To Caress My Day

Twigs was in her apartment finishing the last of her packing for the music video the next morning. She had just gotten home from a long day of hanging out with her favorite girls, and had decided to head back home to finish packing instead of hitting the clubs with them. Her friends completely understood and kissed her goodbye, wishing her a safe trip. As Twigs finished packing the last of her makeup products, a thought came to her; she was missing the hell out of her boyfriend Seth. She had spent all day away from him, and he hardly texted her. When her phone finally vibrated in the late afternoon, Seth had sent her a voicemail telling her that he had a busy schedule all day and that she was constantly on his mind. Twigs wasn’t hurt anymore after reading that last part. THE Seth MacFarlane was thinking about Twigs, an ordinary girl from London. Never in a million years would Twigs believe this would ever happen to her.

She couldn’t stop herself from thinking of him too. In fact, the more she thought of him the more she needed to see him. Twigs closed her eyes and imagined herself with him right now, sitting on the couch while he played his piano, or eat dinner together, before heading towards the bedroom where they’d…

Twigs let out a whine as she fell face down on her bed in distraught. She just had to think of Seth in an intimate way! Now she was aching for him. Twigs rolled on her back and pouted up at her ceiling. Seth was busy, and probably didn’t have any time to spend with her. Still, Twigs wanted to be there with him, even if he was too occupied to do anything other than smile in her direction every thirty minutes. Twigs sat up to look at her cellphone on her nightstand, chewing her bottom lip in thought. It didn’t take long for her to come to a final decision as she picked it up and searched for Derek’s number through her contacts. When she found it, she pressed the call button and held it up to her ear impatiently.

“Hello?” A sleepy voice grumbled from the other end.

Twig immediately felt guilty when she realized he was probably asleep when she called. “Derek, its Tahliah. I’m sorry to call so late, were you sleeping?”

“Yeah. What did you need?” Derek asked anyway as he tried to wake himself up.

“Oh it’s nothing, don’t worry about it. I’m sorry I woke you.” Twigs apologized fiercely, as she prepared to press the end button on her cellphone.

“Tahliah, what did you need?” Derek said slowly, but clearly, not wanting her to hang up. It was his job to assist Twigs whenever she wanted to see her boyfriend. His employer paid Derek an incredibly generous amount for that simple task alone, and Derek was grateful for that, and intended to do this job to perfection.

“O-Oh, uh, it was just…I want to see him. I miss him.” Twigs stammered out, feeling even guiltier. The poor man was having a well-earned rest and she interrupted for a dumb reason like wanting to see her boyfriend. Could I be anymore selfish, Twigs wondered to herself as she waited for his reply?

Derek looked behind him at his sleeping wife. “Understood. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Twigs heard the click of him hanging up, and placed her phone on her nightstand, before rushing to the nearest mirror to check her appearance over. Seconds later, Twigs was shooting out of her apartment and into the hallway, nearly knocking over Avery Jenkins in the process.

“Oh my goodness!” Avery cried out in surprise, clutching her hand to her chest at the sight of a tiny fast Twigs.

The dancer held up her hands to prevent Avery from losing her balance. “Jesus, I’m so sorry Mrs. Williams! I didn’t mean to come out of nowhere and almost knock you down!”

That’s alright dear, I’m still standing. I haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been, and where are you going in such a hurry?” Avery questioned, raising an amused eyebrow.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and I am going to spend the night at my boyfriend’s house.” Twigs squealed before giggling like a school girl, behind sleeve of her sweater, her cheeks a pink glow.

Avery smiled in congratulations. “That’s wonderful news! Who’s the lucky guy?”

Twigs opened her mouth to say Seth MacFarlane, before snapping it shut. How could she almost forget that they were keeping their relationship a secret from the public, and Avery is part of that public. Twigs froze up and immediately began thinking of a phony identity for Seth.

“Well, what’s his name?” Avery repeated, giving Twigs a weird look at her odd hesitation.

A light bulb went on in Twig’s head, just in time. “My boyfriend? Oh …h-his name is Peter.”

Avery nodded. “Oh ok, what’s his last name? I might know him.”

Another light bulb went off. “Smith? Peter Smith.”

Avery couldn’t recall anyone she knew by that name but, flashed Twigs a smile anyway. Lucky for Twigs, Avery wasn’t able to piece together the two names of Seth’s main characters from his animated TV shows. “I can’t say that I know him but I’m happy for you anyway. Unfortunately it’s getting very late, and I have to wake up early tomorrow. I hope you have a great night with Peter, sweetie. He’s lucky to have a spirited young lady as you.”

Twigs nodded. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Williams, that’s means a lot. I hope you have a great sleep, and to see you around.”

Avery nodded again before heading inside her apartment, while Twigs bolted into a run down the hallway and down the stairwell.

______________________________________________________________________________

Derek had arrived at exactly twenty minutes after he hung up his phone. Twigs was impressed by his great timing and eagerly hopped in. In the car she sent a quick text to Simone that she’d be back early in the morning to say goodbye to her before she left for the airport and to not worry. The drive consisted of Twigs apologizing for waking Derek up and asking him to apologize to his wife for her selfish request. Derek, of course, dismissed all that with a wave of his hand. The rest of the drive was filled with silence until they drove up Seth’s driveway. His house took her breathe away once again, but didn’t keep her stuck in the car for much longer. As soon as Derek stopped the car, Twigs eagerly pushed the door open for herself before realizing that the house was completely dark and voided of life. Twigs frowned up at the giant shadow, before sinking back into her seat with a pout. Had he not arrived home yet, she wondered?

She looked over at Derek, clearly bummed out. “Is he not home yet?”

“I don’t think so, ma’am.” Derek answered back as he studied the house and it’s lack of lights.

“Do you know where he is?” Twigs asked, hoping he’d have the answer since Seth is his employer.

Derek made a quick check in his phone, before looking over his shoulder at her. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Mr. Woodbury is welcoming new homeowners to his previous property, it doesn’t say when he will be back.”

Twigs let out a defeated sigh and closes her car door in disappointment. “I guess you can drive me back home, Derek. I’m sorry you made this journey for nothing. I knew he was busy, but I didn’t think he’d be working this late.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do, ma’am?” Derek asked as he turned around in his seat to hand her a small wooden box. Twigs frowned in confusion but took it anyway and popped the case open to reveal a key sitting on a lining of velvet. She was speechless, and uncertain about what it unlocked and why Derek was giving it to her.

“Mr. Woodbury already feels he can trust you enough to come and go as you please on his property. You can take or leave whatever you desire. His home is your home whether he’s around or not.” Derek explained, studying her puzzled look in the rear view mirror.

A question bubbled up in Twig’s mind and made her wonder if everything was going too fast for them. Seth was giving her a key to his place, his mansion. He already trusted her not to invite strangers for a party when he wasn’t home or steal his most prized possessions and sell them on eBay? She couldn’t help but be touched by this small but important key, and decided to dismiss the doubtful thoughts. If she already earned this kind of trust from him so early on in their relationship than maybe this was a good sign that she was starting to grow on him or something.

“Thank you so much Derek!” Twigs exclaimed before reaching over to lightly wrap her arms around his neck and hug him for a few seconds, before jumping out of the car and running for the front doors. Derek merely chuckled and drove off back to his house to sleep in his empty spot next to his beautiful wife.