To Caress My Day

Twigs went along with the next rounds of conversations wondering if she really would have eventually trusted her close friends with the location of Seth’s house. Twigs honestly felt that she wouldn’t tell a soul about where she and her boyfriend meet up, but then again her friends knew her a lot better than she knew herself. There’s been times they’ve been able to predict the unforeseeable, so Twigs wasn’t about to argue against that now.

As they continued on telling stories and enjoying each other’s company, a man in a black trench coat, with sunglasses was standing outside on the curb leaning against the exact same black Chrysler 300 that Twigs was in the other night. He was watching the young lady he was informed to be Tahliah eating with a group of her friends. He deliberately parked in that area so she’d spot him sooner rather than later. Even thought he was her driver, he wasn’t about to wait all day on her, nor was he allowed to show his face to her friends. However within seconds after his arrival, Twigs had looked up in his direction and stopped chewing. She immediately knew when he gave her a nod and a smile that he was waiting for her. Twigs would have thought he was some kind of creep if it hadn’t been for the car he was leaning against. She’d recognized that car in a heartbeat. Twigs excused herself from the table to step outside for an important ‘phone call’ from her agent.

The stranger had stepped forward and removed his sunglasses the moment Twigs had finally stepped outside the cafe and walked up to him.

“Excuse me sir, is there a problem?” Twigs asked, pretty certain that this guy wasn’t stupid enough to harm her in front of a busy café with a whole bunch of witnesses around.

The man simply smiled at her and held out his hand to greet her properly. “No problems at all, ma’am. My name is Derek. I’m Tahliah Debrett Barnett’s new driver sent by a mister Woodbury.”

Twigs frowned at the name Woodbury and couldn’t remember anyone that went by it until it suddenly clicked. Her big eyes looked up at him in hope as she breathed out one word. “Seth?”

Derek nodded, giving her some relief. “Correct. Right now, Woodbury is too occupied with work to introduce the two of us, so I thought I’d track you down and introduce myself to his lovely young girlfriend.”

Twigs lightly blushed at being called Seth’s girlfriend, before finally taking his hand and giving it a nice shake. “It’s nice to meet you Derek, but I don’t think I need a driver to go and see my boyfriend. I can always grab a taxi.”

Derek shook his head. “Mr. Woodbury believes that you do need a private driver. You see, my employer is pretty strict about making sure the media doesn’t get ahold of any information about you. Trust me when I say, he’s been giving this a lot of thought. He believes it would be safer if you had a hired driver that will take you to his estate, specifically someone that he can trust not to betray him for the media attention or money. I’ve been his friend since before he became famous so he knows I’m as reliable as concrete. He also knows that he won’t ever find another driver that can keep his mouth shut no matter how much money the media throws at him.

Derek could still see Twigs still wasn’t completely on board with the idea, so he continued on. “Miss Tahliah, I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. But we both know Mr. Woodbury and what a great guy he is. I know for a fact that this man is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe and happy in this relationship with him, by protecting you from the media. I’ve never seen him this driven because of a woman before, and trust me, he’s been with a lot of them. There’s something about you, Miss Tahliah that makes this difficult situation worth fighting for for him. Please, his intention isn’t to upset you. He’s trying to keep these slime balls away from you so you can continue to live a nice private life, and still be with him.”

Twigs was already convinced by Derek’s speech and knew deep in her heart that this guy wasn’t here to cause trouble at all, only to aid her in her quest to keep her life private and still be with her man. “Alright, I’ve heard enough. You have me completely convinced. I don’t believe you’re up to no good anymore.”

They nodded at each other in understanding. Twigs felt a blanket of gratitude come over her for Derek’s help to try and keep her away from the media. “I can’t thank you enough for this, Derek.”

Derek reached into his pocket for his card and handed it to her. “Don’t mention it. Here’s my number. Anytime you want to see him, call me up. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the middle of the night or day, I’ll come pick you up whenever you are. Believe me when I say, Mr. Woodbury is looking forward to your future interruptions.”

The two people departed; with Derek driving off and Twigs returning to the café to join her friends.

“Guys, you won’t believe what just happened?!” Twigs exclaimed, hugging the white card to her chest.

The girls gave her a weird look, before Jess decided to ask. “Uh, what happened?”

Twigs showed them the card, watching them all pass it around with matching puzzled expressions. “Twigs, we don’t get it. It’s just a name and a number.”

Asami frowned. “Who is Derek?”

Twigs leaned over the table and whispered to them with a ridiculously goofy smile on her face. “He’s my driver!”

Simone looked at her in awe. “Wait, driver? Did you say driver?”

Amira looked at the front and back of the card. “Hold on, how can you afford a driver on your salary?”

Twigs giggled behind her hands. “That’s the thing, I can’t!...but my boyfriend can!”

The girls once again erupted into a fit of screams, cheers and giggles. They each got up or lunged themselves across the table to hug Twigs.

“OH MY GOD, HE’S YOUR BOYFRIEND!?” Jess squealed in shock.

“SINCE WHEN?!” Asami demanded in betrayal.

Twigs took a minute to calm herself down. “Last night, he asked me to be his girlfriend. Did you not hear me mention that before?”

The girls ignored Twig’s last remark and once again started to cheer before they were quickly silenced by the owner shouting a warning at them to keep it down. The girls lowered their tones but continued on with their high spirits.

“So wait, why do you need a driver? Can’t you just take a taxi?” Amira wondered, leaning her chin against her hand.

Twigs only gave her two word. “Paparazzi and gossipers.”

All the girls ‘awwed’ at this, believing it to be utterly romantic.

“Oh my god, he’s protecting you from those nosy pests and gossiping cab drivers trying to make some extra cash, huh?” Simone cooed, pinching Twig’s cheeks before getting swatted at.

“Yeah, he is. It sounds like a crazy thing to do for little old me, I know, but he seems very protective of my life and keeping it private. He knows how I feel about all that media stuff like you guys already know.” Twigs explained, earning several nods in agreement.

“Well, we think it’s a wonderful idea and it’s really sweet of him to go to such lengths for you. You’re lucky, Twigs.” Jess gushed, her face cupped in her hands.

“Yeah, not very many rich guys would care to go that extra mile for an ordinary woman.” Amira added, pointing a finger at Twigs.

Twigs nodded slowly, thinking about it at she looked out the window. “Yeah, I know. I’m living every young girls dream to be with a billionaire.”

Asami swallows the last of her bagel slathered in cream cheese. “Except those girls dreamt their billionaires were madly in love with them like in those fairy tales stories.”