Delphine walked up the stairs to her new apartment. She sighed, putting her bags down to shuffle around in her purse for the keys. She fumbled as she got the key into the keyhole, hearing the click of the lock, swinging the door wide. She picked up her bags, heading into her new home for the first time.
The movers had dropped all her things sloppily into the apartment. There wasn't much in the tiny space, just a few boxes here and there, her minimal furniture barely filling the room. She hadn't wanted to bring too much with her from her old life. She wanted a fresh start, needed to try in some small way to move forward.
She placed her purse on the kitchen counter, putting away the small bag of groceries she got on her way in. She looked around, noticing the silence. It's eerily quiet for being in the middle of a city. She figured San Francisco would be very different from her previous home in Minnesota, but right now it felt similar, but not in a good way.
She ruffled through one of the boxes in the kitchen, searching for her tea kettle. She found it and put some water on to boil, plucking a sachet from the box of tea she just purchased. She knew she needed to unpack everything, but she wanted to relax first. Finding a mug in the box, she poured the water into it, watching the steam rise as it filled.
She sat down on her favorite armchair. It's one of the things she didn't want to get rid of. There were a lot of memories in it, and though she wanted to leave most of it behind, the chair still held good memories in it, ones she wanted to hold onto. She sipped the tea slowly, allowing herself a brief moment to remember one of them.
"Hey, you," Jen smiled as she walked into the room to see Delphine sitting in the green armchair in the corner, curled up with a book.
Delphine grinned at her. It's one of her favorite moments of the day, when she came home from work and Delphine could embrace her lovingly. She looked great, with her short dark hair perfectly styled, her button down shirt tucked into her khakis. Delphine always loved her work outfits. Jen walked over grabbing the blonde's face in her hands, pulling her in for a sweet kiss.
"I missed you today," Jen said.
Delphine giggled, "I missed you too."
"Hey, I have a surprise for you," Jen smirked, slyly.
"Oh yeah?" Delphine asked.
Jen took her hand, "Come here," she ordered, leading her toward the kitchen.
As Delphine reached the kitchen, she looked at the table, seeing a small brown box.
"What is it?" she inquired.
"Open it," Jen answered.
Delphine walked over, opening the box carefully to find a smaller black box inside. She opened it up to find a necklace, a thin silver chain with a small heart locket on it. A look of recognition flashed across her face.
"Oh my god," she gasped. "Jen…"
Jen grinned at her, ecstatic. "Do you like it? I had it fixed. New chain, they even repaired the piece that was broken."
Delphine threw her arms around her wife, tears coming to her eyes. "I love it," she exclaimed.
The locket had been sitting in her jewelry case for years, broken, with no chain. It had belonged to her mother. She'd held onto it ever since her mother had died when she was 22. Ten years it had been sitting in that case. She always wanted to get it fixed, but never got around to it. Now, holding it in her hands, rubbing the smooth metal, she felt like her mother was there with her.
Delphine brought her hand to the locket around her neck, moving her finger over the cool charm. She felt her tears coming, but held them back. She had cried enough. She moved to get away, to start over, and she needed to stay strong.
She finished her tea, starting to unpack the boxes. She wanted to get everything settled before beginning her new job the next day. She set to work, wondering what her new life would be like, hoping it would be able to fill something within her that was empty.
She knew it was difficult to start over. She was almost 40 and her life had not turned out the way she had planned. She had thought she and Jen would grow old together, that they would have a family, share their lives. They had it for a long time, almost ten years, seven of those married. But the past two years, those had been unexpected. Those had been unbearably hard.
Delphine shook her head of the thoughts, focusing on the task at hand. She would focus on her research, her new lab. No one knew her here and that's the way she wanted it. She had moved to get away from all the stares, the whispers, the people walking on eggshells when they were around her. Anything would be better than that.
