Moonlight Romance: Chapter 3
Title: Moonlight Romance
Author: Carmel1978 and Threeb_1973
Rating: PG-13 for language
Character/Pairings: Franklin/Tara
Summary: Franklin Mott goes on a reality show looking to make a love connection. Pure crack, inspired by this interview with James Frain.
Disclaimer: True Blood is the property of Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris. I make no money from this.
Authors Note: Thanks as always to my co-writer, the awesome Carmel1978. Her other Franklin/Tara stories can be found here.
I'd also like to thank BooksCatsEtc for her work as beta. Please check out her awesome Franklin/Tara fic here.
Chapter Three: True Colors
Tara decided to take a few minutes to check out her room. It was HUGE, nearly half the size of her mother's entire house. It was also absolutely gorgeous: king-size canopy bed, cream-colored silk drapes and bed linens, blonde wood floors, Persian rug, a wood burning fireplace, and an etched ceiling with a large crystal chandelier. It felt a little weird not having any windows, but she knew the house had to be light-tight due to Franklin, Lorena (Styles, she corrected herself), and the handful of vampire production assistants she had seen. The bathroom was just as luxurious with a large glass enclosed shower and a sunken tub. One of the maids had laid out a selection of bath salts, gels, and scented soaps along with the softest towels she had ever touched. Windows or not, she could definitely get used to this. She took a quick shower and changed into denim capris, sandals, and a peach tank top that complemented her dark skin.
Before long, a production assistant came to escort them down to the entryway to await the start of the tour. He explained that the tour would be filmed, and encouraged each contestant to ignore the cameras and behave naturally. The whole point of Moonlight Romance was to allow Franklin to see the girls' true personalities so he could make a love connection.
As the cameras began to roll, Tara glanced around the room, sizing up the competition. Everyone had changed into casual clothing, but Tara couldn't believe the outfits some of them were wearing. Coke had on a tube top and the shortest shorts that Tara had ever seen in her life. Babydoll had gone to the other extreme and was dressed like something out of Little House on the Prairie, in a red and white gingham dress with a high necked lace collar and long sleeves. "No competition there," Tara thought to herself. Styles, on the other hand, was impeccably turned out in an obviously expensive black and white linen pantsuit; that one would bear watching. Her thoughts were interrupted by a blood curdling scream. Screech had been startled by Franklin's arrival.
"Ladies, if you're ready, the tour will begin," he said in his richly accented baritone that made Tara melt.
"Slow down, girl. You're just here for a vacation," she told herself.
They toured the downstairs first, going through the formal living and dining rooms, and a kitchen that was larger than the one at Merlotte's. Beautiful artwork adorned nearly every surface, and Franklin gave a brief history on the more unique objects. Everyone seemed to be in awe except for Ushanka; she was more interested in the monetary value of each piece than anything else.
"How much did you pay for that?" she asked, pointing to a gold and white porcelain vase.
Franklin smiled but refused to answer. "Naughty girl. Didn't your mum teach you it's bad manners to ask how much things cost?"
The tour moved on to the den, which featured a fully stocked wet bar. Weeds immediately perked up when she saw it and raced over to fix herself a drink. Cornbread remarked that maybe they should finish the tour before she drank anymore, causing Weeds to curse her out until she was in tears. The producers loved it.
Next, they were shown the Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool. Franklin flipped a switch to retract the pool cover, causing Screech to cry out in alarm. Coke had had enough, stalking over to slap the bleached blond woman across her face.
"Bitch, you scream like that one more time and I'll cut you!" she threatened. Unfortunately this caused poor Screech to scream even louder, so Coke grabbed her by the hair and they fell to the floor in a tangle of flailing limbs.
Tara looked on in disbelief. None of the production assistants made a move to stop the fight. In fact, they were encouraging it. She glanced at Franklin and noticed that his fangs had emerged; he was obviously turned on. Oookay.
There was no telling how much longer the fight would have lasted if the girls hadn't fallen into the pool. Both came up sputtering, and the cameras had to be stopped so they could get Screech calmed down enough to stop shrieking. It was nearly dawn, so the producers made the decision to stop filming for the night. Each girl was escorted back to her room and told to get some sleep. Someone would come round for them the next day to take them to breakfast and to film their confessionals.
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