Happier

Talia had moved into a spacious loft in Atlanta after leaving everything behind. She’d gone no contact with nearly everyone, Jackson, her dad, included. The few she kept in touch with were on her side. They spoke up after she’d left. They’d called everyone out on their blatant ignorance. They’d let everyone know just how wrong it was to say and do what they had toward Talia. She’d come to terms with all of it. She’d let it all go. It’d done nothing but bring her down. Others actions had spoken for them. She was letting hers do the same. 

She’d come out as Lesbian at 35. She’d not felt comfortable to do so prior. She’d been openly closeted for the last nine years. She knew the majority of the people in her life wouldn’t love her. People who never practiced what they preached to begin with. People who’d told her to pray away the Gay. She’d distanced herself from nearly everyone. She’d gone low contact with her relatives in recent years. Their ignorance was obvious. Not once had they helped her or Jackson anyway. They’d not been family for a long time. They’d let their actions speak. She’d begun letting hers do the same by going on with her life. Without them. 

She knew the confrontation with Jackson would happen at some point. He’d made some kind of ignorant comment at some point. He’d never been comfortable when she talked about anything LGBTQ. Not even when she talked about Constantine’s recent breakup with his boyfriend. She’d chosen to not talk about the subject at all. A comment Jackson made after he’d seen a commercial featuring two Lesbian women that left her yelling at him. She’d shamed him for his ignorance the rest of the ride home. She packed what little she had and left after they got home. He hadn’t gotten out of the car. He’d left to be alone with his thoughts instead. She didn’t care. It meant she could pack in peace and leave. She was gone by the time he returned. 

Constantine had taken her to her hotel near the train station. He’d spent time with her before having to go home. She’d left for Atlanta the next day. She’d been laid off out of nowhere a month prior to the confrontation. She’d been looking for a job since then to no avail. The little savings she had was going toward the bare essentials. An extended stay being the priority. She’d found a job as a Copywriter one week after arriving in Atlanta. She’d done well since then. She’d made a decent life for herself. She’d moved into the spacious loft she now lived in six months after moving to Atlanta. She’d felt happier far more than she’d ever been. Nobody cared she was Lesbian. They saw her as any other person walking down the street. She’d become a successful Copywriter in her short time in Atlanta. She saw herself traveling for a while after saving some money. 

She’d been able to take some time off citing Mental Health struggles. She’d not given herself time to deal with the trauma she’d experienced when she left. She’d not been able to deal with the trauma that had been her life up to the time she’d moved to Atlanta. Her mothers death over twenty years prior from a Brain Aneurysm had left her unsure of how to go on with her life. She’d lived with her grief. She’d gone on with her life in her own way. Her travels over the next six months led her across the country ending in New York. She’d spent the most time there wandering around. Her faith in humanity was restored throughout her travels. She spent the train ride planning her eventual time as a Public Speaker.