Drag Collab •One Shots•

Letters From a First Lady •Pearlet•

AN: Based on the love story of Eleanor Roosevelt and her dearest Hitch. First Lady Pearl falls in love with budding journalist Violet, and despite their separation, they keep their romance alive through letters. Depressing. Leave me some feedback please.

The year was 1932 and America was dying, but dying was not the same as dead. There was still hope. Hope in the form of a president who offered relief, reform and recovery. Hope for a place where once again the streets were made of gold – not of a place where people sold apples on the street and lived in squalor. But for Violet Chachki, the worst time had gone. She had grown through years of abuse, to rise above and become the top female reporters in the country. She had fallen in love, she had felt the pain of abandonment but again this passed, she learned defiance. When the unsinkable sunk, Violet was there with her notes. When the biggest stars disappeared, Violet was putting the pieces together. This perseverance is what landed her a job tailing the soon to be First Lady of the U.S.A. Pearl Liaison.

What shocked Violet the most was how beautiful she was in person. She stuck out like a sore thumb as Violet walked onto the train carriage. Her skin was smooth and soft, her eyes held years of wisdom that Violet couldn't begin to comprehend, her half smile shone with guilt-ridden innocence. She bore the face of a woman who had struggled, but like Violet, a woman who had also conquered. A rainbow of light had met a dastardly storm, and the result was the woman sat before her – a pearl shining in a land of half-light. Violet had loved women before, she had loved Ella, but she hadn't ever felt such a strange and impulsive hunger to wrap her arms around someone's body.

"Hello, I'm Violet, I'm here to accompany you on your journey, miss. I'm covering you for the articles on your husband's campaign."

"Oh, nice to meet you. Do sit down, I'm awfully bored here by myself. It'll be so nice to have another woman around, especially one who is more inclined towards adventure over housework."

"Adventuring is a large part of my life," Violet smiled, "without packing a bag and hopping on a train I would not have been here in New York today."

"Of course. I do admire the life of a female writer, being able to put pen to paper and overcome social isolation is a great honour in my eyes." Pearl looked at Violet, her eyes were an icy blue that accentuated her pale skin and blonde locks. Violet felt loved and intimidated at the same time. But her nerves were steadily being calmed by the lady's lassiez-faire demeanour.

"You should try it sometime, miss." Violet replied, feeling pride in her work.

"I might," Pearl responded, "And no more of this 'miss', I am simply Pearl, my dear."

But Violet could see she was anything but simple.

"Well, Pearl, we have a long journey ahead of us. Do you have any stories of the weekend?"

"I'm glad you asked, Violet, because a story is not a story unless it is told."

Hours passed of two girls sat on a train, beaming at every word the other said. Laughing at tales of sneaking out to see the flappers and sewing balls for different occasions. Two lives that we're conceived and raised in such antithesis were laughing and smiling together, their hands almost touching, a spark flicking from each of their fingers. This small journey was the start of a love. A love that would burn brighter than all the other loves in the whole planet.

It was safe to say that in the month leading up to U.S inauguration, Violet Chachki had become the closest friend of Pearl Liaison. What had started as shadowing for political news had become trips to Albany and D.C, train rides drinking champagne and discussing equality, nights of sneaking away and dressing up, hitting the Cotton Club and listening to the devil's music. It had become roast dinners together every Sunday, trips to the theatre and the opera. The time Pearl spent with her husband was now unaccountably overshadowed by the nights she sat in Violet's apartment. Pearl spent almost every day in Violet's company and had not yet found one complaint.