To Caress My Day

Seth MacFarlane felt like a monster.

Several days after his encounter with Twigs at the dance studio, Seth spent most of his time waiting for the cops to bust down his door and arrest him on charges of being an asshole. Seth couldn’t stop thinking about everything he had done to her back at the studio. He couldn’t remember if she consented or not to having sex with him. So he had spent all that morning trying to figure out if it was considered rape if he couldn’t remember. Seth could recalled being lost in the throes of passion pretty much the entire time. He couldn’t help it, his walls had finally crumbled down into rubble, spilling out the hunger, and desires that he’d been holding back for too long. He was already single when he stepped into that studio. He was still single when she was provocatively dancing for him. That had to have been a willing invitation right? The sounds the she made, the kisses and the touches had to be a strong indicator that Twigs wanted it too. Then again, what if he’s wrong. What if she changed her mind in the end, and decided she didn’t want him touching her like that? Did that mean it was rape?

Seth covered his face with his hands and let out an agonized groan. His head was beginning to ache from all his uncertainty. He was home alone, and the silence was killing him. He needed someone to answer him. He needed guidance. He needed a woman’s perspective.

_________________________________________________________________________

Mrs. Guadalupe had just returned from her short trip from visiting family in Spain when she stepped inside the grand mansion. The poor lady was met with a complete mess! There were shattered vases, tossed furniture’s, dirty dishes, and random articles of clothing. Mrs. Guadalupe had left her employer alone many times before to go on vacations in the past, but never had she came back to a pigsty like this. In the bedroom, she was surprised to find Ms. Jenkins side of the open closet empty, as well as all her more personal belongings missing. Something serious had clearly happened while the maid was visiting family. A decision she might reconsider making in the future, if this mess becomes a habit. Mrs. Guadalupe had found her employer by the indoor pool, sitting on a lounger looking out of the large windows. Mrs. Guadalupe entered cautiously and stood a few feet behind him, unsure of his current state.

“Mr. MacFarlane? Estás bien?” Mrs. Guadalupe called softly, concern stamped on her face. She watched him flinch at the sound of her voice, as if someone had just poked him with something sharp. Slowly he turned his head in her direction. Mrs. Guadalupe was shocked at his odd appearance. Not only did it look like he fell into the pool moments before, but he was sporting a five o clock shadow, and blood shot eyes from lack of sleep.

“Seth, what happened to you? ¿Dónde está Ms. Jenkins?” Mrs. Guadalupe’s first language was Spanish, so every now and then she would slip a few words in her native. Seth had a caught an interest in her random Spanish in each of her English conversations with him or Avery, and he always wondered what she was saying. The maid had taught him some Spanish words, and ever since then Seth has been able to understand her a bit more with ease.

“Gone. She’s gone, Florencia.” Seth mumbles out hoarsely, turning back to face the pane of glass.

Mrs. Guadalupe noticed he referred to her by her first name that he only ever used in serious situations. She became even more worried and took out her small cellphone just in case she’d need to call law enforcement for any reasons. He looked and sounded terrible.

“Señor, have you been taking drugs? You look terrible.” This is the worse Seth has ever looked. The man was a workaholic but he’d never let himself look unkempt at any moment of the day…except that one time when he had to take a trip to the hospital for severe exhaustion.

Seth didn’t respond, alarming his housekeeper even further. “I’ll call your mama, she can probably help… espero.” She turned to walk away but Seth grabbed her wrist urgently, pulling her back.

“No, please Mrs. Guadalupe. Don’t disturb them. They’re on a vacation I’ve given to them a week ago.” Seth let out a sigh as he turned around in his seat to face her, giving her his cooperation. He took her hands in his again, and looked up at her with pleading eyes.

“I’m so glad your back Florencia, and it’s not because this place obviously needs to be cleaned, but I…I need someone to talk to that’s physically here with me. I can’t keep talking to myself about shit anymore. Can I confide in you about something private but important to me?”

Mrs. Guadalupe swiftly sat on the lounger next to his, gripping his hands back in support as she nods heartily. Seth was relieve, and took a careful breathe before explaining.

“Around the time you left on vacation…I had…met someone.” Seth began, before Mrs. Guadalupe gasped and snatched her hands away from him to give him a disapproving slap on the knee.

“Dios mío, señor!” Mrs. Guadalupe cried, getting her answer as to why Avery’s things were gone! The scoundrel cheated on her, the jerk! Yes, Avery was a bitch, but she doesn’t deserve that kind of disrespect. No one does.

“No no no, Mrs. Guadalupe it wasn’t like that at all. Please let me finish. I’m literally going insane here, ok?” Seth pleaded, grabbing her hands to keep her from smacking him again.

Mrs. Guadalupe reluctantly nodded, allowing Seth to continue holding her hands for support.

“I met a group of young ladies at the coffee shop in town, the place where I got Avery’s coffee that she disliked? Well, one of those young ladies was incredibly stunning like she literally took my breath away. I couldn’t stop looking at her. BUT I’m gonna tell you right now that I never pursued her for sex…intentionally at least.” Seth mumbled the last part to himself. Mrs. Guadaulpe was trying to patiently wait for his confession to cheating, but she couldn’t hold back her tongue.

“Señor, are you trying to tell me, you cheated on Ms. Jenkins? Es por eso que ella no está aquí?” Mrs. Guadalupe questioned, wanting to know what was going on here. She didn’t want to hear the long tale if he had had an affair with some young fling. She wanted to know now.

“No Florencia, Avery left before anything happened between me and that girl. She basically wanted us to go on a break without giving me the truth as to why. I have no idea how long she’s been planning on dumping me behind my back. All I know is that the reason she told me was pretty much a bunch of bullshit. I don’t know, Florencia. Avery’s gone now and I don’t really care to beg her to come back to me at all. I think I’m over our relationship, honestly.” Seth explained, expressing his true feelings and opinion on the whole matter.

Mrs. Guadalupe recalled the state of the mansion when she came in earlier and was seconds away from doubting his confession when Seth had read her mind.

“I’m sorry about the mess, but that has nothing to do with Avery dumping me. Well, some of it, but not most of it.” Seth corrected.

Seth sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before going on. “I got into some real serious trouble while you were away. That girl I mentioned before from the coffee shop is named Tahliah and…ever since I met her I haven’t been able to get her out of my head. I know it is wrong to cheat, and you know as well as I do I would never do that, being around Tahliah made me feel like cheating every time. It didn’t help that each time I saw her she completely wiped my mind of Avery’s existence. I never cheated on Avery, Mrs. Guadalupe. I slept with Tahliah for the first time after Avery left me, and the constant sexual frustrations I’ve been feeling since I met Tahliah has only gotten worse! It’s almost hard to get out of bed these days.” Seth revealed, trying not to pull his hair out as he recalled the last few days.

Mrs. Guadalupe placed both her hands on his cheeks, studying his drained face.” What spell has that evil witch cast upon you, Señor?”

Seth manage a dry chuckle as he took hold of her wrists and pulled her hands off his face. “No Florencia you got it all wrong. Tahliah isn’t evil. She’s a shy, beautiful, kind, compassionate, and incredible young woman. She doesn’t intentionally try and torment me, it just happens naturally. When I’m around her I have to fight from touching her, and when I’m not around her I have to fight from losing my sanity from thinking about her. I’ll admit I thought this madness would all end once we slept together for the first time but it’s gotten so much worse. What should I do, Florencia? I need some guidance.” Seth pleaded weakly, completely exhausted from his restless nights.

“Have you tried leaving the country and going back el hogar de América?” Mrs. Guadalupe suggested.

Seth shook his head sternly. “That’s the thing, I don’t want to go. Even when I thought it was best for my relationship with Avery, I still couldn’t summon the guts to do it. I didn’t want to leave Tahliah behind because it would be so much easier to surrender to her instead of running away from her. ”

“Does she feel the same way as you do about her? Do you have a power over her too?”

Seth shrugged, not really sure. “I think so. I swear sometimes I can feel that she does, but I’m not sure if that’s my wishful thinking.”

“You can give it a chance. If she was so willing to sleep with you so quickly, maybe she feels something for you. A menos que le gusta a dormir alrededor.”

“God, no! Tahliah isn’t like that.” Seth defended, looking at his maid with an offended look on his face.

“Well then that only means one thing. You are single, and she is single. ¿Qué te detiene?”