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Sam Marlowe, calm relaxed and looking forward to an evening of quiet video viewing can be seen padding between her kitchen and living rooms as the sound of her doorbell catches her attention as she is walking towards her tv room. With a rather large cherry coke in a frosty glass, she looks around for somewhere to set it down before walking to the door and pulling it opens slowly to reveal Monte on her front step dressed in a pair of dark pants and a soft blue cotton buttondown.
“You don’t look like you are ready for our date,” he says as he takes in the bombshell wearing a pair of acid washed denim shorts and a faded high school baseball jersey that is knotted just under her chest. “You know, if you want, I can wait while you go and change.”
Sam smiles sheepishly as she leans against the door and shakes her head. “I thought that maybe I could try to convince you to stay in and have a movie night,” she replies as she brushes her red curls back over her shoulder.
“I thought we could go out for dinner and maybe some dancing,” he offers with his own smile.
Sam’s smile fades as she sighs and motions for Monte to come into the hall. Once he crosses the threshold, Sam shuts the door and leans her hand on it as she takes a deep breath before turning and shaking her head. “I can’t,” she states as she picks up her drink and moves once more towards her tv room trailed by Monte.
“What do you mean you can’t?” he asks. “I thought that you said yes to the date, you ain’t changing your mind are you?”
Sam quickly turns and shakes her head negatively. “Oh no, I have been looking forward to this,” she says as she motions between the two of them. “But I had hoped to convince you that maybe we should just order in and watch some movies because I can’t…” she adds before letting her head hang as she continues in a whisper, “dance.”
Monte leans forward as if he hadn’t heard her. “Can’t dance? A southern belle who has her come out like you probably had and you never learned to dance? This I can’t believe!” he jokes as Sam sets her drink down on the table in front of her sofa and then turns to Monte.
“I didn’t learn to dance because I was too sports oriented,” she argues. “Daddy was my co-conspirator when it came to learning to dance and well because of that, I didn’t make my come out much to my mother’s horror. So I can’t dance and I wouldn’t know the first thing to do about it,” she says as she flops on the sofa and offers a smile to Monte as she pats her fingers on the opposite cushion of the sofa. “So here is my offer, I got the number of a great pizza place nearby and I have a few new movies so I figured that maybe we should order pizza and watch some Shakespeare,” she says as she reaches for the videos sitting on the coffee table to hold them up for his inspection.
Taking them out of her hand he looks over the films before looking up at Sam who has a hopeful look in her eyes. Tossing the movies between the two of them, he leans back and gives Sam a narrow eyed glance. “This once you got a pass but I got a counter offer for you. I’ll settle for pizza and movies but I also get to teach you how to dance,” he offers.
Sam bites her lower lip as she contemplates the offer. Stealing a few glances at Monte, Sam relents and nods slowly. “Okay you win, but I make no promises about your toes.”
“You go order pizza and I am going to find a song to teach you to dance to,” he suggests as he moves to pull out a smartphone and brings up a streaming site. Sam gets off the couch and moves towards her phone and the menu she has set beside it.
Dialling, she calls out to Monte. “What kind of pizza did you want?” she asks only to receive a mumbled ‘surprise me’ from Monte who is intent on his telephone screen. Pressing call, she waits as the other end rings and then is picked up. She gives the person on the other end her order then hangs up and sets her phone back down on the table. “I hope you like Hawaiian pizza,” she adds as she moves to sit down again but is stopped by Monte.
“Matter of fact I do and where do you think you are going?” he demands as he holds up the phone to shake it slowly with a smirk. “I got the music and pulled down a playlist that we can teach you to dance to. I got four songs to use so I figure that we should start right now while we wait for the pizza. So come here,” he adds as his finger curls beckoning for Sam to join him.
“Are you sure about this?” she asks with a bit of fear in her voice as she moves closer to Monte who presses play on the phone and then sets it to the side before pulling Sam into his arms. Her breath catches softly as his warm hand moves along her bare skin exposed by the knotted jersey.
“I’m sure,” he states as he puts her hand on his shoulder then reaches for her other hand and holds it out. “Just let the music move you and follow it and me ok,” he adds as the opening strains of Better Love by Hozier starts to play. “Just follow the beat and…” His comment is cut off as Sam inadvertently steps on his foot before he can move it out of the way.
“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry,” she blurts out as her hand covers her cheek in embarrassment. Monte shakes his head and mutters ‘it is all right’ before he straightens out again this time moving to the beat and pulling Sam into a stumbling jumble of step and avoid. Instead of looking into his eyes, her eyes trail downward to watch as he moves his feet, her own matching the steps haltingly as the music plays.
“Sammi, you have to look at me,” he prompts which causes her to raise her eyes to his and promptly she steps once more onto his foot. He backs away from her as she holds up both hands in apology. Monte holds his own hand up as he shakes his head in the negative as Better Love continues to play. “I would have thought that a woman that does what you do in the ring would be better at not stepping on toes to the music.”
“I did warn you Monte,” says Sam as she helps him towards the sofa where he leans against it and checks on his foot. “So, how about those movies now?” she teases which only earns her a glare from Monte who shakes his head once more.
“I am going to teach you to dance if it kills me Sammi,” he vows as he straightens up and holds out his hand to the redhead who reluctantly takes it. Suddenly the song changes, the speed slightly more upbeat as Calum Scott’s voice fills her room. Monte guides her into an open area and moves behind her, one hand moving to her bare stomach as he begins to guide her to the music. “That’s it Sammi,” he murmurs against her ear as the pair of them move to the song.
Sam can’t help but smile as she leans into the embrace and moves along with the music. The song begins to fade slowly and Monte moves to the front of Sam applauding slowly. “You realize you just danced through one song and broke no toes at all? Now the next one is a bit faster but still slow. I am going to hold you and you have to look at me and trust me,” says Monte as he moves close again. “Just look into my eyes and I will guide you.”
Sam can’t speak but nods slowly with a hunted look on her face. Monte takes her hands and places one on his shoulder then takes the other as Ed Sheeran’s voice begins to fill the space. Just as they are about to start the dance, the doorbell rings and both break apart with shakey laughter. Sam points at the door and blurts out, “Pizza!” She moves to the door after grabbing her wallet and slips out her credit card. As she pays, Monte takes the pizza to the table in front of the sofa and sets it down. Sam quickly shuts the door and joins him as the box is opened to reveal the hot pizza.
Taking a piece, Monte blows on it then slides the end into his mouth to take a bite. As he chews, he motions to Sam. “Now, since I am taking all this time to teach you how to dance, I want you to promise me that we will go out and put these lessons into practice. This weekend,” he says.
Sam swallows the bite she had taken at the suggestion of going out for the weekend. “I would love to Monte but I am going to be flying out Saturday for Calgary, I have a match this week. Flight and hotel already booked,” she responds before adding, “unless you wanted to show up at the show like you did last week.” The look in her eyes however was teasingly coy as one eyebrow rises.
“You aren’t getting out of it that easy there sweetheart,” he replies. “I can’t make it a habit of heading to all your shows but I think that maybe what I might do is make plans to join you for a couple of them. One of these days I definitely need to meet this Jamie Dean who keeps tweeting you about me. Maybe he can explain the whole meatcake naming thing he did.”
Sam has the grace to blush at that comment as Monte finishes off his slice then stands and holds out his hand to Sam. Wiping her hand on one of the napkins sprawled beside the pizza box, she allows herself to be pulled up to her feet. Once more Monte pulls her close, this time their bodies barely a whisper apart. Sam looks into Monte’s eyes as he smiles and then resumes the music, hitting repeat before setting the phone down.
“Don’t you think that maybe we have learned enough tonight?” Sam asks breathlessly as the soft strains of the song “So Close” begins to play. Monte doesn’t reply as his hands move along Sam’s arms to bring them to wrap around his neck before stroking along the bare flesh of her arms and downward to encircle her waist. As the music plays, they begin to move slowly in time.
“Monte,” begins Sam only to have him lean close and teasingly move to rest his cheek against hers, softly singing along with the lyrics. Sam blushes but smiles as she leans in closer, her head moving to rest against his shoulder. As the song winds down, Sam lifts her head and looks up at Monte with a smile that slowly fades as he leans forward, his lips softly brushing against hers as his hands move against her skin pulling her deeper into his embrace. The music ends with the pair locked in an embrace.
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Calgary Alberta and Sam Marlowe is walking along the street, her smartphone in her hand as she is on her way to Prince’s Island. As she walks, she can be heard to softly hum to herself as she makes her way along the park like setting where scores of people can be seen lining up to enter what looks like a natural amphitheatre. A sign nearby advertises “Shakespeare by the Bow: HAMLET” as the venue fills. Sam moves to a shady part of the landscape with a great view of the stage area.
People watching for a moment, Sam leans back against the lush grass. Taking her phone, she opens the face time app and looking around at the fellow spectators, she gets to her feet and walks away from them and begins to speak.
“This week I am facing Roxi Johnson and I can’t tell you whether or not I am nervous. I mean for one thing, the last time I was in the ring, I was in the Chamber of Fate match where I beat her wife. And now this week I could very well be in for a world of hurt because I am facing the other half of the Fisher-Johnsons,” says Sam as she adjusts the light blue straw hat over her red curls that cascade along the cotton of the light dress she is wearing. “I get that this match on its own is a great match up between two bombshells that have nothing but respect for each other but being the inquisitive person that I am, this matchup has also made me think that there are some things I really need to get off my chest as well as get some answers so bear with me while I work this out.”
Sam takes a slow deep breath as she thinks about how she wants to start the conversation with the camera. “Roxi, I know we really haven’t sat down and talked or even chatted over anything other than Twitter and I really regret the fact that all we are so far is acquaintances that have to face each other across the ring this week. Now I could do the typical thing and talk about which one of us will win and which of us will fall but I would rather spend my time talking about other things and getting some answers, or at least talking out what I think might be the answers.”
Sam smiles as she addresses the lens. “So Roxi, I have to ask and this is asked with all sorts of respect,” she says.
Sam looks down for a moment as if collecting her thoughts then looks back up.
“I know you and your wife both claim to be superheroes and that is a great thing, we need more of you in the world. But if you are superheroes, why are you wrestling against mere mortals? I mean being a superhero would make you able to beat us without breaking a sweat and dominate every match you are in. And conversely, when you lose to us mere mortals, what does that do to your credibility among the supervillains you are nemeses of?” Sam softly demands, her hands moving and emphasizing each part of her question.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that you step into the ring and face people and I guess that means you hold back your “powers” so as not to overwhelm us mortals,” says Sam as she brushes a non-existent piece of grass from her skirt. “Now if it was me, I would think that you would understand how special it is to be a “superhero” and wouldn’t bother with something like this. After all, from what I hear, you guys train so hard in ways that none of the other Bombshells can expect to match.”
Sam starts to move along the Bow and continues to speak.
“And Roxi, speaking from the heart, I have to wonder if you hold back in the matches or if somehow you have some kind of Kryptonite that keeps you at the same level as the rest of us,” Sam wonders for the camera. “I can’t help but figure that you just play at being a regular bombshell. Because if you were really as powerful as everyone says you are, you would win every match you are in. And granted you have won a lot of matches, you have also lost too.”
From behind her, the announcer of the Shakespeare on the Bow production comes out to say that the show will be starting soon. Sam looks back for only a moment before addressing her phone once more.
“Addressing the fact that you have lost matches, what has that done for your standing with the villains in the world hmmm?” asks Sam almost rhetorically. “I mean if I was a supervillain and I heard that my nemesis could be beaten by a mortal, I would be all over that like you would not believe. I am sure you have taken this into account too and have some kind of answer for that as well.”
Her eyes focus completely on the camera, her look intent as a smile slowly crosses her face. “I am not here to doubt you Roxi, really I am not but when it comes down to it, I have these questions and I felt I should take the opportunity to ask them to someone who could answer all of my doubts in and out of the ring. And being the person I am, you know I wouldn’t be shy about asking right? And I have probably really done a bad thing to raise these doubts but you know what curiosity did to the cat right?” asks Sam with a soft giggle that draws the attention of an actor who is moving towards the stage area. Sam stops and offers him a look before smiling and wandering in the opposite direction.
Stopping to look at the river, Sam brings the camera up to take in the skyline of Calgary and then focuses back on herself. “Now I get to talk about the match this week and the fact that I get to face a woman that for all intents and purposes could be considered one of the best Bombshells on the roster today. And I have to say that I am honored for sure because this is a woman that will be in the Hall of Fame and rightly so. But I also have to tell you that for all the respect I have for you, that isn’t going to stop me from pushing you to your limits and beyond to get the win in the ring. I can’t let up on what I have to do,” says Sam with conviction. “I am sitting here with your wife and Jessie facing each other for a chance to face Crystal for the title. I am going into this match with intent and that is to win and to keep winning. I have nothing but respect for you however, that respect won’t get me a rematch with Crystal. That respect won’t prevent me from stepping into that ring to EARN my shot once more. Just like you keep saying on Twitter to your wife, title shots are earned and this week I am going to have to work towards earning my shot by beating you.”
Sam looks at the hand gripping the phone, the knuckles white as the grip on the phone is tightened by emotion. Fighting it back, Sam lets her grip go slack as she looks into the camera of the phone. “I am sorry Roxi, really sorry when I tell you that I HAVE to beat you this week. I have been quiet and I have been training and I have been preparing for Climax Control,” says Sam as she begins once more to walk towards where the play is about to begin.
“I will say this Roxi. Good luck at Climax Control and I hope that we can leave it all in the ring. Outside of that six sided ring, I would love to be better friends, at least on a better than acquaintance level but in that ring, hero or not, I am not going to settle for a loss or a draw. I am coming to win Roxi, make no doubt about that,” adds Sam as the announcer comes out from behind the curtain. Sam can see the show is about ready to start and she holds up the camera to face her once more.
“Let’s leave it all in the ring Roxi. And may the best bombshell win,” offers Sam before winking and giving her phone a wave. Sliding a finger over the screen, she ends the video and focuses on the stage as the actors come out to begin the play.
