I was in the military."
"It can't be that bad, you're probably flying round in private jet with Lucy Thorne half the time," Seth retorted.
Lacey theatrically rolled her eyes, drawing laughter from the others. "Lucy manages me on Raw. I don't travel with her on day to day business."
"You'd probably make more money if you did," Dean commented.
"No doubt. But wrestling is the better job," Becky said.
"That's something we can all agree on," Mandy said. "Everyone who doesn't have a drink, come through to the kitchen and I'll get you fixed up. Then Son and I can show you around. How come you all showed up together like that anyway?" she asked as she led them into the kitchen.
Lacey handled the explanation. "While I was talking to Sonya on the intercom thing, these guys pulled up. Zel picked up Becky and Dean, and they're going to give me a ride home later."
With that in mind, Zelina opted to only have water to drink, while Becky and Dean chose whisky and Lacey asked for wine.
"I'm going to end up drinking that bottle of vodka by myself at this rate," Mandy commented as she fixed the drinks.
"Well, enjoy that hangover," Zelina said with a grin. Laughter filled the kitchen.
"Alright, let's give you guided tour," Mandy said once everyone had their drink of choice. They walked through to the living room, where Sonya was chatting to the other guests.
"This is a really nice living space," Becky commented. "Bigger than I thought you'd have. That dining table fits in perfectly."
"Yeah, it does," Mandy smiled. "Help yourselves to the food if want any by the way."
Dean had already joined Seth in attacking the buffet of finger food before he had been invited to.
"Look at those two," Zelina said, shaking her head.
"Shit, I made a salad for you, Zel. I've left it in the fridge," Mandy said.
"Aww, thank you," Zelina said, appreciating the consideration shown for her vegan diet.
"You've done a great job of making it a home already," Becky said, looking around the living room.
"We've worked so hard the past couple of days," Sonya said. "If I ever assemble a piece of furniture again it will be too soon."
Bayley had walked over to the back door to have look out at the deck and the garden. "Awesome that you have your own garden and a deck. Such a nice addition."
"Yes. We could have cookouts out there. It would be great," Mandy said.
"Put my name down for that," Seth said through a mouthful of food.
"The bedrooms are through here," Sonya said, heading through the door to the rear hallway. "We're using that one for a storeroom, and that one for a guest bedroom," she added when her friends followed her, pointing to the relevant rooms as she spoke. For obvious reasons, she hadn't stated the true purpose of what was known to her and Mandy as Daria's room.
"Decent spaces," Seth commented. "This is actually really big, for an apartment."
"That's why we liked it," Sonya said in agreement. She walked to the far end of the hall. "The master bedroom is here, and the bathroom opposite."
The group had a quick look into the rooms, expressing their approval and saying how much they liked they place.
"I think you've done really well for yourselves here," Zelina said as they returned to the living room.
"I second that," Becky said. "How about a toast, before we get into some serious drinking? To Sonya and Mandy. May they have every happiness in their new home."
"Sonya and Mandy," the other guests echoed, and everyone clinked their glasses together.