To Caress My Day

Twigs looked up from sending a text message to Shereen to hear Derek’s car pulling up into the driveway of her boyfriend’s mansion in Beverly Hills. She waited calmly as she listened for the garage door to open and then lower before getting up to hurry out to greet her chauffeur and good friend. She swung the door leading into the garage open and beamed out at him before he could exit his vehicle to locate her whereabouts from within the large structure. “Good evening to you, Derek! How have you and the wife been since we last saw each other?”

Hearing her loud and clear from within his black sleep vehicle, Derek rolled down his window and rested his arm on the sill with a teasing smirk. “We were sleeping soundly in bed together happily undisturbed.”

“Oh, god.” Twig’s beaming smile disappeared in a second and was replaced with a remorseful pout. “I'm so sorry, Derek! Could you ever forgive me for asking you to come pick me up tonight, I-I didn’t know you two were already in bed?”

“There’s no need to apologize, Tahliah, it’s all part of the job. Besides, I get paid too generously for either me or my wife to hold any grudges against you for your many interruptions.” Derek reminded her warmly, not at all crossed with her current late-night request. “So, where are you off to tonight?”

“West Hollywood.” Twigs answered as she opened the passenger door and lifted up the backseat to reveal a hidden compartment big enough for a single person to be covertly transported in. She went ahead and got herself seated inside before Derek closed the passenger door behind her. “My roommate, Simone, has an apartment over there now.”

“Oh yes, I’ve heard the big news. Congratulations are in order for her recent success.” Derek recalled as he slipped into the driver's seat and started up the car. “Please send her my well wishes when you see her.”

“You can count on me to get your message across, Derek.” Twigs assured him before giving him Simone’s address then lying down in the compartment to close herself in. She listened as the garage door opened and felt the car smoothly ease forward from within the home of Seth MacFarlane. The car briefly paused so Derek could remotely close the garage door before heading off the property and onto the streets of California.

“It’s safe to come on out now, Miss Tahliah. There weren’t much vultures out tonight. “Derek alerted her as he navigated his vehicle safely through the perilous confined bumpy roads that led to his employer’s home that were badly in need of reconstruction. The homes up on these hills were extravagant Mansions and yet the road was anything but that! And if that wasn’t intimidating enough the claustrophobia of the road with it's narrow sharp turns and lack of protective barriers to prohibit one from plunging down steeps hills to their deaths was enough to make anyone apprehensive. Derek was use to it by now and maneuvered his car gracefully through it like they weren’t ever at risk of slipping off the edge of these steep hills.

Lifting the lid up again, Twigs carefully climbed out, closed the compartment's door to safely buckle herself down in her seat. She let out a shaky breath as she observed him guide his car fearlessly down the precarious roads her boyfriend insisted on living upon. In London the roads and sidewalk were wide and safe enough for people to safely stroll upon but on this hill, they were treacherous and too life-risking to endanger any life to take a simple excursion. Twigs didn’t know if she even loved Seth enough to venture up here on her own whether she was in a car or simply on foot. If she did, it would surely mean her death.

Soon enough, she arrived at Simone’s West Hollywood apartment building and was just stepping out of the car when she turned around to call back in to her driver. “Thank you very much for the ride, Derek, and again, I’m sorry for disturbing you and Odette tonight.”

“Enough of all that! If you really want to make it up to me, you’ll congratulate Simone for us both on her recent accomplishments.” Derek emphasized to her in a playful tone.

“I will. Goodnight and drive safely.” Twigs directed him before closing the door and heading on inside the three-story building surrounded by elegant palm trees.

She didn’t get far inside when Simone popped out from around the corner to greet her eagerly. “Ayyy, there you are, honey! I’m glad you could make it here tonight.”

After getting over being startled by her roommate materializing out of nowhere, Twigs gladly stepped into Simone’s open arms and embraced her. “It’s no problem, sweetie. I’m just glad to see you again.”

Simone pulled back a bit but retained contact with her dear friend by cupping her hands over Twig’s shoulders. “So, are you ready to see my new crib?”

“I’ve been waiting on bated breath! Of course, I’m ready, let’s see this shit!” Twigs raved in excitement.

“Sweet! Follow me!” Simone wrapped an arm around her former roommate’s shoulder and guided her to her new place provided to her by the woman who discovered her.

The place was amazing and quite luxurious looking compared to the apartment they use to share together back in London. Simone gave her a swift tour of her place before they had to leave to join their friends elsewhere in Los Angeles. The entire house had beautiful hardwood floors except for the bathroom with its tiles that matched the shower's floor. The walls were all plain white and displayed huge pictures hung up perfectly, but Twigs noticed the backsplash in the kitchen was a white marble that didn’t quite match the one on the bathroom walls. The living room couch was a navy blue and before it had two leather brown foot rests. Across those was a large mirror next to a white dresser. There was also a few simple plant or two here and there but nothing too grandeur or exotic. Next to the living room was the terrace that overlooked the pool below. The kitchen was all a startling white except for the basket of fruits and the three brown leather stools that matched the material of the footrests in the living room. The appliances were all stainless steel, and between that and the living room, which were all open to each other, was a four white chair dining table with gray faux fur cushions. Near the living room was a white private mini bar built into the wall that came with a mini fridge and lower white cabinets to stow away the glasses. Leading down the hall was a white top and bottom washer and dryer set behind a black shutter door followed by a guest bathroom. The guest bathroom looked pristine in all white with its white tub, steel shower head, and glass doors. The office room across from that was small but had more color splashed in with the white. The carpet had some beige, and the lounger too. The desk inside made of a nice carved simple wood but was polished to perfection. At the end of the hall was the main bedroom. Simone’s bedroom turned out to also be white but with the color accents of gray and a light baby pink that almost took away from the massive walk in closet. The ensuite bathroom matched the guest bathroom in terms of color but this one had a walk-in shower that Twigs was certain could fit all of Neon Jungle beneath its massive black shower head with her and Simone sitting on the built in seat against the wall in the back.

“Wow, there is a whole lot of white in here than our apartment back home.” Twigs blurted out without thinking of how it might offend her good friend since her parent's own the apartments.

Luckily for her, Simone was in agreement. “You ain’t lying.”

Twigs frowned to herself before turning her attention to her former roommate. “Hold on, wasn’t Neon Jungle over here when you guys called me earlier tonight?”

Simone nodded. “Yeah, but then they got called to meet up with their manager to go over some shit. They promised they wouldn’t be long.” A beep sounded off in her pocket, alerting her of a new text. Digging for her phone, Simone skimmed over the message before texting back while simultaneously informing Twigs. “We better get going. My band is at the Sound Nightclub right as we speak.”

“Let’s bounce then.” Twigs replied before following Simone to the door. “Are we taking a cab?”

“You bet.” Simone assured her as she locked up behind them and led her downstairs where they call for a taxi. Minutes later they were driving off to the club just as the sun was going down.

Twigs watched the people, vehicles and business pass her window by, and couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. Life seemed too perfect for everyone. Neon Jungle was living their dreams, Simone just obtained hers and made new friends and she had met the love of her life all in one year. “I’m so proud of all of us.”

Simone glanced away from her phone to study her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I mean…I feel like this year of 2012 is becoming ours, you know? I found love and by next month will release my first EP out into the world. Neon Jungle is out here about to go global, and you just signed to a girl band that’s gonna blow up in the blink of an eye. No one will know what hit them.”

“I hope so.” Simone commented with a smile. “And now that you mention, I’m kind of proud of us all too. We went from six good everyday friends to now we’re about to take over the industry.”

“Exactly!” Twigs raved with an open mouth grin. “Hopefully we’ll all tour together someday.”

“I’ll make sure it happens.” Simone promised with a wink before going back to her phone.

“I’ll hold you to it.” Twigs playfully warned, knowing full well that she would. Simone never broke her promises.