Dear Valentina [The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel]

☆ Chapter Two: Behind Every Great Man

CHAPTER THREE.      BEHIND EVERY GREAT MAN
("...IS A GREATER WOMAN.")

☆

     "Give me an excuse to get out of this." Valerie mumbled against the grimy bar top, her forehead pressed into her folded arms. "Stab me with a fork ― right here in the artery ― that would be a good excuse!" 

     Susie remained deadpan, writing down in the large leather-bound notebook sprawled across the counter with a fat cigarette in between her fingers. The blonde took her continued vow of silence as another omen for hopelessness and whimpered, reaching over for her Manhattan glass and drowning the rest of it. The Gaslight possessed the usual purr of a darkening New York evening, with people swindling in, drinking, lowly talking, while couples frenched in the corners. It wasn't the most popular or most profiteering club, but it was a welcoming one that became a starter place for up-and-coming entertainers, so the place was relatively popular. After she moved to the city with Mark, The Gaslight became one of their many favorite clubs due to the rare quiet atmosphere and the least-likely spot a brawl was to break out. Nothing ruins a perfectly good night-out than an unexpected fight that's not even funny to watch. 

     But due to recent events, Valerie hadn't been back here in a while and it was noticed; Susie looked surprised when their eyes locked, Jackie offered a very awkward condolence and promised her free drinks for the rest of the evening, and she was sure if Baz was around, he too would have said something. While she would usually be annoyed at the familiar gestures she'd been receiving since the funeral, she was already too miserable to say anything. Ever since this morning, she was too uncomfortable to react to anything and it wasn't a symptom of one of her Blue Mornings. Not only was tonight the night of the office party, where she would stand in front of the most powerful man at the newspaper and try to convince him about her idea, but somehow over a five-minute phone call, she was roped in to coming to The Gaslight beforehand to see Joel's performance. There's only so many times a person can cancel, before it's recognized by the opposite party that somebody's trying to avoid them! 

     Valerie felt guilty; Midge had been nothing but kind to her since the funeral, offering only caring comments and bringing over delicious food as comfort. But if she was being honest, she didn't want to go on group dates with her friends and be the only single one there, to be treated as a crumbling figurine, to be surrounded by cheerful individuals who enjoyed their life during a time where she hated hers; it wasn't a very good feeling and she knew it'd be better to stay home and be depressed then be in the middle of a crowd depressed.