To Caress My Day

Once Twigs and Seth had gotten redressed, they went into the kitchen and cooked up some lunch for them to eat together upstairs…in bed. After their second round, they had jumped into the shower, and once again fell back into bed naked only to fall asleep in each other’s arms. Seth had woken up to his phone ringing and was informed by Alex Borstein, the voice of Lois Griffin, that he was late for their meeting. He had apologized while hurriedly getting dressed and hung up the phone. Leaning down over his girlfriend, he pressed a kiss to her head before heading downstairs to his black Maserati and speeding out of his driveway and town the street towards FOX studios.

Twigs had spent all that day alone napping, playing around with his piano, and singing and dancing around the place to the songs on her upcoming EP. It sucked not having Seth around most of the day, and she couldn’t help but rummage through some of his things to past the time out of pure boredom and loneliness. When the night finally came, Twigs got herself all relaxed in Seth’s tub filled with warm water and jasmine scented bubbles bath soap. She couldn’t believe he had remembered her favorite scent. With her hair up in a bun, and a few candles around the bathroom, Twigs sunk into the relaxing scented water and closed her eyes. Her mind naturally drifted to Seth and before she knew it her phone ringing on the counter broke her from her daydream. She was immediately startled before she recognized the tune and relaxed herself again. Hurriedly, she jumped out of the tub covered in water and suds of soap, grabbed her phone and then retuned back into the warm cozy sanctuary of the tub. She pressed the call button, and held her hone up to her ear. “Hello, Tahliah speaking.”

“Hey, Tahliah, it’s Derek.” A familiar voice answered.

Twigs eyes lit up. “Oh, hi there! Long time no see, huh? How have you and Odette been since I last saw you guys?”

“We’ve been just fine.” Derek answered her before changing the subject to reason he was ringing her phone up. “I just wanted to call and inform you that you have reservations at Darius’s Bungalow. It’s a pretty popular, but inexpensive place in town that the everyday Californians dine at, but the celebrities usually stay out of.”

“Okaaaaay.” Twigs replied, figuring this had something to do with Seth. “That sounds lovely. Are you and your wife going to join us?”

“Actually, we are, but we plan on sitting elsewhere and letting you to dine alone so we could dine alone ourselves.” Derek revealed.

“Oh, come on!” Twigs teased him, knowing exactly why he didn’t want to sit at their table. “Why don’t you wanna come sit with us, Derek? Are you too cool for us now?”

“You know exactly why I won’t have me and my wife sitting with the likes of you two perverts at the same table.” Derek sarcastically responded with a chuckle.

Twigs burst out laughing, and covered her mouth so she wouldn’t be too loud.

“Oh, ha ha ha!” Derek mocked her before getting back to business. “We’ll be coming by later to pick you up for dinner. Seth will meet up with you a little bit later, okay?”

“Okay.” Twigs said. “Thank you very much for doing this, Derek.”

“Don’t thank me.” Derek assured her. “Goodbye for now.”

“See you later.” Twigs quickly called after him before he hung up the phone. When she heard the click and dial tone that followed, she ended the call and placed her phone down on the floor beside the tub. She relaxed into the water a few minutes longer before getting out of the tub and getting herself ready for her date. She was brimming with so much excitement at seeing Seth, she was practically pacing the hallway outside the garage door all dressed up waiting for Derek and his wife to arrive. She had expanded her pacing range and was walking up and down the hall when she heard the garage door finally open, signaling their arrival. Unfortunately she had to wait for the door to close before she could go running into the garage, the paparazzi were most likely still outside waiting to get a shot of a celebrity or a juicy scandal. As she listened again at the sound of the garage now reversing back down again, her heart began to pound as a smile crept across her lips. She made her way down the hall, but before she could get to the garage door it had already opened.

Odette popped her head through the door in search for her and smiled when she spotted her. “Hurry up, beautiful! The night is still young.”

Twig giggled before meeting up with her in the garage and seeing the familiar Chrysler 300 that Derek drove her around in California that was similar to one in the UK…except now it looked like its interior had just been redone. “Oh, wow, did you get your interior work, Derek?” She reached out to open the back passenger door to get a better look inside.” It’s absolutely stunning!”

Derek, still sitting behind the wheel turned around in his seat before she could sit down. “Hold on, Tahliah! Don’t sit down just yet!”

Tahliah back out of the car, and held her hands up in panic. “What, what did I do!?”

Derek got out of the car and leaned over the backseat to push the seating cushion up to reveal a long hidden compartment underneath big enough for a person to hide in. “Seth had some modifications done to the back seat for you.” He opened the compartment and straightened back up so Twigs could see that within the compartment was cushioned flooring and a satin pillow.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe this.” Twigs gasps in surprised as she stared wide eyes at Derek. “Is this really for me?”

Derek nodded as he rested his arm on the hood of his car. “You bet. That whole parking garage incident back in the UK scared the crap out of Seth, and pushed him to take some extra steps in order to protect your identity more successfully, ergo, this compartment.” He gestured with a nod to the modification. “If it hadn’t been for all of our coats that night those paparazzi would have seen you easily with the help of those flashing lights.”

Twigs nodded in agreement. “Oh, without a doubt, I’m sure.”

“And that’s why Seth had this put into the back seat of my car.” Derek ended his tale.

“I just…I still can’t believe he’s gone to such lengths for me.” Twigs confessed in honesty.

Derek frowned in confusion at her. He could have sworn Seth already confessed his love to her, and yet she seemed surprised that he would do something this romantic for her to protect her privacy. “Well of course he would. It’s because he’s in love with you.”

“Wait, what!?” Twigs exclaimed, looking at him in shock. “He told you about that?”

“Of course, my dear. We both know.” Odette informed her from where she stood on her side of the car. She gave her a smug smile and a wink. “We’ve known for a long time anyhow before he even told us.”

“A long time, huh?” Twigs sarcastically said before playfully sticking her tongue out at Odette as Derek assisted her into the compartment to lie down. The box was kind of cramped, but she assumed it was only meant for short usage and not for hour long drives through the country. Derek gave her a smile before closing the lid. Twigs was stuck in darkness for only two seconds before a soft light emitting from the area where her feet had turned on.

“Oh, and by the way.” Derek called to Twigs in the back as he got into the driver’s seat and opened the garage door. “What Odette means is that we’ve known about Seth’s true feelings for you before he even knew about it.” Outside beyond Seth’s gate was the ever so annoying flashes of lights from the paparazzi hanging out outside the property.

Odette faced forward in her seat but kept her eyes down so she wouldn’t be blinded by the sea lights her husband was navigating them through. “You should be able to hear us in there without any issues, Tahliah, and the same goes for us out here.”

Twigs nodded deep within the secret compartment before realizing they couldn’t see her. “Yes, I can hear you just fine from in here.” And not only that, she could hear the commotion outside as well. As she felt the car slowly move forward, she could hear voices calling out Seth’s name over each other.” Let me guess, that’s them, right?”

Odette nodded in confirmation to herself. “Yes ma’am.”

Twigs shook her head to herself in disbelief. “God, are they always outside waiting for him like this?”

“Most of the time, but not every day.” Derek assured her as he focused on not running anyone over even though the lights were blinding him. “We were lucky the last time you came over that they weren’t skulking around outside like the vultures they are.”

“How long do I have to stay in here, exactly?” Twigs asked them, hoping they wouldn’t say an hour.

“Once we get through the crowd, and out of sight of their cameras you can come out.” Odette promised her. “But until then, you must remain hidden. I’m sorry.”