Day 11: The Election

It's another day in the For Love or Money house, and another challenge with a special surprise. As the girls wake up, it looks like the tension among the girls is beginning to rear its ugly head.

"After that, I didn't really eat a lot of shrimp in the following weeks," Kate recounts. "It just turned me off for a while, but I'm fine now."

"That's definitely interesting, Kate. Anyway, I'm gonna grab some breakfast," Pricilla replies.

"See you later, Count Suckula."

"Excuse me?" Katie asks in indignation.

"See you later?" Pricilla coyly replies.

"No, the part after that."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"How about you say it to my face where I can hear it, missy."

"Oh, I bet you'd like that, since you enjoy having things near your face," Pricilla mockingly retorts.

"...The hell's the matter with you? Landon and I go out on one date and you're suddenly acting like this?"

"I should say the same, really. You and Landon go on one date and suddenly you're acting all smug around us and lovey-dovey around him, as if you already won his heart. Don't forget that you only got here in the first place because I helped us win the first group date."

"Wow, I cannot believe this. You know what, screw it," Kate says in resignation as she walks upstairs. "Come talk to me when you're ready to have a grownup conversation, you immature brat."

Ooh, looks like some people are feeling a little sore once Landon starts dishing out his moves. I wonder if he knows that he has this effect on people.

But that's for another time. Right now, the girls and I gather upstairs for our next challenge.

"Alright, you may be wondering what the flowers and the cars on your tables are for," Mac begins. "As y'all know, flowers are a symbol of romance, which is one of the things you girls are pursuing on this show. The cars, on the other hand, are a symbol of luxury, especially the high end models. Luxury is another possible prize you could end up with here."

"For today's challenge, you will each be giving your flower to a fellow contestant that you think is playing for love."

"And likewise, you will each give your car to a fellow contestant that you think is playing for money. Now, note that you can't give both to the same person. The girl with the most flowers, and the girl with the most cars, will each have something special happen to them. I can't say too much for now, but I will tell you that the girl with the most flowers gets a solo date with Mister Bachelor himself."

"Let's start with someone and move clockwise from there. Kate."

"Well, I think Linda is playing for love. And Pri is playing for money."

"Perhaps I'm too much of a romantic, but most of these women could easily see Mr. Landon as Mr. Right as much as I do. So, I don't see that any of them would choose money over love. I think Linda is definitely in it for love, so I chose her. However, I think it is possible Pri could be looking for money because of her own individual purposes. While I think Pri may have originally begun looking for love, I'm wondering if she could have switched it after my date with Landon."

"I don't want to back off of him or he could forget about me, but I also want him to get to know all of the ladies. He deserves whoever fits him the best, whether it is me or not. Though I could get very hurt to find out he was only in it for the money and the whole thing was a lie. I may back off any kind of public displays with him in front of the other ladies because I don't want them getting so upset with me. But I don't want to lose him, either. His touch sends goosebumps all over me in ways I've never felt."

Kate shivers.

"Ugh. Falling for this man is something I wasn't expecting. However, I respect these women, too. What a mess."

"Hmm...I'll say that Bootsie is playing for love, and that Kate is playing for money."

"Okay, I'll admit I got a bit jealous. I don't really think Kate is playing for money, but I didn't want her to get another date with Landon so soon. Like girl, give the rest of us a turn."

"Well I personally think that Linda is playing for love, while Bootsie is playing for money."

"Bootsie's nice and all, but I just don't get that vibe from her that she's looking for love. As for Linda, she seems like a really genuine person. I think she's struggled to find a guy to accept her for her taste in music so I'm thinking she joined the show in hopes of finding someone who will!"

"I think that Bootsie, no offense, is playing for money. Sorry. And that Ariella is playing for love."

"Bootsie, she's the sweetest and I don't hold ill will towards her for saying that she's playing for money. I just don't ever see Bootsie and Landon having that *click* moment! I love her to death. I had just hoped it didn't get her sent home."

"Ariella, on the other hand. The way she speaks to Landon gives off the cutest little banter vibe. I love it, and Ariella doesn't seem like the kinda girl to suck face on the first date like some other skank on this show..."

"Hmph. I think Kate is in it for love, and that Pricilla is playing for money."

"I like Kate. I think she has a good soul and heart, and I doubt she's one to play games. I definitely believe she's sincere."

"Now Pri. I think she's in it for the money. I'm starting to think she's an attention seeker who embellishes the truth to cause a little drama. She's very obviously trying to be noticed by being very unoriginally unoriginal -- if that makes sense," Bootsie chuckles. "She's trying to be 'different', which makes her the same as everyone else who is trying. I've known countless people with braces and not one has lisped. I doubt she's sincere."

"Well, look at that, ladies," Mac says.

"If we look at the results..."

"...it seems that Linda has the most votes for love with two flowers, which means that she'll get to go on a date with Landon."

"As for the votes on who's playing for money, it looks like Bootsie..."

"...and Pricilla are tied, with both having two cars each."

"Since Linda is the only one who didn't vote either of the two for money, she'll have to break the tie."

"Well," Linda ponders. "I already voted Bootsie for love, so I guess I'll have to vote Pri for money this time."

"Wonderful. So Pri wins the most votes for money this time around."

"Now, what I failed to mention earlier is that both the girl with most votes for love and the girl with most votes for money will win a date."

"Seriously? Awesome!" Pricilla exuberantly exclaims.

"And not only that."

"One of you..."

"...has the chance to learn her cash prize on this show."

"I'll be flipping a coin with a heart symbol on one side, and a simoleon symbol on the other. The person who wins the coin toss will have her prize amount revealed to her. Are you ready?"

Mac proceeds to toss the coin in his hand...

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"Looks like love wins this time."

Author's note: I'd just like to give credit to PSD Dude, who gave a free template for a Photoshop coin. http://www.psd-dude.com/tutorials/create-a-metal-coin-in-photoshop.aspx

"Congratulations, Linda. Apart from getting a one-on-one date with Landon, you'll get to find out how much money you're playing for in this show. Of the two solo dates, you also get to go first."

"Are you ready to find out?" Mac asks.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Linda replies.

"Okay. Linda Pierce,..."

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"...your prize money on this show, if you choose to accept it, is 500,000 simoleons."

"Oh wow, I could buy tons of stuff with that."

"Hey, everyone," Landon greets.

"Hi!"
"Hey, Landon."
"Hello!" 

"So Mac, will you tell me who are the two lovely ladies I'll be seeing next?"

"Here they are before you: Ms. Linda Pierce and Ms. Pricilla Pettit."

"Great!"

As the girls begin to disperse, Landon approaches Ariella.

"Hey, put on your bathing suit," Landon requests.

"What for?" Ariella asks.

"Just meet me at the balcony."

"You know, I feel like we don't use this hot tub enough," Ariella ponders.

"I feel the same way, which is why I asked you here," Landon responds. "And to be honest, I also thought this would be a good place for us to have a little space for a private talk."

"You sure do love these little private chats."

"Well, how else will I get to find out more about the girls I might be dating?"

"That's true. And I can't really complain. After all, I get to see you in your swim trunks," Ariella chuckles. "And at least I get to be the first one to talk to you this time."

"You're really not letting that go, are you?"

"If we're talking serious here, I honestly don't mind, Landon. I mean, I'm sad that I only get a fraction of your time here, but I'm glad I still get to see you around."

Landon smiles at Ariella.

"I have to ask, though: why did you decide to keep me around, and not the other girls?"

"It's...really hard to say. I like spending time with you, Ariella. I had so much fun in that camping trip. I really think you're an amazing person. My heart isn't set yet on any one girl, but I know I'd regret it if I let you go."

"Landon..."

"Enjoying the water?"

"You bet. What did the producers put in this pool? It feels a lot better than regular chlorine."

"I actually don't know. Maybe I can ask. But anyway, do you mind if we go somewhere a little more private?"

"Okay, hold on."

Bootsie lifts herself off the pool and starts walking with Landon to the enclosed garden area.

"You know, I haven't told you how much I'm into jazz, I think," Bootsie starts.

"Yeah, I think you haven't."

"It's just so...classy. And definitely American. Maybe if we ever go out, we can go dancing at some jazz place."

"There's an idea. I'm not a really great dancer, but I can try."

"Oh, I'll show you," Bootsie says. "It'll be fun! I promise that you'll have the time of your life."

"Like I've never felt before?"

"I swear," Bootsie chuckles.

"Hey, Landon."

"Oh, hi Kate. I was just about to look for you."

"Mind if I sit here?"

"Go ahead."

Kate scans the room to see if the other girls are watching.

"You know, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss you the whole day," Kate says in a sultry tone.

"Well, you know, I'm usually the type to save my favorite food for last," Landon replies.

Kate chuckles before looking down at the table with a serious expression on her face.

"Landon, can I just be serious for a second?"

"Uh, sure Kate. What's on your mind?"

"Landon...is this...getting serious? Are you serious about me, I mean?"

This question catches Landon off-guard, causing him to choke a bit on his grilled cheese.

"Kate, what makes you ask that?"

"It's just that...I'm just trying to sort out how I'm feeling. And I don't know if I can deal with these emotions right now. Like, I feel this pit in my stomach whenever I see you cozying up to the other girls."

Landon looks at Kate in the eyes and moves his hand closer to hers.

"Kate, I'm really sorry that you're feeling that way. It's just that I have to give all of you girls a chance, and I've really grown close to all of you."

Kate turns her head away a bit and tries to suppress the tears forming in her eyes.

"But," Landon continues. "I want you to know that what I do feel right here, right now, is real. It's hard being in this situation, really. I don't want to hurt anyone, while at the same time, I'm trying to sort out my own feelings too. I hope you can understand this, Kate."

"Hey, have you noticed that things have gotten...a bit hostile lately?" Ariella asks.

"What do you mean? With Pri?"

"So you see it too! It just feels like she's spewing some venom towards Kate right now."

"Can't say I blame her. Ugh, how did you get to be so good at this?" Linda complains. "Anyway, it's understandable that she'd be jealous. Maybe she really likes Landon as well."

"I like Landon too, you know. But I don't go about it picking fights with the other girls," Ariella claims.

"Maybe she's just not used to dealing with confrontations maturely," Linda theorizes. "She did say she got bullied a bit as a kid. Maybe she's just not emotionally equipped for these things."

"If that's true, she'll have a hard time dealing with what this show will throw at us."

"Hey, Kate," Ariella says.

"Oh, hi Ariella. What's up?"

"Listen, Linda and I were just talking, and we feel like Pri has been acting a bit differently lately."

"Right? What's up with her? Aren't we all here for the same thing?"

"Well, I know what I'm here for," Ariella claims. "But we can't be really sure that everyone has the same goal."

"You mean..."

"I don't want to make any assumptions. Maybe she's acting that way because she developed feelings for Landon too."

"Maybe. I just wished she went about it more maturely. God."

After an emotionally exhausting day, Landon decides to hit the hay. Wise choice, since he'll be needing a lot of energy for his date with Linda tomorrow.

The girls, on the other hand, are preparing in their own ways.

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And it looks like we'll have to end it here for now. How will Linda and Landon's date go? Will his feelings change once he sees another side of the other women? Find out on the next episode of For Love or Money!