To Caress My Day

“NEVER MIND PERCY’S STUPID PLANTS, TWIGS!” Shereen shouted over the music, dismissing it with a wave of her hand towards the overgrown plants. Right now, her mission at Percy’s New Years Party was not to let loose and dance, but to find a quiet spot where her girl, Twigs, could return the calls she missed from her boyfriend as soon as possible. With every room in the apartment bolted except for the bathroom which had a line outside it already, the only option was a miniscule balcony outside one of his windows where he kept his plants. “THEY'RE HIS GIRLFRIEND’S ANYWAY SO HE AIN’T GONNA CARE.”

“ACTUALLY SHE’S HIS EXE NOW, REMEMBER?” Asami rectified.

“HIS EXE? SINCE WHEN?” Twigs inquired, becoming distracted by this abrupt news.

“SINCE HE CAUGHT HER MAKING OUT WITH HIS COUSIN IN THE BATHROOM DURING ONE OF HIS PARTIES!” Asami resolved with a sorrowful look for their friend, Percy.

Shereen frowned at her. “I THOUGHT IT WAS IN HIS BEDROOM!”

Asami shook her head. “NO, THAT WAS HIS BOYFRIEND! THE GIRLFRIEND WAS IN THE BATHROOM!”

“WHAT IS UP WITH HIS PARTIES INVOKING INFIDELITIES!?” Twigs demanded to know, finding Percy’s luck in relationships to be unpleasant. “I FEEL SO BAD FOR OUR POOR PERCY!”

“OH, I WOULDN’T WORRY ABOUT OUR DEAR PERCY IF I WERE YOU. IF THERE IS ONE THING I KNOW, PERCY KNOWS HOW TO BOUNCE BACK SUPER FAST AFTER A BREAKUP!” Shereen comforted her, her eyes roaming for Percy within the crowd of people in his apartment. Standing on her tiptoe, she sighted him instantly, chatting with a pretty chick. “AS WE SPEAK HE’S ON THE PROWL AGAIN AND HIS SIGHTS SEEM TO BE ON NATASHA!”

With a smile on her face, Twigs rolled her eyes at how much she fretted over the poor boy. Letting his recent heartbreak go, her brown eyes turned to the ramshackle balcony withholding the plants outside the window and analyzed the structure closely. Was she seriously considering standing on it just to make a call to her boyfriend? Of course she would! Her man needed her! Glancing at both Asami and Shereen who were awaiting her answer, Twigs released the breath she’d been holding. “I’LL DO IT, BUT I NEED YOU TWO TO HOLD ONTO ME IN CASE THAT BALCONY FALLS FROM UNDER ME!”

“PSH, LIKE WE WOULD LET YOU GET ON THERE WITHOUT GIVING YOU A HAND!” Shereen yelled.

“WE’RE NOT ABOUT TO LET YOU DIE ON US, YOU KNOW?” Asami shouted up at her.

Giving them a firm nod, Twigs bent down to crawl out the window Asami had opened for her. Goosebumps blossomed across her skin as she was met with a harsh change of temperature. With her hands clutching onto the metal bars of the balcony sides, Twigs slowly straightened herself up until she stood on the meager balcony that she prayed wasn’t as risky as it appeared. Two pairs of hands shot out from the otherside of the window to clamp onto the ankle of her boots for dear life. Feeling a bit better because of the added security, Twigs fished her phone out from her pants pocket.

Poking her head out the window, Asami hollered out to her. “Hey, did Seth send you a voicemail? That would help if you aren’t able to reach him. The connection kinda sucks on this side of town.”

“Slow down, girl, I haven’t checked yet.” Twigs restrained her, her eyes locked on the screen of her phone. She had caught herself almost overlooking the message Seth had sent her which was a selfie of his weakened face smiling on the rooftop of a very familiar place she couldn’t put a finger on. Under that picture was a text ‘Surprise!’ and a smiley face emoji. But what did he mean by surprise? Dubious, she attempted to call Seth to find out. “No voicemails, but I’m gonna call him anyway!”

“Cool, tell him we said hi!” Asami ordered her with a playful wink.

Sadly, Twigs wasn’t able to do so. The call wasn’t going through. Seth was unattainable...but Derek might not be! Deciding to call him, Twigs awaited for him to pick up and when he did, she beat him to the punch. “Hi, Derek! How are you doing?”

“Just fine, the wife and I are about to head out for a late night New Years dinner.” Derek filled her in before pausing. “I’m assuming you’re calling for a ride to Seth.”

“A ride to Seth?” Twigs echoed, perplexed. “Why would I need that? Seth’s in California.”

“In California? Didn’t you get his message?” Derek asked her. “He told me he’d text you.”

“Yeah, I did. It was actually a selfie, but...” Twigs confirmed, still not following what this all meant. “But I don’t quite understand what it’s supposed to mean. He’s just standing on a rooftop somewhere, smiling.”

“Somewhere, you say?” Derek drawled, smiling to himself because Seth’s surprise had failed miserably like he foresaw it would. At the time, he couldn’t bring himself to say much because his employer felt so accomplished over his strategy. Well, as excited as a strained man could communicate it. “Perhaps it’s somewhere VERY familiar to you, you think? Somewhere you’ve been before?”

Reflecting on the selfie she’d received, Twigs nodded to herself. “Yeah, actually it seems so. It looked pretty familiar. I can’t quite put my finger on where I’ve seen that rooftop before though! I didn’t exactly explore any of them in California so how would I know this one?”

“Perhaps it’s somewhere closer than California.” Derek alluded to. “Perhaps in...oh, let’s say...London?”

“London?” Twigs restated, her eyes widening in astonishment. “Oh my god, Seth is in London?!”

“He sure is!” Derek confirmed.

“But where!?” Twigs demanded, becoming restless with this game these men were playing on her.

“Look at the picture again and call me back if you can’t figure it out.” Derek advised. “I’ll tell you then.”

“Goddamnit.” Twigs grumbled after he hung up on her. Obeying his order, she pulled up the photo again and peered hard for the answer.

“What’s the hold up out here!?” Shereen called from where she had poked her head out the window.

“Seth is in London!” Twigs answered.

“He is!?” Shereen’s eyes lit up. “Sweet! Does he wanna come party with us?”

“Sorry honey, he won't have the strength to party after I’m through with him!” Twigs vowed to her with a naughty gleam in her brown eyes.

“Eww gross!” Asami and Shereen giggled at the same time.

Another minute of poring over the picture passed before it finally dawned on Twigs where he was. That rooftop was familiar to her, because it was the rooftop of her apartment building! She could barely contain herself. “Seth is standing on the roof of my apartment building right now!”

“You gotta be kidding me!” Shereen exclaimed in awe. “He’s at your place!?”

“Well then, what the hell are you still standing on this balcony for!? Get down from there right now!” Asami coaxed her, waving her back inside Percy’s apartment. “You don’t have a lot of time if you want to get to him before the countdown!”

“OH MY GOD, THAT WOULD BE SO ROMANTIC!” Shereen gushed as Twigs crouched down to step back into the apartment. “IT’D BE LIKE IN THE MOVIES!”

“We can squeal about that later, Shereen!” Twigs promised her, turning around to shut the window and flip the latch back on to lock it. Spinning back around, she pocketed her phone. “But not now! Wait, where is Asa-”

“I GOT YOUR COAT!” Asami shouted before she reached them and lobbed it into Twig’s face. “HURRY, WE GOTTA GET YOU OUTTA HERE!”

Twig nodded, slipping her arms into her coat while Shereen and Asami steered her through the swarm of partygoers and crammed her out the front door.