To Caress My Day

The next day after work, Seth returned to his mansion to find his girlfriend sitting on the couch on the phone. From what it sounded like to him as he passed by it about another music video gig her agent was setting up for her. He tossed his coat, wallet and keys aside before he stepped on into his kitchen, and got out a bottle of water from the fridge for himself, and another for her before heading back into the living room. Placing their beverages, and his sunglasses and cap on the coffee table in front of him, Seth helped himself to a spot next to her on the couch…and on her lap. He maneuvered his head in a cozy position over her legs without bumping into her arms, and knocking the phone out of her hand. From above him, he caught her smiling down at him before she reached out to run her fingers through his hair. All day, Seth had been waiting for this moment, but it wasn’t just because he missed her and wanted to be near her. No, it was also because he was determined to ask her to come to his sister’s Halloween Party that he was going to host in this very mansion. He hadn’t meant to wait this long to ask her, but he had been preoccupied by…well, her. Now that he had his head on his shoulders again, he planned on inviting her the second she was finished with her phone call. Until then, he imagined what she’d dress up as during the Halloween party. A sexy werewolf, perhaps? Maybe Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ?

“Thank you again for calling…yeah, I know, right! Anyway, I’ll see you when I get back. Okay, bye.” Twigs ended the call, and pitched her phone aside towards the other end of the couch. Her other hand joined in on running through his dark silky hair.

Seth lifted his head, and gave her a grin. “Hi, Pixie.”

“Hi to you too, handsome.” Twigs giggled before she kindly urged him off of her, so he’d let her get up from the couch. Then she turned around to crawl back onto it to straddle him with a sensual smile. Her lips dipped down to capture his in a deep kiss.

Taking a small sample of her mouth first, Seth soon broke the kiss to reach up to cup her face in his hands, his brown eyes looking her over. Today she wore her curly hair down, and painted her lips red. “You’re so damn beautiful, you know that?”

Twigs smiled down at him, and his now painted red mouth with amusement. “And I love you too, baby.”

“Good, it’s about time you got that through your stubborn head.” Seth joked, making the both of them laugh softly. Leaning back down, Twigs rested her head on his shoulder as she snuggled her body down against him. He welcomed her closeness, and wrapped his arms her to hold her tightly. Simultaneously they both closed their eyes to savor each other’s presence, but the question he had to ask her kept nagging at him from the back of his mind. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes, and let out a sigh as he reached out for her hand resting over his chest, clasping onto it. “Tahliah?”

“Hmm?” Twigs responded back from her comfortable position laid on top of him.

Seth licked his lips and took a deep breath, trying to mentally brace himself for her possible refusal to an invitation to his little sister’s Halloween party. “Would you…Would you like to come to a Halloween party that I’m hosting here in my mansion later on this month?”

With her eyes still closed in relaxation, Twig’s brow furrowed in slow confusion. “A party?” Lifting her head up, she finally opened her beautiful brown eyes to look at him with question. “What party?”

“Um, my sister wanted to throw a Halloween party this year, but didn’t want to have it at her place, and end up having to deal with mess of the aftermath. She convinced me to have it here at my place, and I agreed to.” Seth explained, trying to identify the emotions that were jumping across her face all at once.

“Wait, hold on a minute.” Taken aback, Twigs sat herself up so she straddled his lap again to get a better understanding of what he was saying. “Why is it that you never mention this party before until now?”

“Don’t judge me for this excuse, okay?” Seth asked her with a soft guilty smile. “I didn’t tell you, because in my eyes you can’t expect a man to remember a big event such as hosting a Halloween Party at your own mansion when you’re around a woman as talented, amazing and exquisite as you. It’s just not possible.”

Not being able to resist being flattered by his compliment, Twigs playfully rolled her eyes and smiled down at him. The direness of the situation lessoned somewhat then. “Whatever, MacFarlane. Now, tell me more about this Halloween Party of yours that you’re hosting for your sister.”

Seth gave her a shrug as his hands came up to rest on her hips. “Well…like I said it’s a Halloween Party. Knowing Rachel a lot of people are gonna be invited, but I’m going to make sure EVERYONE knows it’s mandatory to really dress up for this party, none of that subtle face painting stuff is going to be passed off as a costume, I don’t care how long it took!”

“And you want me to come too, is that right?” Twigs asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course!” Seth nodded keenly before raising himself up onto his elbows. “Look, Tahliah, I know what you’re thinking, but I assure you that everything will be okay. There’s no way anyone will recognize you with all of us dressed heavily in costumes. I’d understand your concern if we were talking about a normal party, but this is a Halloween party full of monsters and fairy tale creatures running amok.”

“That’s true.” Twigs couldn’t deny that she had an advantage there, but still she didn’t want to go, and be surrounded by strangers majority of the time, because her boyfriend had to play host all night. Neon Jungle would probably be too busy to join which meant there was only one other person she could rely on. “I suppose I could…ask Simone to come and keep me company while you entertain your guests. She’ll watch my back at the off chance someone does recognize me and we need to scram.”

“Yes, of course! That’s a brilliant idea, Pixie!” Seth supported with a grin. “I’ll even go ahead, and pay for her plane ticket. Hell, if Neon Jungle wants to come I’ll pay their way too!”

“Seth, baby, you don’t have to do that.” Twigs said, a look of concern on her face for having to put him on like that for her sake. She wasn’t made of money, true, but just because he was doesn’t mean she was going to take advantage of that.

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know all that already.” Seth reminded her. “But listen to me when I say I WANT to do it, Tahliah. You wouldn’t be making me do anything I don’t already want to do willingly.”

Twigs hesitated for a minute, not wanting to let him win too soon. He loved paying for things for her, but she didn’t like that he almost always did it, because he had more money than she did. She loved the man to death, but she didn’t want to have to rely on him, and whenever he tossed his money about for her it made her feel like she did. In this case, unfortunately, she, and most likely Simone, didn’t have money to spare for a plane ticket to LA so they had no choice but to take his help. “I suppose in that case I can’t stop you, now can I?” She lowered her eyes from his, still not 100% certain of it. “Thank you for this, Seth.”

“You’re welcome, my love…just so long as you come to the party you can consider the debt paid in full.” Seth continued to urge her, hoping she’d take the bait, and agree to go with him. Unsure of what she’s getting into exactly, Twigs sighed before getting up from him and the couch to take a seat on the other end of it. Seth frowned in concerned at the sudden distance, and immediately sat up to scoot after her. He draped his arm over the couch behind her, and reached out with his hand to stroke the back of his fingers down her cheek. “Hey, what wrong, Tahliah? Why aren’t you happy?”

“I’m just…scared.” Twigs finally admitted, not looking at him, but across the room.

Seth reached out for her hand, and lifted it to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles, his eyes never leaving her face. “Hey, don’t be scared, beautiful. I’ll make sure no one will find out that THE FKA TWIGS is at my party. I promise.” A smile spread across his face. “Then again it would help me immensely if you would pick out a costume to disguise yourself with.”

His damn addicting smile seemed to erase all the negative emotions, and thoughts she was troubled with with such ease it was almost irritating that he could save the day so effortlessly. Twigs giggled and nodded in agreement with him. “Yeah, it would be smart to dress up for the occasion, wouldn’t it?”

“And? What decision have you come to? Will you come to the party?” Seth impatiently asked after getting sick off all of the suspense, and postponing.

Twigs didn’t reply, just let out an unconvincing sigh. She just wasn’t sure if the risk would be worth it. How would she explain her presence there if she was discovered? She had never met Seth MacFarlane before and, according to the internet, she wasn’t his type of women to befriend…

“Please say you’ll come, Tahliah. Please” Seth begged her as he reached out for both of her hands, and showered them with kisses, his eyes pleading hers. “Do you remember the two favor you gave me when we got back together after that drunk Rebecca bullshit? I made my first one, but the second one I decided to save for another time.”

Frowning in puzzlement, her eyes finally lit up when she did recall that moment in time. “Oh my goodness, I had nearly forgotten.”

“Yeah well, I’m about to use it now.” Seth warned her. “My second favor is for you to come to this party for me. And yes, I’ve been saving this favor for a situation like this where you decide to be all stubborn, and I’m in need of you to do something for me.”

The couple sat there for a while staring in each other’s eyes. Seth was impatiently waiting for her answer, his shoe tapping on the floor. Twigs was waging am internal war against herself, and had no idea what side was going to win until she blurted out her answer. “Alright, alright! I’ll go!”