It was a very difficult time for Maggie and she was struggling to deal with all of the adversity, which had recently begun to consume her life. Just a few short months ago she was the POWA champion, her husband John was showering her with affection and life was good. But how things change so easily.
Maggie lost her title to Helen in a one-sided match, then lost to a rookie in the first round of the Queen of the Hill Tournament. As a result, she had also begun to lose much of her self-esteem. So at a time when she needed his support most, John had taken on new responsibilities at work, forcing him to travel most of the time. As a result, he was rarely home and even when he was, he was often tired and distant, and there was little sign things would change any time soon.
To further complicate things, Hector had been rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack at the POWA Queen of the Hill wrestling show. Hector was John's boss, good friend, neighbor and husband of Marisol. But despite the bitter rivalry between their wives, Hector and John were actually very close. Hector had also done a great deal for John's career so as a result, John felt a responsibility to try and help Hector as much as he could in this time of need. So despite Maggie's displeasure with the situation, John visited Hector in the hospital several nights per week, sacrificing even more of the little time he had to spend with her.
John also felt obligated to help Marisol as much as he could, despite the fact that he was not too crazy about the way she had treated Maggie in the past. He would drive her home from the hospital most nights and also help her with some of the household chores while Hector remained laid up. It was only for a few days, and since Hector was expected to make a quick and full recovery, john felt it was the least he could do for his old friend. But then one night before Marisol had arrived at the hospital, John sat and talked with his good friend. Suddenly however, Hector felt a bout of chest pains. He must have known what was coming because his last words were a plea to John to tell Marisol that he loved her and to plead with John that he promise to take care of her for him. Just a few moments later he was gone. So John was left with the regrettable task of telling Marisol that her husband had died.
The rest of the week was very difficult for Maggie, as John spent almost all of his time helping Marisol to make the arrangements for Hector's funeral. Hector had no family and Marisol only had one younger sister, who lived in Puerto Rico. Though she had come to help her sister, she spoke little English and could offer little assistance.
Maggie avoided any confrontations with her husband and tried to be understanding, even though she desperately needed his attention. She began to grow depressed, but knew that she could not bring her depression to John's attention for fear of appearing to be heartless. Maggie decided not to attend the preliminary memorial service, and chose only to attend the funeral, which did in the company of her husband. Afterward she expressed her condolences to Marisol and her sister but chose not to join the procession to the cemetery, leaving John to go on without her.
Upon arriving home, Maggie undressed, slipped into a pair of pajamas and crawled into bed. She felt very alone and began to cry, continuing to do so for several hours. A feeling of total helplessness took her over. She knew she needed help to break the feeling of despair, but also knew that she could not get that help from John right now.
Over the next few days, Maggie did not get dressed once. She wore pajamas all day and night and either stayed in bed or sat and watched television. She had no motivation to do anything else and spent much of her time crying. Her misery was broken however by a call from the POWA matchmakers, informing her that she had been scheduled to face Kim in the upcoming show.
Maggie thought back to the first time she had faced Kim. It was Kim's first match in the POWA and Maggie was able to beat her, though not as easily as she thought she would. But after the match, John was very proud of her and showered her with affection. That might just have been the motivation Maggie needed as she decided to pull herself together and take action.
John had left early that morning, but promised Maggie he would be home for dinner and would spend the night with her. So Maggie spent all day preparing for his return home. She went shopping and bought all of the ingredients for his favorite dinner, preparing everything in advance before going to work on herself, making herself look her best. She had hoped to finally spend a quiet, romantic evening with her husband. She would tell him about her upcoming match, feed him a nice meal and then spend the rest of the evening together!
As the time when John was supposed to arrive home drew nearer, Maggie slipped on her sexiest lingerie, did her hair and make up, sprayed herself with her best perfume and waited..... and waited.... and waited......
After waiting several hours, John finally arrived home, looking completely exhausted. But still motivated, Maggie virtually molested him when he walked through the door. John politely thwarted Maggie's advances however, refusing dinner and heading straight up to be. Maggie was in complete shock and couldn't believe john's reaction. She fell onto the sofa in her living room and cried the rest of the night away, sinking deeply into a state of depression.
Over the next few days Maggie did not wander out of the house. She sat in front of the television and ate... or laid in bed and ate.... or did nothing at all... except eat. She became completely despondent.... which encouraged her to eat.... . which little by little began to make her feel unattractive.... all of which strengthened her feelings of depression.
She woke up on Friday morning, just one day before her match against Kim, and began to tremble. Not only was she not prepared mentally to wrestle, but physically she was in the worst shape she been in for months. After john had left to go to work, she stripped all of her clothes off and stood before the full length mirror in her bedroom.
Maggie stared at her body, noticing the addition of a layer of fat, which had not been there just a couple of weeks earlier. She looked at her face and saw the bags under eyes and how vacant they looked. She had sunk to a level, which she had never experienced before. And though completely depressed, she was able to reach the only logical conclusion she could reach. She had to cancel her match.
So she picked up the telephone and spoke briefly to the matchmaker. He did not take the news too kindly, but Maggie hung up the phone as he went into a tirade, not particularly interested in his histrionics.
