To Caress My Day

Avery woke up that morning with no coffee on her nightstand much to her disappointment. Of course, if this had been anyone else that was late with delivering her coffee, Avery would’ve made the rest of their day a living hell. But because this person was Seth, Avery was left in confusion as to where he could be. Seth has never been late with her coffee in all of the four years they’ve been together, which made this situation odd. Avery began to go over possible reasons as why she wasn’t going to have her morning coffee such as maybe he got stuck in traffic or something like that. Nevertheless, he still would’ve left a notification on her phone. Avery sat up and skimmed through her cellphone really quick incase Seth left a voice mail, text, or email for her. When Avery found nothing, she began to worry. The designer didn’t even want to think about Seth getting involved in a terrible accident all because of her need for coffee. She may not be in love with him like she should be, but that didn’t mean she didn’t give a shit about his wellbeing. Then again, the secrets she was hiding from him might not make her feelings for Seth sound at all sincere.

Avery was brought out of her thoughts when she saw a voice message on her phone that had her heart beating faster. It was him. Avery clicked on the voice mail and held the phone to her ear, as she nervously started to fiddle with the hems of her nightgown.

“Hello, Miss Jenkins, I am calling on regards of your charity fashion ball. Call me back soon, please.” A male voice said with a British accent. Avery closed her eyes and exhaled shaily before running to towards the bathroom to get ready.

Seth entered the mansion with a cold coffee and some peach roses in his hands. When he didn’t see any signs of Avery downstairs, he hurriedly snuck into the kitchen towards the microwave. If he could get her coffee warmed up before Avery came downstairs maybe she-

“Seth, when did you get here? Did something happen on the way back because you’re late.” Seth cursed in his mind before slowly turning around to see his girlfriend all dressed. Did they have plans today?

“Oh, did we have plans to go out?” Seth asked her, forgetting to hide the coffee from her view.

“No, actually I was called in on business for the charity ball. I have to meet some people to go over the layout and whatnot.” Avery reached for her cup, ignoring Seth’s wince, as she took a sip. Immediately she dropped the cup and spat out the coffee all over the counter.

“Oh my god Seth, what on earth is that?!” Avery shrieked, reaching for a glass to fill with water to get the taste out of her mouth. The foul substance tasted like lower class coffee.

“It’s the same coffee you ordered. Why, what’s wrong with it?” Seth asked, standing behind her, making sure she was ok. He should have known she would have reacted this way.

“What’s wrong with it?! It taste cold and disgusting. That isn’t MY coffee, where on earth did you get that sewer water?” Avery cried, rinsing out her mouth overdramatically again.

“Your coffee shop was closed, so I went to a different one across the street. I’m sorry if you don’t like it.” Seth apologized, as Mrs. Guadalupe picked up the empty coffee cup and wipe up the spilled beverage.

“Thank you, Mrs. Guadalupe.” Seth nodded to her, sending her one of her favorite smile of his that she adores.

“De nada, senor.” Mrs. Guadalupe replied back in Spanish.

“Do they not heat up their coffees at all? That’s was freezing.” Avery questioned, checking her lipstick in her compact mirror, making sure it wasn’t smudged.

“No I got tied up as well. You know how fans can be.” Seth shrugged off, placing a hand on her hip as he gave her cheek an apologetic kiss. Avery didn’t react to his sweet gesture at all.

“When will you be done with your work so we can spend some time together? This is OUR vacation, you know.” Seth asked, earning a long sigh from his girlfriend as she moved away from his arms.

“That’s the thing, this event might take the next two or three days.” Avery shared, making Seth sigh in disbelief. Every time he made an attempt to spend some alone time with her, she’d always have an excuse why she couldn’t be bothered.

“Seriously? The next two or three days?” Seth repeated, making sure he heard her right.

“Well, yeah. This charity ball isn’t going to get set up by itself now is it?” Avery questioned, closing her compact mirror and placing it in her clutch purse. The look on Seth’s face quickly struck a nerve in her.

“Is me doing my job gonna be a problem here?” Avery scoffed, not having the time for Seth’s selfishness. If she was hoping to meet up with her ‘friend’ on time she had to leave soon. Avery didn’t want to waste any more precious time arguing about her career.

“No, of course not. You know I support all of your dreams, honey. I really do. I just thought we’d have some time on our ‘vacation’ to spend with each other.” Seth assured his girlfriend, but all she heard was how he strongly emphasized the word ‘vacation’ and she did not like it. The fashion designer was already done with having this conversation.

Avery rolled her eyes as she turned around and stalked for the front door. “Look I gotta go. Don’t wait up, I’m gonna be late.” She called behind her back before closing the front door behind her. Seth stayed where he was, listening to her car start up and leave the property.

This vacation wasn’t starting out the way he hoped it would. Seth was doing the best that he could from keeping himself from falling back into his old habits of being a workaholic, but really what was the point? It’s been their first week alone on their getaway and all Avery has been doing was working. It should not have surprised him when she decided to set up a fashion charity ball in London when she should been here relaxing in the mansion that took two years to build in the short amount of time he wasn’t working on his business. Was it asking too much for her to take this trip seriously? Seth wasn’t sure. His mind was telling him to gently persuade her to slow it down with the constant working, but his heart was telling him he didn’t have the right to interfere in her dreams. Which one should he listen to?

Doesn’t matter anyway. Seth wasn’t going to try and look for a fight just to get her to spend some time with him. Maybe he can just wait it out and take advantage of the time she’s available. When she goes back to working again, so will he. That’s probably what he should be doing now but…

Seth gave himself some time to let his mind wander back to earlier events pertaining to the coffee shop this morning. Specifically, his pixie. Now that he was home and alone, he could think about her and not feel guilty, right? He still couldn’t get over the fact that he forgot all about Avery the entire time and didn’t mention her once in the whole conversation. He told them he was on vacation in London, not that his girlfriend was with him. Seth felt kind of bad about that. Did that make him sound like a scumbag? Seth wasn’t the kind of guy to cheat, at his age he didn’t feel like he had the time nor energy to do it. Yet, he couldn’t deny that Tahliah intrigued him. She was a young woman with a strange kind of beauty that Seth has never come across before. She oozed mystery, innocence, and seduction just by minding her own business and sipping her coffee. Her voice was so clear like crystals, gentle like the fountain of youth, and melodic like wind chimes. There is no way he could capture her in words. No, you’d have to see and hear her for yourself. Just being around her made Seth feel the need to protect her and keep her close. Seth shook his head at that silly thought. He had only just met her, why would he want to protect her? It’s not like she’s Princess Peach and he’s Mario. God, he can be such a hopeless romantic sometimes about the dumbest things! It’s so embarrassing, even if it’s all in his mind.

Back in town, at a small expensive diner, Avery entered wearing her sunglasses, looking around in case someone recognized her. Seeing that no one took notice of her, Avery headed towards the table that was away from the windows. There was only one seat available for her since the other one was occupied by a man wearing sunglasses, a hat and a trench coat. He was also dressed to hide his identity.

Avery took her seat, taking her sunglasses off as she looked across the table at her dear friend who also took his sunglasses off. Their eyes met, sparkling in excitement and yearning.

“Hello, Miss Jenkins.” The man across from her said, his brown eyes studying her form as if seeing an exquisite diamond.

“Hello, Mr. Hapsburg.” Avery softly welcomed, also allowing her eyes to explore his frame from behind the table. His black short hair was brushed back, and his suit looked like it was made for him. He looked like a man with immense power, and he certainly dressed that way.

“It seems like forever since we last saw one another when really it’s bee-“Mr. Hapsburg started off, before he was interrupted by the beautiful woman at his table.

“Two weeks since our last meeting. I remember.” Avery recalled, her lips curving into a slow smile, their eyes never once leaving one another.

A slow smile also crept onto his face, as he leaned over and places his black leather gloved hand over hers, his thumb slowly rubbing the back of her hand. “Yes, I’m sure you remember as much as I do.”