To Caress My Day

Seth and Twigs continued down the sidewalk of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, a town he was presently staying in throughout his Christmas week to become better acquainted with his girlfriend’s parents who just left on an errand. They roamed with both of Twig’s arms clinging around his waist, and his draped over her slender shoulders, partaking the warmth their bodies were generating to ward off the chill of winter. The sidewalks here were not like those in LA, they were somewhat barren of other living souls. The couples grinned in the silence at their luck of seclusion. Finally, they were able to parade the streets as a couple, to kiss and touch freely...even though Seth was still disguised in a blonde layered cosplay wig, a cap and thick black sunglasses.

Despite that, Twigs was so euphoric to have been given this moment to be at his side. She knew moments like these were minimal, and so it was going to be an endeavor to keep her hands off of him. Even now she desired both of her arms to be around his waist, and her hands to be splayed underneath his coat just to touch as much of him as she could even with the layers of clothing on. There was no media or fans prowling out for him, no swarm of paparazzis dallying around to nail the perfect incriminating photo of them to make up distorted stories in their magazines. Here they could splash their love out in the open the same way they did behind closed doors.

As the couple took a turn to the left, following the sidewalk, they came across one of the two rivers the town sat in between. Reaching up with his free hand, Seth lowered his sunglasses down just a bit to take the frigid brown river in with it’s winter terrain without the dimness of the dark lens obscuring it. “Wow, would you look at that?”

Tilting her head back, Twigs took in the smile on his face with glee. She was thrilled he marveled at what he saw in this small market town of hers. “I’m glad you like it, baby.”

Glancing down at her, Seth pressed a kiss to her forehead in gratitude. “Thank you for inviting me here, PIxie, even if my balls are freezing.”

Twigs laughed. “Thank you for agreeing to come along. Is there anything else you wanna do for the remainder of the day?”

“I’ve been thinking about that and I’ve already got a plan for us.” Seth enlightened her with a nod. “First, we walk off this lunch so we can head out for dinner afterwards. After that, we retire back to my place for the remainder of the night. Any objections, madame?”

“Not really, your plan sounds lovely.” Twigs concurred before another notion came to mind. “Unless you want to see if we can squeeze in checking out the Abbey?”

Frowning, Seth inquired. “What Abbey?”

“The Abbey Church of St. Mary the Vrigin.” Twigs clarified. “But it’s most commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey.”

“Abbey Church?” Seth mumbled to himself, finding that info to seem recognizable. This morning, he had remembered glimpsing a Church-like structure from his backyard. Could that be the same Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin? “I think I might have seen it from a distance from my backyard this morning, actually. Unless you have another imposing church in town.”

“Nope, that’s the place!” Twigs substantiated his suspicions. “It’s a pretty popular place considering it’s impeccable design is derived from Norman architecture. Also, it’s said to have the largest Romanesque Crossing Tower in all of Europe.”

“In ALL of Europe?! In this small town?” Seth repeated incredulously. “Now you got me excited. Wanna check it out before dinner?”

“I insist that we do!” Twigs favored with a laugh, tearing away from him to lead the way there.

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The couple walked along the concrete paths woven through a flat sea of bountiful snow that led up to the opulent Tewkesbury Abbey. The structure stood atop the few trees implanted around it, not allowing anything to strip the spotlight from it, not that anything could. It was such an exquisite piece of artwork that it held Seth speechless for a long time before relinquishing him to speak. “How old is this place?”

“It’s been around since the 7th Century.” Twigs educated him, her hand clasped in her boyfriend’s hand. “I believe the last time this Abbey saw any form of construction was in 1520 after the Battle of Tewkesbury had used it as a sanctuary. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work out in the end.”

“It was a sanctuary?” Seth repeated in wonder, briefly gazing down his diminutive enchanting girlfriend.

“And a Monastery too.” Twigs furthered. “Until King Henry V11 disbanded monasteries.”

“And you said this place didn’t shelter those men from the battle?” Seth asked, feeling like his brain was two minutes behind. He blamed the outstanding structure before him on that.

“Well yeah, the battle was already finished by then. They had lost and so then they were fugitives of war.” Twigs explained to him. “They were led out of the Abbey and ordered to be put to death. Due to the bloodshed, the Abbey closed and was reconstructed.”

Seth nodded in understanding, finally catching up. He led the way then by tugging on her hand around the building where a large Norman Arch that held an array of arched glass windows was, and a dark wooden double door below it that he was certain led into the church itself. Luckily for them it was cracked open, making it easier to enter without heaving the heavy door open themselves. Upon infiltrating, the nave of the Church all the way at the end captured his eye and was even more marvelous than he ever could have foreseen. Once again he was gripped in a state of speechlessness.

After surveying the wooden chairs to tally the three people present with them, Twigs eyeballed her boyfriend and grinned at his spellbounded expression. “Do you like it?”

So lost in the impacting elegance of this historical landmark, Seth jammed his free hand in his coat pocket to touch the velvet box buried within. Completely forgetting that anyone else was there within that Church but himself, he found himself muttering to himself. “This is the place. This is the place I should marry her.”

Having heard him, Twig’s jaw dropped, her brown orbs magnifying in size. What on earth was he talking about? “This is the place you should marry who in!?”

Tensing up, Seth felt his heart drop in his stomach. Oh shit, I spoke that out loud, Seth cursed at himself internally. Feeling himself beginning to fall into the depths of hysteria, he scrambled for anything to save him. The only lifesaver he had was to play dumb. Finally turning his head in her direction, he raised both his brows in curiosity. “Pardon me?”

“You just said this is the place you should marry her in.” Twigs recited tightly, stepping away from him and placing her hands on her hips. There may not be a lot of people in attendance in the church with them, but still she wasn’t about to go shouting at him in the echoing structure. “Who the hell is she!?”

Damn, she heard a lot more than I thought, Seth cursed to himself again. Scrambling once again, he decided to be halfway honest with her. Turning to fully face her, he spreads his arms outward as if to present her to a congregation of invisible people. “She!? She is you, of course!” Giving her a casual shrug so she wouldn’t take his admission seriously, he went on with a lively grin to make light of the announcement. “Wouldn’t it be grand? Stop and think about it. We’ll be just like those royal nobles that came here to get married too. You’ll be in some colorful lace dress and I’ll be wearing my best stockings and a red cape...OR better yet a knight’s armor!”

Falling for his evasion, Twigs rolled her eyes with a laugh before taking his hand in hers and leading him down the aisle. “God, Seth, has anyone ever told you how unhinged you are? What in the world am I gonna do with a jumble like you?”