As soon as Frank got backstage after his speech, he began giving a succession of one-on-one interviews to various prominent journalists from throughout Transylvania. By the time he finally finished, night had fallen. With great relief, he rejoined his mother and Andrea, both of whom had elected to remain at the stadium and wait for him.
The Queen looked at Frank with unmistakable pride. "You did a marvelous job. You have a true gift for connecting with your audience. Nobody watching your performance today could have the slightest doubt that you will one day be a powerful and inspirational leader to the people of Transylvania."
He smiled wearily. "Thank you. However, at this point the only 'leading' I want to do is to lead the way back to the palace. It's been a very long day."
Once they got back to the palace, the three of them had a quick dinner, then headed back to their respective living quarters. Frank and Andrea wasted no time exchanging their elaborate clothing and makeup for scrubbed faces and comfortable bathrobes, holdovers from their days on Earth.
Frank sprawled face up on the bed, closing his eyes. Andrea followed suit. After a few moments of silence, she asked him, "Are you pleased with the way the day went?"
"Do you mean we're still in the same one?" He yawned. "Yes, I'm pleased. One big hurdle down, and one more to go."
Andrea knew he was referring to Riff Raff and Magenta. She echoed the question Queen Electra had asked him the previous day. "Have you really decided what to do about them?"
Frank showed no more enthusiasm for discussing the subject with Andrea than he had with his mother. "Yes, I believe so."
Like Electra, Andrea picked up on the tension in his voice. Unfortunately, unlike Electra, she did not let the matter drop.
"Maybe you'd feel better if you talk about it. It isn't good to keep your emotions bottled up."
Frank sat up on the bed. "I'm afraid I must disagree in the present instance. Thank you for the thought, but honestly, I have no desire to 'talk about it.'"
Andrea also sat up, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Why not? Please let me help you. There's no need for you to go through this alone."
At this, Frank stood up abruptly, his back to Andrea. "I'm sorry, but I told you I have no intention of discussing this, with you or anyone else. Please don't attempt to force me into a conversation I have absolutely no inclination to pursue."
She paled at the anger in his voice. After a moment, she walked over to him and put her arms around his waist from behind, pressing her body against his back.
"I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was to cause you more stress." She slipped her hands under his robe, and started massaging his bare neck and shoulders. Lowering her voice to a seductive purr, she asked, "Why not let me help you work off some of that tension?"
He turned and put his arms around her. Although he was smiling, she noticed a hard expression in his eyes she'd never seen before. "I appreciate the offer, but all I really want to do is get some sleep."
He released her and took off his bathrobe, tossing it onto a nearby chair, and crawled into bed. She did the same, and reached over to turn out the bedside lamps. "Goodnight, Frank."
"Goodnight. Sleep well."
Not much chance of that. She tried to convince herself she was reading too much into their conversation. It was obviously a…tender subject for him, and his sensitivity was undoubtedly heightened by fatigue. There was nothing truly wrong.
Or so she hoped.
