Dressed in a pair of plaid pajamas, Sam Marlowe sits near the Marlowe Christmas tree surrounded by a pile of presents as Christmas music plays softly in the background. The rest of the family are gathered around close but Sam’s attention is on a small smartphone that is nearby. The soft bing of a notification had gotten her notice and she was typing on the buttons of the phone. From across the room, Cyn tilts her head and with a smile picks up one of her presents.
Cyn Marlowe: Well are you going to just sit there and text or are you going to open gifts?
Sam puts down the phone and nods apologetically to her family. Picking up a small wrapped gift, she tears at the paper revealing a pair of earrings in a box. Thanking her mother, she pulls over a larger box. Opening it, she pulls out a pair of wrestling boots with her initials on them. Sam’s eyes light up as she lunges across her gifts and wraps her arms around her father’s neck.
Sam Marlowe: Oh Daddy, thank you so much! I can’t wait to use them in the ring.
Philip Marlowe: I figured that you would want to use them in your first match in 2016.
Sam nodded in agreement. Cyn sighs as she takes in the pair.
Cyn Marlowe: And I bet that you are going to be waiting a little bit since you were at the Christmas show and there are so many others that will be booked I suspect.
Sam looked at Cyn then smiled.
Sam Marlowe: Actually, I am booked for the first show of the New Year, which means that I will have won my last match of the year and I am fixing to win my first match next week.
Cyn quirks an eyebrow at the comment from Sam as she pulls the gift wrap from a bottle of perfume.
Cyn Marlowe: Oh aren’t you so very cocky Sammi. So who are you facing, some newbie that needs to be put in her place or are they giving you to someone to bury.
Sam can’t ignore the rudeness of Cyn that comes across more sickly sweet than anything.
Sam Marlowe: I don’t know who my opponent is yet but SCW sent me an email telling me that I am going to be on the show. They are going to contact me next week and let me know.
As they have been talking, both women continued to open gift after gift. Opening her last gift, Sam gets to her feet and then with a smile moves over to the table where cups of hot chocolate have been left for the family. Taking one in her hand she moves back to the couch near the tree and sets it beside her as she gathers her gifts into a pile. Once they are all together, she picks them up and with her arms full, turns to her parents and smiles.
Sam Marlowe: Thank you everyone. I’m going to put these up in my room then I will be back in a few minutes.
Making her escape, she can hear Cyn saying something to their parents. As she climbs the stairs to her room, she can’t help but let her face fall slightly. As she back against her room door, she can be heard mumbling to herself as she disappears into her room.
Days later, Sam can be found in Vegas looking over the city on New Year’s Eve. All alone, she relaxes in the hotel room where she is staying until Climax Control. There is a knock at the door which Sam answers to reveal a cart with room service and a bottle of wine. Signing for it, she pulls the cart into the room and then closes the door.
Moving into the room, she pulls the cart close to the bed and sits down. Dressed in a pair of yoga pants that hug her curves and a new Sam Marlowe Queen of Hearts tee she picks up her smartphone. On it can be seen her camera where the record button is pressed.
Sam Marlowe: Here I am, New Year’s eve and I am all alone. I could be at any number of parties tonight but instead I am here preparing for the first Climax Control of 2016 in a few days. And thanks to the Queen for a Day Mercedes Vargas, I have been put in a match that I really feel I need to worry about. You see I am in a match that I will have to tag with a woman that doesn’t really like me to face Traci Patterson and Melanie Gabrielle. Now I could be prudent and prepare to see my partner walk out of the match and leave me to get beaten down by those two or I could put my faith in the fact that my partner is someone that knows what it is like as a tag partner who wouldn’t let her partner down.
Sam Marlowe lifts the cover from the food and then taking a fry from the plate, nibbles it lightly as a thoughtful look passes over her face.
Sam Marlowe: Actually, given who my partner is, I had better be prepared for the worst. Given that Veronica Taylor is probably still pissed about the fact that I beat her at the supercard in Ottawa, that would be the obvious thing.
Again, she pulls a piece of food towards her, her tongue lightly protruding to lick at the small dribble of sauce coming from the bite.
Sam Marlowe: I am not going to get my panties in a twist about this match and my partner. See I know that I am facing someone who will have to understand that I am out to make 2016 Sam Marlowe’s year. And if that means I have to beat a member of the Angel Clan at her own game, so be it. And if I have to kick Traci Patterson’s ass, I will do that too. And if I have to do it on my own, I am prepared for that too. I know that I am probably the most underdog person in this match but I will be damned if I am going to let that hold me back. 2016 is going to be the year that I am finally going to get some respect and maybe a title or two while I am at it.
Sam once more reaches for the plate of food. As she does, she smiles at the camera and takes a slow breath.
Sam Marlowe: As much as I want to stay and keep talking about the match coming up, I have a date with some tape to study. So Happy New Year to all my fans and all the fans of Sin City Wrestling. Hope it is going to be a helluva year for us all.
Pressing stop on the camera, Sam lays it beside her and begins to eat in earnest while turning on the television across from the bed.
