To Caress My Day

The next evening, Twigs got a call while relaxing in her boyfriend’s pool out back behind his mansion. Rising out of the pool, she wiped her hand on her towel before answering her call. She held the phone up to her ear with damp hands as she maneuvered the towel around her slim dancer’s body. “Hello? Oh hey, you! What’s going on?”

Seth observed from afar his drenched girlfriend chatting on the phone with who was most likely her agent, Mikey. With a disheartening sigh, he swam over to the edge of his pool and hoisted himself up, splashing chlorinated water everywhere as he walked over to the lounger chair next to hers and picked up his own towel to dry himself off. He ran the terry cloth over his short hair and his trim torso before plopping down on at the end of the lounge chair right in front of hers, their knees touching. He waited patiently for her call to end, smiling with happiness when she leaned her head forward to rest it against his arm mid-talk.

“Tomorrow? Absolutely, I can make it back in time.” Twigs assured her agent, Mikey, knowing full well she couldn’t deny this opportunity. As embarrassing as it was, she needed the money and couldn’t pass this up to remain in her boyfriend’s bed here in California. Speaking of boyfriends, Twigs got right to ending her phone call, so she’d be able to spend the rest of her last moment there with her boyfriend in private. “Alright, I’ll see you on set then. Yeah, you too. Okay, bye.”

“Another gig?” Seth rhetorically asked, knowing that that was very much so the case as his brown eyes locked with hers.

Twigs lifted her head and gave him a nod of confirmation as she reached out to link her fingers together with his. “Yeah, a dancer had to pull out due to an injury and they need a replacement for some music video being shot in Ireland. I have to get on the next flight back home again and save the day for them.”

Seth nodded too, before looking away in dismay. “Well, it’s not like I could keep you here forever anyway, right?”

“Right.” Twigs giggled before kissing the damp skin of his arm, appreciating the hardness of muscle. “So, wanna help me pack up my things?”

“I’ll do you one better.” Seth replied with a playful smirk, still hooked on the wings of appreciation for his girlfriend for meeting his little sister, Rachel at her Halloween Party the night before. “I’ll help you pack AND come with you. I’ll stay in your apartment with Simone until you’re done with your video in Ireland. It’ll give her and I time to bond with one another while you’re gone.”

Twigs eyes widened in marvel at him. “Wait…don’t you have to stay here and work on your shows or something, Mr. Workaholic?”

“I’ll be fine away from them, and they’ll be fine without me.” Seth assured with a chuckle. “Trust me, I’ve had to make this long-distance relationship we’ve got going on work with my hectic schedule since I asked you to secretly be mine.”

“Well, okay…BUT only if you’re sure.” Twigs reiterated earnestly, standing up from her lounge chair with the purpose of heading back inside his mansion to pack up her bags again.

“Oh, I always am when it comes to you, love.” Seth looped his towel around the back of his neck and stood up to wrap an arm around her shoulder. “Not once have I made a mistake when it comes to you.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

After the music video had been done and Twigs had fulfilled her purpose in Ireland, she quickly returned to her apartment in London expecting to only find her boyfriend there because Simone was spending the day with her loving parents.

Seth hadn’t answered his phone all day, making her believe that he must be suffering from some bad jet lag which had become a part of her normal mental and physical battle every day since dating a man who lives in another country. The temporary sleeping disorder was now a permanent part of her life and she was scared to say she had grown accustomed to it. Some people wouldn’t want to go through an ordeal like that every single day for a person that they loved, but Twigs clearly happily continued to do so. “Seth, are you here?”

“Hmm?” A male voice murmured from behind the open fridge door in the kitchen.

Twigs frowned as she locked the front door and strolled past the dining room table and into the open kitchen. He seemed off. Normally he’d greet her with open arms and a kiss but he hadn’t. “Baby, what are you doing in there?”

“Looking for food…” With a defeat and tired sigh, Seth straightened back up in nothing but his pajama bottoms with his hair looking all tousled about as if he just got up from bed. He let out a groan as he closed the fridge door. “But you have nothing to eat in there, Pixie Baby.”

“I-I’m sorry…” Embarrassed, Twig’s cheeks flushed with heat. There was a genuine reason why she had no food, and that was simply because she and Simone struggled to make enough money to pay rent and eat most of the time which was why they ate small amounts of food for meals. Feeling like a horrible girlfriend for not being able to provide any source of food much less a biscuit for her beloved boyfriend who has given her everything thus far, Twigs gestured behind her to the front door as she nervously shuffled her feet. “I-If you want I could go out and grab us both something to eat.”

Seth brushed the idea off with a weak wave of his hand as he shuffled his way from her open kitchen to her open living room. He let out a yawn before plopping himself down on the couch and lazily reaching out a hand towards her. “Come here, beautiful.”

Twigs obeyed, removing her bag and coat by the door before kicking off her shoes and then placing her hand in his. She allowed him to tug her down onto the couch where she snuggled cozily against his side and stealing his warmth to chase off the cold November London weather that seeped into her bones while on her way home. She draped an arm over his chest and ran her cold fingers over the light dust of chest hair he had. “Mmm, how was your sleep, love?”

“Lonely.” Seth mumbled with a feigned pout before chuckling at his ridiculous attempt to play the victim. As the room fell back in reticence, he glanced down and took in her presence. Her head rested against his chest while his hand softly played with the curls rebelliously sticking out of her messy bun. His other hand ran up and down her arm lying over his chest where occasionally he’d play with her slender fingers. After a while, his mind suddenly and quickly drifted back to his empty stomach again. “Hey, you want some take out? I can order us some for lunch dinner.”

“I…” Twigs hesitated, stiffening in fear before realizing that her boyfriend understood she wasn’t a wealthy royal heiress, or a billionaire like him and so she couldn’t spend her money on just about everything she desired. With a reluctant sigh, her cheeks once again burning with humiliation, Twigs admitted the truth out loud that they both already knew. “I…I can’t afford that right now.”

Not the least bit fazed by that well-known information, Seth gave her a casual shrug. “It’ll be on me then. It’s no problem.” Not waiting for answer, he kissed the top of her head before slipping out from her hold to journey to her bedroom where his phone sat left behind. When he returned with it, he resumed cuddling with her on the couch once again while they both figured out their orders would be online. Once their meals were order and in the process of being cooked, Seth ended the call and tossed his phone aside to wrap his arms around Twigs and haul her up against him, so they could get their cuddles back on. The couple fell into a comfortable silence before Seth asked her softly. “I forgot to ask. How was your day, my love?”

Twigs let out a sigh, still feeling bothered that her boyfriend was once again paying for their meal…though her stomach greatly appreciated it. “Um, it was alright. I was pretty much thrown onto the set, did what I had to do the best that I could and was done for the day.”

“Uh huh...” Seth replied skeptically, abruptly leaning back far enough to shoot her a look of playful suspicion. “And what musician’s leg did you rub up on this time, dare I ask!?”

Going along with his dramatic act, Twigs pulled back even farther with a smile and feigned a gasp of offence. “Well I’d never! I’ll have you know that I spent all my time banging on a drum in a parking garage, good sir!”

“Oh, is that so?” Seth challenged her with a mischievous smile, trying to hold back his laughter.

“You’re darn tooting right it is!” Twigs declared with as much of a straight face as she could muster before collapsing back against him in a fit of giggles.

Seth held on tight to her as he too laughed. Once they were both calm again, he got lost in the beauty of her face. She was just a uniquely beautiful to him in a way he’d never seen before and never would have saw if he hadn’t been looking around the cafe that day. When it was obvious he had been staring at her too long, Seth continued their last conversation seriously this time. “Knowing you…I bet you take banging on a drum to a whole new level. Like your headboard banging the other night, for example.”

It was impossible for her to not catch his sexual innuendo, and it made her cheeks flush with warmth. “Stop now while you’re ahead, Mr. MacFarlane…before you get yourself into some serious trouble.”

“That’s the plan until our combination meal of breakfast, lunch and dinner arrives.” Seth informed her as he pulled her tightly into his chest in a way that was supposed to lead to intimacy but only led to them two both falling asleep from major jet lag.