Once upon a time in a land far, far away was a city called Gayton Place

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a spirited, fabulous city called Gayton Place.
In Gayton Place, there was a community filled with fantastic fairies, fierce queens and blossoming butch bitches. Now in this city, you truly never knew who a person could actually trust. So many people were out for themselves, never really looking to what they could do to make life simpler for others.
But, there were always people who, no matter what, would always be a sparkling presence in the lives of others. Those individuals usually gravitated toward one another, and those groups of people were called “destinies.”
Years ago two of those individuals, Josephine and Delia, found each other. The two young gals became the bestest of friends, totally inseparable. No one could separate them, no matter how much anyone tried. It was, what some would call, friendship of soul mates.
Josephine was somewhat reserved, but fiercely loyal. She came from a religious background and her father worked long, hard hours to make sure his family never wanted for anything – he was a self-made successful businessman and law enforcement official who made sure the family had a financial blanket to fall back on. He instituted trusts for his children, and Josephine – in a way – always counted on it. By her father doing such things, she believed that family is not always blood-related; often family was friends who would give their left leg just to make sure her family/friends were safe. Josephine believed that love existed, but lost trust over the years that it was ever really possible. But she knew that if she found love, she would do as much as she could to make it work. A hard worker and stubborn in her own right, she knew that anything worth having was worth working for. She wasn’t the type of person, from her upbringing, to take handouts. She always had a boatload of friends, whom she revered as family. That’s the way she always wanted it to be, especially in Gayton Place.
Delia didn’t grow up in Gayton Place; she lived in a town for years somewhat less desirable but where a person learned how to survive. Since growing up there, she knew how to handle herself in any situation and made sure things always turned out her way. She knew the strength of family, and once she moved to Gayton Place, she made sure her family of friends lived in a place they felt safe. In her mind, love of a good man wasn’t anything that would ever be needed to make her be a whole person. In her estimation, if love came – fine, but she wasn’t going to look for it or allow it into her life easily. A player by any means, Delia was not the type to settle down with any man. Love was just a concept that people fell into to make themselves feel safe; it wasn’t for her. Delia could be described as a businesswoman who made a name for herself in Gayton Place. People respected her, and knew that friendship and respect meant so much to her. A bit controlling in her ways maybe, but that was her charm. Some people liked that about her; they knew where she stood on situations.
So when Josephine and Delia found each other’s friendship, some were surprised because of their upbringing and the way each handled situations. Best friends, neither ever wanted to see the other hurt. They would always do everything in their power to make the other feel loved and each had the others’ back – always.
Prior to becoming friends, both had their share of romantic relationships. Delia had a few boyfriends, but nothing really stuck as long-term. Josephine had three significant romances over the years. The first one, although very good in the beginning months, turned ugly after the first year’s anniversary, as her man fell into the world of drugs and ended up being abusive – emotionally and physically. When he was carted off to rehab following an overdose, the two parted company. Although the two loved each other, Josephine was deemed an enabler and not positive for his recovery. The second romance lasted almost two years, but ended when Josephine stopped paying for everything – including his bills and making him happy. Once she put the brakes on the money, he accelerated into the world of infidelity. That breakup was very vocal in the community – and very ugly. The two rarely talk nowadays when running into each other in Gayton Place. The third relationship ended after a 6-month stint … let’s just say that ended when Josephine discovered he had a partner in another state. And one thing Josephine would never do is be the other woman in any relationship.
But I digress. During Delia and Josephine’s friendship, there was never another man who split their time. The two were inseparable, and everyone in Gayton Place was well aware. It was a friendship most aspired to have in their own lives, and if you were lucky enough to find a friend like those two, you considered yourself lucky.
Delia and Josephine worked together on projects, so they were tighter than ever. Sadly, one of the projects the two of them worked on together, Josephine’s parents weren’t extremely happy about because they felt like she was just putting her money into it without getting anything back. “An awful business move” is how it was referred, and Josephine’s father put her trust on hold until she began to act more “responsible” with her business dealings.
So Josephine sucked it up and did what she needed to do to make ends meet, without allowing herself to burden anyone in her life. Pride was something of utmost importance to her, and that was just the way things were always going to be.
After some time had passed, Josephine’s parents decided to put their confidence back into her and ultimately decided to reinstate her trust. “The struggle was worth it,” Josephine thought, “because the parents know I can hold my own and know that the way the project’s funding was handled was the best way for me to go.”
Josephine was happy again, she could get things back on track financially. Sadly, a bit of tragedy occurred shortly thereafter. Delia found herself in a situation where she was in trouble, and to save her from the situation where she would find herself in financial and judicial burden, Josephine stepped up and took the fall.
Well, Josephine didn’t step up – she was sort of pushed into the situation. Josephine didn’t care, because she knew that in any sort of situation, she’d actually always take a bullet for her best friend Delia. That’s just the way she handled her loving friendships.
Soon after, through word-of-mouth in a number of ways, Josephine’s father discovered what she had done, and decided that Josephine was not ready to handle some situations in her life, and held the trust back again – this time indefinitely. Josephine was already in a career spiral, having to deal with a backstabbing friend and co-worker who underhandedly took the promotion and hefty pay raise she was in line to receive, so losing that funding was a huge blow. But she did what she needed to do to make ends meet.
But sadly, one thing she had to cut back on was hanging out as much socially. Either that, or start eating Ramen Noodles. And trust, Josephine knew what it was like to eat that in college; she wasn’t ready for that. So she got a second job and made ends meet as best she could. She thought everyone would understand; plus it wasn’t like no one would never see her again – just not as much. After all, everyone knows what you need to do to survive, especially in Gayton Place. And Josephine prided herself on never, ever having to “work” the room for drinks; it just wasn’t her style.
Shortly thereafter, things between Delia and Josephine got a bit tense when Josephine began spending a little time with a new man, Gulliver. It was merely casual, just the two of them hanging out here and there – nothing big or serious, just hanging out, joking around and the little bit of time they got to spend together, she learned a lot about him. People in Gayton Place had already started gossiping, but that happens everywhere you go … that’s just life.
So Josephine made every valiant effort to make sure she still was visible out and around Gayton Place, a few times being forced to eat Ramen Noodles just so she didn’t take away any time from hanging with Delia. After all, the two of them hung out at least five times a week. Josephine knew it was getting tight financially for her, and she confided in Delia her situation and let her know that due to what has happened financially, she couldn’t be out as much. Of course, being the friend Delia was, she offered numerous times to let Josephine hang and not have to deal with the financial part of it. And of course, pride and the way she was brought up, Josephine couldn’t let that happen often.
A couple of weeks later, even though Josephine was able to find a little funds here and there and hang out in the city with Delia, that, Josephine soon discovered, was not enough. A couple of weeks after working a double-shift just so she wasn’t homeless next month and had some funds to survive, Josephine decided to stop out and meet up with Delia.
Imagine Josephine’s surprise when she finally arrived, and Delia, although a few drinks into the night, was immediately hurtful with her words. Josephine chalked it up to the alcohol and just let it slide; after all, she figured Delia had a rough night at work and didn’t mean to say anything hurtful. It was then, after about a half hour, that Delia said something to her best friend that ripped Josephine to the core.
Angry that Josephine hadn’t been able to hang out as much, Delia accused her of being a disloyal friend because she hadn’t been out as much, and, to paraphrase Delia’s words, if you were a loyal friend, you would be hanging out with me a lot more, and your crazy-in-the-head asshole new man wouldn’t be here.
Funny, the insult to Gulliver didn’t phase Josephine at all; she knew how Delia felt about him and just pretty much laughed that off. What broke Josephine’s heart was the accusation that she was not a loyal friend, since her “loyalty” was what kept Delia out boiling hot water late one night a few months prior, something that no other person in Delia’s life would never, ever do for her.
Josephine decided to just let sleeping dogs lie and forgive – not forget – all the unfortunate things Delia said to her. She just hung out with her best friend over the next few days and didn’t bring it up again.
After the few days hanging, and thinking things were all smoothed over and back to normal, Josephine was utterly devastated to hear, from a number of people in Gayton Place, that her best friend was saying awful things about her. You see, Josephine and Delia had a blood-oath promise – if either of them ever had any sort of issue with the other, they would talk directly to each other about it; no one, no one in Gayton Place would hear about it. It was a promise that Josephine held dear to her heart, and realizing that Delia did not hold the same weight to the promise, she knew the two of them would never be the same again, especially after Josephine put her financial, judicial and legal safety on the line for her best friend.
After Josephine actually overheard Delia expressing to someone how mad she was at Josephine for not being loyal, even though Delia was drunk, it was just too much for Josephine to bear. She decided to pull Delia aside – one-on-one – and discuss the issue. Delia couldn’t handle Josephine’s hurt and sadness over all that had transpired, and decided to walk away.
The two haven’t spoken since … well Gayton Place is talking all about it, and sadly as in many situations, have taken sides. Sometimes a sincere apology is all that is needed in any situation, but alas, that doesn't seem like it will be forthcoming. At the moment, this fairy tale hasn’t been given an ending.
You can write its ending … go for it. I need an ending for my children’s fairy tale before submitting it to my publisher. Can anyone help me with it?