[Sam Marlowe]

The sounds of a wrestling match can be heard from the television at the home of Sam Marlowe but it isn’t drawing the attention of the owner of the house.  She’s dressed in a pair of jeans with rips in the knees and a baseball jersey with Stitch on it.  Beside her, Philip Marlowe in casual clothes can be seen, lounging back and sipping at a long necked bottle as he watches the action.  On the screen, the image of Sam wrestling with Ben Jordan in the background plays which has Philip shaking his head.

“I know you told me princess that this wrestling in something y\all like but I don’t know why you like to fly ‘round the ring like that.  Ain’t you afraid of hurting yourself?” asks Philip Marlowe but he doesn’t get a reply.  Turning from the television, he sees Sam on the couch, one knee pulled up with her elbow resting on it.  She appears a million miles away and not listening to what her father is saying.  Philip leans back and rests one arm over the back of the couch.  “So, y’all want to move back to Texas and be a nanny to Cyn’s kids?” he muses.

“Sure Daddy, whatever you say,” answers Sam which causes her father to laugh and finally get her attention.  “What’s so funny?”

“You princess,” her father responds.  “I just suggested that you move back to Texas and be Cyn’s nanny…”

He is stopped by the horrified look on Sam’s face and laughs harder as he leans forward and sets the bottle on the table in front of him.  “Let’s have it Sammi…what’s got y’all distracted.”

Sam turns towards her father and pulls her feet up to sit Indian style.  “Daddy, I just found out something that is really making me think.  Y’all know my friend Ben right?”

“Shore enough do.  Ain’t he the one that bought you at that auction way back?  Your sister was spitting nails that night.  What about him?” Philip asks.

“He and I kinda went our separate ways for a bit there.  I mean he had things he was doing…I had things that I was doin’ and well we drifted apart you could say.  Don’t get me wrong…we were still friends but it got weird you know.  His wife and him kinda made me feel like a third wheel and rather than cling, I was happy for him and all but we lost our closeness,” admits Sam who brings up her hand and lightly nibbles on her thumbnail.

Seeing it, her father lightly pats the hand making her pull it away from her mouth.  He puts his hand on the hand of Sam that had fallen to the couch.  “So what is wrong now?” he asks softly.

“Nothing really Daddy but you would think that if your friend was goin’ through something they would come to you right?” she wonders out loud.  “He sent for me and Jamie to tell us that he’s back but that he also got divorced and gave up all his houses and worldly goods.  Basically it is just him and Bear and his private jet.”

“He’s got a private jet?” jokes Philip.  “Does it fly?  Or is it a glorified home?”

“Daddy!  I don’t know if he considers it home or not but I am more concerned that when he was goin’ through all that, he didn’t come to me for help,” sighs Sam.  “I guess that maybe he didn’t see our friendship as important at that time.”

“Sammi, who was it that he invited to talk to about it?” muses Philip.

Sam thinks for a moment and tilts her head.  “He called me and Jamie to meet him.”

Sam’s father nods and then speaks again.  “And what did he talk about?”

“He told us what had happened and why he was so distant and all that,” admits Sam.  “Then he said that he wanted to go for the Mixed Tag titles in Sin City Wrestling with me…although Jamie offered to be his partner…”

Sam starts to giggle upon saying that outloud.  Philip Marlowe raises an eyebrow as she catches her breath.  “Why can’t his friend Jamie team with him?” asks her father.

“Well Jamie can’t team with him because the Mixed Tag titles are for teams of a superstar and bombshell…and Jamie is not a bombshell.  Besides, Ben and I did team up for one of the Blast from the Past tournaments and we almost won it all.  And if I am honest, I always wanted to see just what we could have done or how far we could have went if we teamed up,” says Sam.  She smiles at the thought as her father once more pats her hand.

“Sounds like you two are going to see if this Ben wants to team with you to win those belts huh?” muses Marlowe as he reaches for his beer.  “Seems to me that you need to make sure that you don’t let him down princess.  Friends don’t do that.”

Sam turns her eyes to her father and smiles, her nose crinkling slightly.  “Y’all are right Daddy, thank you for making me see reason.  Now I just have to prevent Jamie from naming the tag team.  He was saying that when he and Ben teamed they were Team BJ…and if that is the case…”

Sensing what was coming, Sam’s father does a spit take with the mouthful of beer he had just drank.  “Y’all ain’t tellin’ me that you and Ben would be Team BS?”    He lets out a loud guffaw that makes Sam glare.

“Not you too!  Back when Ben and I teamed before, we thought that maybe would could call ourselves the B&ST,” she replies which only has her father wagging his finger at her.  “Don’t get ahead of yourself princess.  Let’s make sure that you and he win a couple first then once you two have these titles, then you can call yourselves the B&ST.”

“Okay okay Daddy, I get it.  I better start getting ready for teaming with Ben and to do that, I am going to have to start studying our Blast from the Past matches.  Speaking of…what are we watching?” she asks.

Her father points to the television with the neck of his bottle as he replies.  “The Blast from the Past matches y’all had.” 

Sam Marlowe walks along the street in Phoenix Arizona with the warm sun making her red curls shine as it bounces on the shoulders of her tee shirt that is tucked into a pair of jeans.  Her boot heels tap on the concrete as she moves.  She doesn’t seem to notice the people pointing and talking as she heads into the door of a building that swooshes open.  As she disappears inside, the camera view shows it to be a local hospital.

Sam moves down the corridor towards a desk where she stops and smiles at the woman sitting behind it squinting up at the computer screen and ignoring Sam as she tries to figure out what she appears to be causing her issues.  The tap tap of her finger hitting the delete button has Sam ducking her head as she softly coughs to get the receptionist’s notice.

Turning to Sam, the receptionist raises her eyebrows and offers Sam a crooked smile.  “Can I help you dear?” she asks.

Sam nods as she laces her fingers together.  “You can.  I am looking for the administrator of this hospital.  I have an appointment,” she responds.  “We were talking about a project that have with my company that I wrestle for.  Sammi’s sweethearts where I invite some of the children patients and their families to be my guests at the show.”

“That’s nice ma’am,” the receptionist responds as she picks up the phone and running her finger down the call list, she dials a four digit number.  Waiting a moment, she smiles again at Sam who smiles back.  “A Miss…”

“Marlowe…Sam Marlowe,” the redhead whispers.

“Sam Marlowe is here to see you,” the receptionist says then listens to the person on the other end of the phone.  After a moment, the receptionist hangs up the phone and then points to the doorway down the hall behind her.  “He is ready to see you now,” she says as the door opens to reveal a man in a shirt and tie with a white lab coat.

“Come in Ms Marlowe,” he offers as he motions to the office.  “Please come in.”

Sam moves past him into the office and sits on a chair in front of the desk.  The administrator moves around the desk and flops into the rather beat-up leather chair.  “So, we were speaking of something that you wanted to do at the wrestling matches this weekend?”

Sam nods with a smile.  “I used to have this thing that wherever we were wrestling, I had a suite or something with children from the local hospitals and their families invited to see Climax Control and generally made a night of it.  I want to bring that back and I wanted to start here in Phoenix.  So, I brought myself down to see if you had a chance to chose the group that will be joining me at Climax Control and deliver these release forms so we can show the kids on the stream because I want to join them for part of the night.”

“You got it Ms Marlowe,” he begins only to stop at Sam holding up her hand.

“It’s just Sam,” the redhead says.  “Ms Marlowe is my moms and she isn’t here.  Besides, I am looking forward to it.  I mean those times before were great and I am looking forward to having Sammi’s sweethearts start up once more.”

The administrator nods as Sam pulls a bunch of papers out of her bag and sets the gently on the desk.  “Here are the releases for you.”  She looks down to see her watch and then with a slight panicked look, gets to her feet and reaches out her hand.  “Oh gosh, I wish I could stay but I have to meet someone soon.  But I will be ready on Sunday to meet everyone at the venue.”

“We will be there Ms…Sam,” the administrator says as he picks up the papers and squares them by tapping them lightly on the desk.  “And good luck in your match.”

Sam is almost to the door before she turns and smiles at the administrator.  “Thanks,” she calls out before walking through the door.  She offers a wave to the receptionist and then leaves the hospital.

About a half hour later, she appears near a park when suddenly everything around her freezes.  A small smile crosses her face as she slowly walks towards the part.  She can see Bear beside Ben who is smiling and talking to the camera.  Bear turns his head and sees Sam who holds a finger up to her lips.  Bear seems to wink then leans into the strokes.

Sam leans against the short wall as she watches Ben talking to the camera.  A look of happiness crosses her face, a smile from ear to ear watching Ben and realizing how long it has been since she has seen him like this and her heart was happy. 

“This is right,” she mutters to herself.  “I am so glad he is back and so glad to be teaming with him.  We are so going to win those mixed tag titles.”

Sam can see that Ben is finishing up his ‘rabbit’ that he called it.  Pushing herself from the wall, she wanders closer to Ben and Bear and sits beside them and teases Ben about being rusty.

“You know Ben, you aren’t the only one that needs to say things about the match on Sunday.  I guess it is time that I try that snappy thing,” Sam suggests.  Sam raises her fingers to snap as she has seen Ben do time and again however before she can, a hand comes down over hers.

“Hold on a sec Ginge…do you remember what happened last time you tried this?” questions Ben with a concerned look fighting a smile. 

Sam shakes her head slowly.  “I have been practicing you know.”  She once more reaches up to snap which freezes everyone in place.  Ben looks around, the look of concern on his face replaced by a smile.  Sam smirks up at him and prepares to speak but suddenly the people begin to move once more. 

“Performance issues?” teases Ben which only causes Sam’s eyes to narrow. 

“Fine..could you maybe give me a bit of assistance for this Prat?” she replies.

Ben smirks and holds a hand out in front of Sam’s nose and with a wink, snaps his fingers…

“Crack on Ginge...”

To say that I am excited about this Sunday is an understatement.  Do you realize what this Climax Control is?  It is a return that I have been waiting for since Blast from the Past 2017 when we teamed up and went all the way to the finals of that tournament.  We were a tag team to be worried about.  The reason was that we were best friends.  We had each other’s back.  And we won…until the finals.  But I knew why we didn’t win that and I was fine with that.  Then we drifted apart for a bit and I will admit that I didn’t like that much but hey what can you do about it.  He went his way and I went mine. 

For a while I left and I worked on me.  I got healed up completely and then I made my return.  Sadly at the time, Ben wasn’t here in SCW much so I continued on.  And then a few months ago, that all changed.  Sin City Wrestling announced that the Mixed Tag titles were making a comeback and I knew that was something I wanted to fight for.  But who to tag with was the question.  Yeah, I had my dream partner in my thoughts but could I even ask him?  Then out of the blue, a message and a plane ticket and one discussion later here I am entered into the race for the mixed tag title belts with what one would have to say is a dream come true.  Oh…hadn’t I said that my dream partner was Ben Jordan?

First I want to address a couple of things.  First off, welcome back Ben, looking forward to this match as we start our run for the belts.

Then I want to address Austin Mercer.  I have to say I am glad that I don’t have to face you in the ring.  I have seen you and I have to tell you, I respect you greatly.  I have seen you when you won titles and when you hit your lows but even then you still gave people a run for their money.  Don’t get me wrong, I am confident in my partner but you will be a big man to topple.  Ben has done it before and I am pretty sure that he will do it again.  Win or loss, mad respect for you Austin.  Sadly, even with the mad respect, I am going to have to tell you that it won’t stop us from beating you in the ring on Sunday.

Then we have Tempest, the Amazon who throws a big shadow over the bombshell division.  To say that I wasn’t worried would be a lie.  I have been in the ring with you and I can vouch for the fact that you have the ability and skill.  And for a bigger bombshell, you are an all arounder.  When bombshells beat you, they have the right to brag even though they have probably no strength to.

Now I know that I do hold a win over you and trust me I will tell the truth.  It was  a learning experience with the pain you inflicted and if truth be told, I remember it every time I rotate my shoulder or bend my back.  But you have to ask yourself Tempest, every time that I rotate that shoulder or stretch the wrong way, would I be thinking of how painful it is or am I thinking about wanting to get my own back for that pain?  A lot of people think that I am SCW’s sweetheart but if I am honest, there are times deep down inside, that little voice talks to me about making you feel the pain that I did. 

Which means on Sunday when I step into that ring with you, I am stepping into the ring with a healthy dose of respect for you.  You have lived this life with wrestling at your core.  Me, I will admit it was mostly baseball and football growing up for me.  Then I discovered wrestling and I was hooked.  I got in the ring and that was it, the adrenaline became a craving that I enjoyed.  I went out and I found a trainer who pushed me beyond my limits.  Vixen taught me the basics but it is my opponents that have taught me finesse. 

You yourself were one of those teachers Tempest.  By your sheer size and power, you taught me pain but you also taught me how to fight through that pain and how to use it as fuel to win matches.  You were the mountain I had to climb to learn that size doesn’t matter.  Size…my Daddy always says it isn’t the size of the doggie in the fight but the size of the fight in the doggie.

On Sunday, you are going to be in for a fight Tempest.  I am not fighting to prove people who think that I am not going to be a challenge wrong.  I am fighting for the chance at the Mixed Tag Team belts with my best friend.  Sunday is step one.  I’ll see you and Austin there and I promise you, we, Ben and I will leave you in our rearview.