The sounds of an engine can be heard thrumming as the interior of a vehicle is seen, the driver a very familiar redhead who can be seen looking into the rearview mirror, one hand escaping the wheel to brush back a few stray hairs that have blown into her face. On the radio, the beat of a country song blares out as Sam Marlowe continues to drive, the city scape rapidly moving in the background. Sam watches the street as she drives along but even watching the street, she begins to speak as if she wasn’t alone in the car.
“You know that I have to really be prepared for the supercard,” she says as she spares a quick glance to her right as she slows at a light. “I mean that I have to be on my game and you know that I am looking at the fight of my life against someone that really, I gotten under the skin of which is going to make her dangerous against me because she will want to eliminate that annoyance. Who would have thought that I would be an annoyance to anyone? But I’m just lucky, I guess.”
The light turns green and the car begins to move again, the dashcam catching Sam shifting gears. She looks out at the traffic then once more at the dashcam with a brief glance as she continues to speak once more.
“I should have seen it coming considering that she had already started in on me. I thought that if I ignored her, she would just get bored and leave me alone. I was happy wrestling whatever matches came along I didn’t care one way or another about wins or losses. I put my head down and faced who I was booked against and leaving it all in the ring. After all, that was my job, not my defining end all and be all of my life. That was the Sam Marlowe I wanted to be. That was the Sam Marlowe I decided I would be, the sweetheart of Sin City Wrestling. Content to smile and give the fans what they wanted…a bombshell to cheer for. I wanted to be friends with everyone in the division. I guess that was too much of a wish for some people. It started with the losing streak which emboldened people to jump on my back with the cutting comments and the taunts of not being competitive. Then of course, there were those bombshells that decided they would try their level best to get to me…”
As Sam speaks out, she is getting the occasional looks from people in cars that pull up beside her. Seeing them looking at her, she smiles and waves then offers a mimed telephone to explain her speaking. The look of agreement from the passengers and drivers of nearby cars is accompanied by their own wave back at the redhead before they pull away. Sam chuckles into the camera on the dash and then speaks once more as hand over hand, she turns to the right.
“I wonder what she is thinking right now about our match. I bet Andrea is trying her hardest to think of more school girl teasing that she could say to me about this match and about how I am not the wrestler she is and how I am a loser. If you ask me, when it comes to whatever it is that Andrea talks about when it comes to me, all I think is how much it is wash rinse and repeat. Does she even have an original thought above middle school mentality that she displays over and over again. I have been out of middle school for the longest time and now I get pulled right back in,” sighs Sam as she pulls up to a red light, down shifting as she does. At the stop, she looks directly into the camera again to offer it a smile. Just as the light changes and Sam pulls out into the intersection, she addresses the camera outloud, “Grow up Andrea…seriously.”
The car speeds along for a few moments, the silence broken by the sounds of the engine as Sam shifts gears. Sam pulls up once more at an intersection but this time it is to pull into a parking lot where she guides the vehicle towards the drive thru. Lining up behind a few other cars, she leans back and talks once more as if she were addressing her opponent directly.
“Andrea, I don’t know what I did to make you treat me this way and really I don’t care. Obviously there is bad blood there for you and I think you need to work it out yourself. But given the fact that y’all seem to want to cast me in a bad light, fine, do what you think y’all need to. Bring all your hate and vitriol…whatever you need to use to justify the fact that y’all ain’t happy with yourself. I get it Andrea, y’all are angry, ain’t ya?” muses Sam before she moves the car forward slightly. “You seem to think that you are an afterthought don’t you because you haven’t had the chance to shine like you once did. Sin City Wrestling doesn’t see you as a viable wrestler and keeps you down by not offering you the automatic title shot that you seem to think everyone else is being given. You expect the company to make you the face of it because you are Andrea Hernandez, former Bombshell champion. You can’t conceive of the fact that you aren’t handed what you suspect you have a god given right to expect. Listen Andrea, wrestling in SCW isn’t a right, it is a privilege and as such, y’all need to understand that when it comes down to it, you aren’t any better than any other bombshell in the division.”
Sam stops to pull ahead again in the line. This time she notices she is being watched and waves at the small group of people on the sidewalk who are pointing and whispering which sends them into a frenzy of waves and then the group walks off while Sam looks back into the camera that had caught all of the interaction.
“I have to ask Andrea,” she begins with a look of confusion on her face. “Do you feel left out? Is this coming from a place of wanting attention and y’all don’t know how to get the right attention. From what I see, the only attention you are getting is bad attention because of the way you are acting with all the juvenile things you are doing when it comes to talking about people. Like how you are all hung up on the fact that ever since Bea threw coffee into my face, y’all need to constantly talk about me and coffee like it is going to bother me. Whatever drives your car Andrea,” jokes Sam as she moves again, a faint mechanical sound nearby.
“It isn’t like you ever liked me anyways and sadly, that doesn’t bother me either. I know I am not for everyone or so my sister Cyn says. But I don’t wrestle for you and I don’t even worry about what anyone says about me. This isn’t the time for me to worry about it because I am in a career that at a moment’s notice could end in a snap…”
Sam emphasizes the snap with her fingers snapping. Behind her, a car horn goes off which has Sam looking behind her and waving with an apologetic smile and moving her car forward. The faint mechanical sound is closer now and slightly louder but one still can not make out what it is. Sam spares a look at the dashcam and leans forward.
“Y’all have to realize Andrea that I had nothing against you. Even with your little white elephant sale of items including that picture of me with the red ex on it. Oh and by the way, the copy I bought…it is hanging up at home in my personal work out room for inspiration. Andrea, I respect y’all because you have talent, maybe a bit too much arrogance but talent nonetheless. So, actually I am looking forward to this match at Into the Void Andrea. And you may ask why or not considering y’all probably don’t care but let me enlighten you. We are both former champions and both of us have been strong in that ring and both of us have lost in the ring as well. The difference between you and me is the fact that you believe it is your right to be given title match after title match and I consider it to be a privilege to fight for the right to challenge the champions. I don’t deserve to be given the shots, I believe in earning them where you believe that because you are Andrea Hernandez, it is only natural that you have the shots you believe you deserve,” offers Sam as she once more shifts into gear and heads another car length forward.
“At the last Climax Control, you once more did your Andrea taunt by picking up on the fact about coffee and used it to get your little digs in and bravo, it got you exactly what hmmm? We already had the contract signed for the supercard but you couldn’t resist that one last dig, could you? Did it make you feel better Andrea? Did y’all think it got to me?” muses Sam as once more she pulls ahead in the drive thru when a sudden mechanical voice calls out…
“Welcome to Starbucks…”
“Oh…to answer your little question Andrea,” says Sam as she turns towards the speaker, the camera picking up the grin from the redhead. “I love Starbucks!”
“Huh?” says the speaker which catches Sam’s attention. She quickly turns back to the speaker.
“I’ll have a trente cool lime refresher extra juice and limes,” orders Sam. The speaker calls out the price and invites Sam to drive up. She pulls ahead slightly then reaches for a handful of change from the console in the middle of the car and flips open the cupholder. Getting to the window, she smiles up at the young man in the window who reminds her about the price. Sam nods and counts out the change and hands it to the youth then takes the frosty cup and sets into the cupholder. The youth hands her her change then with a wave, Sam leaves the drive thru.
Sam stops then merges with traffic before once more addressing the camera. “Andrea, I don’t know what you are expecting at Into the Void when you are stepping into the ring with me. I advise you though not to take for granted that my record might not be the best right now. See, when people underestimate me, that is when I am the most dangerous for my opponents. They consider me the easy opponent and just when they have the match in hand I go and pull out the win. I won’t pretend to think that you would make that mistake but Andrea, as much as you talk about the fact I am who I am and you are who y’all are, sounds like you are underestimating me and that will be the last thing you should be doing. After all, like I said, both of us are former champions and that says something. But let me remind you…I am a former two-time Bombshell Champion…a former Roulette champion and a mixed tag champion. As much as you talk about me losing my roulette title to Candy, we both know that I still have a record that makes me a challenge if you take me lightly, which I am sure y’all aren’t going to do, are you Andrea?”
Once more the cityscape flashes by as Sam speeds away from the Starbucks. Suddenly the sound of a country song begins to play over the radio as Sam begins to sing along, the last image taken by the camera is the hand of Sam moving towards it to hit the stop button.
(https://french-kiss.webs.com/samdivider2.png)
A photobooth can be seen, the outside decorated with SCW logos and superstar and bombshell images. A line up can be seen, people spaced six feet apart as a row of superstars and bombshell cutouts can be seen. Fans can be seen excitedly waiting their turn for a photo with their favorite SCW personality. Suddenly the fans catch movements near the photobooth and react accordingly as they catch a redhead in a ball cap and a pair of cutoff jeans, Sam Marlowe baseball shirt and cowboy boots. She turns as her name is called out by the fans and she turns to wave at the crowd.
“Hey y’all,” she calls out as she approaches the line up and stops about ten feet away. “Welcome to the photo op for Into the Void. Have you been waiting long?” A wave of no’s wash over her making her smile. She nods and slides her hands into her back pockets. “Hey, tell you what…I don’t have to be inside for a little while so why don’t we have our own little Q and A out here while you wait for the photo ops. Who has a question?”
Hands shoot up which has Sam surprised as she brings her hands up in surrender. “Whoa…all right then. You right there, what is your question?”
A young girl looks up at her father who pats her on her shoulders encouragingly. The girl turns back to Sam who has moves ever so slightly closer to hear her question. “Ummm…gosh I don’t know what to ask. Daddy, what should I say?” asks the girl who looks up at her father for advice. He kneels down and smiles at the girl. “What would you want to answer if someone was asking you a question?” he prompts which has the girl lighting up and then turning to Sam once more. “Who is your favorite wrestler?” she asks.
Sam gets a thoughtful look on her face, giving it the proper attention, it deserves. “That is such a good question that no one ever asks us. I guess they figure that we would say ourselves…Lemme see. I have a couple of favorites. First and foremost, my best friend Ben Jordan is one of my faves. The prat can be endearing and the like. And between you and me, he promised to help me get that finger snappy thing to work. I also have to say that another of my favorites are Roxi Johnson and Amy Santino.”
“Yeah but who is your favoritest?!?” the little girl replies seriously.
Sam shakes her head and gets closer to the girl. “I can’t really decide. Who is your favorite?” Sam asks to escape answering.
“I likes you,” answers the girl. “And I like Roxi and Mark Cross and Candy’s puppy and…”
“Sweetie, we should let some other people ask questions and we have to move closer for the photo. Say thank you,” says her dad which prompts the girl to shout thank you before taking her father’s hand and moving along.
Smiling at the little girl, Sam turns back to the crowd where the sea of hands is waving in the sunlight. She points at a young man who sneers slightly as he pushes his way forward to lean closer to Sam who backs up in surprise.
“Yeah, I want to know what you think you are doing taking on Andrea Hernandez at Into the Void. She is going to kick you’re a$$ all over that ring you know.”
Sam shakes her head and sighs before addressing the question. “Y’all think that I am in over my head don’t ya?” she asks only to have the young man mutter ‘damn right’. Sam lowers her gaze as she thinks about her reply. “Well I think I am stepping into the ring with Andrea in an attempt to shut her mouth once and for all when it comes to me. I didn’t actively look for this match, it just sorta fell in my lap so to speak and well, given the checks her mouth is trying to write, I felt that I needed to set her straight. I ain’t anybody’s fool when it comes to being in that ring with another bombshell. If Andrea wanted a fight for the supercard, she taunted her way into one.”
“Still doesn’t mean that you can beat her Sammie!” taunts the youth before he is joined by a couple of others who jostle him forward slightly into the guide ropes that are directing the line up. Sam offers him a half grin before nodding and shrugging her shoulders. “No matter what I say, you are just going to shoot it down. My daddy always said that even broken clocks are right twice a day so we will consider your comment as being any of the other times in that quote.”
Her answer confuses the youth and his mouth drops open but nothing is said. Around him the crowd begins to laugh as Sam winks at them. Grumbling, he moves off and is replaced by a woman who neither smiles nor frowns as she steps up to ask her question.
“Sam, at Into the Void, are you scared about the match? Andrea has had your number before and well, do you think that she has it again?” she asks.
“I think that this match is going to probably be one of the matches of the night given that Andrea and I are coming into this match with definite plans. But am I scared of the match…no, I ain’t scared however, I have a healthy respect about just what Andrea is capable of and with that respect comes the fact that I know I am going to have to do my dangest when it comes to wrestling her. Part of me is wondering though, since you did ask, I wonder if Andrea is scared about the match?” muses Sam only to have the youth shout a ‘hell nah’ in Sam’s direction. She ignores it only sparing him a side glance for a quick moment. She is about to speak again when one of the techs move out of the building and approaches Sam. He leans towards her to say something softly into her ear which makes a half grin cross her face and an apologetic look come to her eyes.
“I wish I could stay out here and chat but they need me inside. It’s been fun and all and have fun with the pictures here…Talk to you later and see you at Into the Void,” offers Sam as she backs towards the building and then at the last minute, waves before ducking inside as the shouts and cheers from the crowd in line reach her.
[/size]
A school yard can be seen, empty of the crowds of children who would be leaving the building and heading towards a row of yellow buses. Instead, only a single finger can be seen moving through the yard towards a swing that is hanging and barely swinging in the slight breeze. The person is dressed in a pair of dark boots, a short plaid skirt and white blouse. She has a long ponytail that hangs over her left shoulder as she reaches the swing then turns to reveal Sam Marlowe in what looks like a school girl uniform. Taking a seat on the swing, she takes a few steps backwards putting the swing at a forty-five-degree angle and braces it there by planting her feet in the sand beneath it.
Following her is another figure, this one dressed in jeans and a letter jacket. Colton Myers holds up the camcorder that he has been filming Sam with and motions for her to speak. Sam smiles and nods before she looks directly into the camera and speaks softly.
“I have had time to think about things and I have come to some conclusions about my opponent at the supercard. You may wonder why I would be thinking so hard about it when it is obvious that Andrea Hernandez has basically said it all and if you ask anyone, she is going to beat me in the ring because she has beaten me verbally for the past couple of weeks,” suggests Sam as she puts her hands on the large clunky chains of the swing. “I guess I should just give up now and not worry about going to the ring at Into the Void to face her…”
“And that is something that you would never do right?” muses Colton as he slowly moves around Sam to film her from the side forcing her to turn her head and smile at the cameraman.
“You know me too well Camo,” offers Sam with a giggle before she wipes at her lips and once more speaks. “So, like I was saying, I have come to some conclusions about Andrea. Let’s take them one at a time shall we?”
Sam lifts her feet and begins to swing as she continues to address the camera. “Firstly, I have realized that for all her talk, Andrea is nothing but a bully. You know the type…talks a great game but inside is just so insecure about the fact that she isn’t the center of attention. So, what does she do? She acts like a school bully by using her taunts and school girl antics like crude pictures, taunting merch and basically just talking like she is some major star in the company.”
Sam’s smile fades only slightly before she kicks out her legs to force the swing higher. “If you could see it, she acts like her crap don’t stink but can’t help but whine about the fact that she hasn’t been given a title shot since she lost the bombshell championship. I wonder if she even thought about why she hasn’t been given a shot. Honestly how marketable really is she? There seems to be a problem with putting her into title matches because if you ask me, she would probably win the match and the shares in viewing and streaming would go down. Oh yeah, she can claim that she would be a dominant champion and all that but when people tune into Climax Control or supercards, they are treated to a whiny ‘why not me’ bombshell who has no real direction or connections to the fans of SCW.”
“Come on Sami, you are being harsh…” says Colton but stops as Sam takes her hand off one side of the swing to waggle a finger negatively at him.
“Oh Colton darlin’, I am only being truthful,” answers Sam as she begins to drag her feet to slow the swing. “Have you not seen the last few Climax Controls when she talked about me. She wasn’t even on my radar when she started because I didn’t think that she was someone that I would have to face considering how I thought she was in line for the Bombshell Championship. See, I figured that I wanted to stay in the lower card for a while because I was thinking about heading back to school for my doctorate…I had done before so I figured keep myself in easier matches and I could combine that with part time studies. And then of course, the pandemic came and that had to be put on hold. So, I let management at SCW know that I was available for more matches and they started putting me in matches for title shots.”
“That must have burned Andrea’s ass,” offers Colton after tsking a bit.
“If it did or not wasn’t something that worried me. I was content to wrestle and win or lose, I was content with how I was doing. Then of course, I must have driven her mad with the fact that people tend to ignore her. Or maybe it was the fact that I ignored her…” muses Sam as she bites her lower lip. “I didn’t really care about her and even when she took those little digs at me, I never rose to the bait. So it got worse until I couldn’t ignore her. She was like a pebble in a shoe…irritating and rubbing until I finally decided to give her the attention she deserved. And even when I noticed her, I still respected her. But all she did was continue to erode that respect until now we are going to be facing each other in the ring.”
“I can only imagine what she has been saying about you darlin’,” says Colton as he moves to face Sam who once more has stopped the swing and is standing against the seat. She spares a slow glance at Colton before once again pulling her full bottom lip between her teeth. “Did you want to see if she did?”
Sam thinks about it then shakes her head in the negative as she straightens up and then begins to walk towards the camera and stops only feet away from Colton. “I am sure I wouldn’t like it but, in all actuality, I don’t really care Colton. I can’t care what she says because that will just give her rental space up here,” says Sam as she taps at her temple. “I have to fight my own fight and I can’t let what she says bother me. We both know that I tend to get ahead of myself if I listen to my opponent so what needs to happen is that I have to take everything she has said about me, ball it up and toss it away. This is my match to win or lose and giving Andrea the capability to beat me before I get in the ring is not something that I care to do.”
Sam begins to walk with Colton pacing her, his camcorder focused on the redhead as she walks, a soft murmuring escaping her as she moves. Colton mumbles the word pardon which has Sam stop and turn to the camera.
“I have only one thing to say about this match Colton and it is that I hope Andrea is going to be ready for me to bring the fight to her. Like my friend once told me…the only thing you need to know is that you shouldn’t back down from a bully. You have to stand up and shut them up and that is exactly what I have planned for Andrea!” exclaims Sam before she turns and walks away leaving Colton to follow her quickly as he turns the camera off and chases after Sam calling out to her as the pair move around the corner of the playground.
(https://french-kiss.webs.com/samdivider2.png)
Dr. Evans can be seen on a wingback chair writing notes as she glances down at the patient who is laying on the couch by her chair. The only noticeable feature is red curls on the arm of the couch as the doctor brings the pen to her lips and taps it there. The person on the couch begins to speak.
“Doctor Evans,” the redhead begins. “I am so glad you were able to let me come in and talk to you. It has been a long time since we talked and I was starting to worry about myself and my emotional and mental health.”
“Sam, I have told you that I would be available for phone calls and the like. So what is going on with you?” asks the doctor.
Sam sighs and brings her hands up to her chest and crosses her arms as she spares a glance at the doctor again. “Well, I am still wrestling,” begins Sam only to hear the skritch of the pen moving across the paper of the book on the doctor’s lap. “And this week I have to go into the ring with Andrea Hernandez who has spent the last few weeks putting me down and talking about me like I am some idiot. She even claims that I am afraid of her.”
The doctor smiles as she ducks her head but needs to ask, ”So are you?”
“Nooooo!” exclaims Sam as she turns to look up at the doctor, frowning slightly. “I just know that she thinks that I am nothing and she is everything that should be given title shots and championships. If I was honest with myself, I let her get under my skin and that is why we are facing each other. I suppose you could say that I asked for this.”
“How was she able to get under your skin? One would think that if you gave her the ability, you had to have known she would take it.”
Sam nods and bites at her bottom lip. “Yeah, I should have just continued to ignore her but you know me…once I think that someone is dancing on my last nerve, I am going to push them off of it. Oh and if you have to know, she is good at digs. Did I ever tell you about the picture that she had made of me…had this big red ex right over my head. I thought that I diffused that by buying it from her and that did shut her up for a little bit. Then all of a sudden she started in on me again.”
“What do you think motivates her to do that?” asks the doctor.
Sam thinks for a moment then shrugs. “Seems that whenever it looks like I am being highlighted by management with chances at title shots or belts, she gets really jealous and talks about how she should be the one that is the face of the bombshell division. I seriously think she believes her own hype. Hellfire, I don’t really care if I am the face of the bombshells or not. If it is important to her then maybe what she needs to do it tell management that she deserves the shots rather than whine about not getting them. I think that with the way the division is, there are few real faces of the bombshells division and more heelish people so I guess I tend to stand out rather that just be one of many like Andrea is. And so here we are.”
“Did you ever think that if you talked to her that she would realize you are not a threat to her?” muses the doctor which gets a soft chuckle from Sam. “You did try that right?”
“I tried to just stay out of her way Doc,” begins Sam, “but that didn’t work and now I am not going to stay out of her way anymore. Now at Into the Void, I am on a collision course with someone that has decided that she is going to use me as a stepping stone to somehow make herself relevant. I hope she realizes us Texas gals aren’t going to lay down for anyone.” Sam slams one fist into the open palm of the other hand.
The soft snap of the notebook closing catches Sam’s attention which has her looking at the doctor before sitting up on the couch. “Sam, in my opinion, you seem to be focused for the match this week. I think you just needed to talk it out and put it into perspective for yourself. I am glad I was able to help you with that but now our time is up.”
Sam gets to her feet and holds out her hand towards the doctor who has risen herself and clasps it. “Thanks Doc, I think you are right. See you soon?”
The doctor nods before guiding Sam to the door and opening it to allow her to walk through. With a final wave, Sam leaves the office as the doctor lets the door shut behind her before walking towards her desk to sit down and open the notebook to go over her notes.
(https://french-kiss.webs.com/samdivider2.png)
“Here we are, days from our match and I am playing with Tik Tok, I am using it to send you a message Andrea. I obviously somehow managed to have less than ten people tell me about how you spoke about me at the comedy club with all my fans turning on me…” says Sam as she offers a slow clap.
“I can’t believe it, the most talented and deserving bombshell having to copy me in order to make herself look good. I would have never believed it,” says Sam, one hand moving to cover her heart. “I always thought you were an original Andrea and now here I am, disappointed in the fact that you can’t offer me anything but a stale, over the top, redux of something that I did out of the blue when I was on my way for the photoshoot for the supercard. I genuinely interacted with fans…not just my fans but SCW fans. You staged a question and answer session filled with actors and yes fans to put me down. Doesn’t it bother you that you don’t have an original thought when it comes to facing me. If I didn’t know better, I would swear you were just a second rate Sam Marlowe looking for someone to pat you on the head and say ‘good job Andrea, you made her look like some kind of fool.’ Well, who is the fool now huh? The bombshell that had the audacity to be genuine or the bombshell who needed to copy her opponent because she had nothing new to talk about.”
“I mean come on…how long did you play out that coffee reference just because of my reacting to the lies told by Bea Barnhart??” offers Sam as she tilts her head, crosses her arms over her chest before reaching up with one finger to tap at her nose. “Seeing as we both know you seem to have this complex about how you are disrespected in SCW, let me simplify it for you. I am coming to the ring at Into the Void and I am going to do the one thing that you least expect from me. I will respect your skills and not underestimate you. I am comin’ with a chip on my shoulder put there by you and will step up to knock it off by knocking you out of the ring and beating you like I am confident that I will be able to do.”
“Good luck Andrea,” offers Sam as she glares at the lens of whatever camera she is using. “I hope you know just what you are going to be feelin’ in that ring when I step into it and then step up to y’all!” exclaims Sam before she reaches out and tapping a button, sends the image to black. [/size]