It was a few months into Violet working in Studio 8H, and she had adapted pretty well. Since she and John were pretty new to the team, Bill had taken them under his wing. The three of them made a great team, and a friendship was blossoming. Spending most of their waking moments together bouncing ideas off of each other and pulling frantic all-nighters brought the group closer together, but their conversations rarely moved into the realm of being personal. John made the first move to change this.
"Knock, knock." John leaned against the doorway of Violet's office. Looking at him over her reading glasses, she snickered.
"Why do you have to actually say, 'knock, knock'" John crossed his arms and smirked.
"Why do you have to look at me like a grumpy librarian?" Before Violet could shoot a comeback at him, he continued. "Do you have like, a date tonight, or something?"
Violet snorted and shook her head. "No, Mulaney." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you trying to ask me out on Valentine's Day? A bold move."
John rolled his eyes, but his cheeks turned a bit pink. "Very funny. I have a standup gig tonight and some of the fellow lonely losers here are coming. Would you like to join us?"
Just then, Bill poked his head in the doorway. "Yes, Violet, you gotta come!" His eager grin brought a smile to her face.
"I would love to be a less lonely loser with you guys," Violet jokes, "sounds great."
The two gangly boys beamed at her. "Wonderful. I'm on at 8:30 at the Cellar."
Later that night..
Violet scanned the crowded club, searching for her coworkers. Looking around, she saw Bill's head poking up above the crowd and beelined to his spot, a table towards the stage.
"Violet!" He leaned down to pull her into a hug. "You look nice." He seemed a little looser than usual.
"Thanks, Bill." She smiled and took a seat next to him. Admittedly, Violet was dressing to impress tonight - though she wasn't really sure of who for. She had on a black, long-sleeved deep v-neck shirt and some form-fitting black jeans. Her hair was curled and she wore a burgundy lipstick that contrasted with her pale skin. "Is it just us tonight?"
Bill nodded. "Samberg was supposed to come, but an ex hit him up and he has been MIA since.." He wiggled his eyebrows and Violet giggled.
"What about you, what happened with that girl - Rachel?" Violet inquired, and then quickly regretted that choice.
Bill looked down and shook his head. "Things didn't really work out with us, it's all good though." He took a sip of his beer.
Shit. She felt rude. "Well, sounds like she's missing out." Bill snorted as she took a sip of her glass of water, unsure of what to say next.
Suddenly two booming voices broke the awkward silence, causing the both of them to jump.
"Oh, hello!"
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They turned around to see John and his friend Nick, dressed in ridiculous suits and glasses.
"What in the hell are you supposed to be?!" Violet shouted, as Bill was laughing too hard to speak.
John took a step forward and wrapped an arm around her. "Well, I'm George St. Geegland of course." He looked her up and down over his glasses. "You're a sparkly young thing, you remind me of my second wife."
Nick scooted forward and whispered, "She disappeared under mysterious circumstances." He took Violet by the hand and placed a loud kiss on top of it. "Charmed I'm sure, I'm Gil Faison." She scrunched her nose, wiping her hand on John's suit jacket.
"Well," John took a look at his watch. "we have no time to explain because now it is time for us to entertain the good people of New York City!" The two men left as quickly as they appeared, running up to the stage.
John and Nick went on to host the show for the night, and then separately do stand-up sets. They were a hit, the crowd loved them. John felt particularly pleased that his co-workers came on such a successful night. But, he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous when he looked out into the crowd and saw Violet and Bill whispering and laughing together. Bill seemed a bit tipsy, and Violet had the tendency to flirt.
Grabbing a water bottle from backstage, John headed out to meet the two at their table. Instantly, Violet sprung up and embraced him. "John! I mean, I knew you were great, but that was incredible."
A bashful grin spread across his face. "Thank you, buddy."
Bill slapped his hand on the table. "For real, man, that was rad." John nodded appreciatively, this really meant a lot because he admired Bill. Finishing his beer, he turned to Violet. "I'm heading to the bar for another, do you want like, a beer or something?" She seemed to tense up a bit.
"Uh, I don't drink." Violet didn't feel any shame talking about this, she just wasn't used to getting personal with her co-workers. "A water would be nice, though."
Bill nodded and stood up. "Oh, yeah, for sure."
"Hey, fellow former-substance-abuser here!" John gestured at her with his water bottle and smirked. "I was a blackout drunk, great at parties."
Violet softened and smirked back at him. "Yeah, it would not be a fun time for anyone if I was drinking right now. Glad I'm not alone on this."
Nervously, John started to fiddle with the wrapper of his bottle. "Well," He looked down at his hands. "maybe sometime the two of us could - " Nick showed up at the table and he abruptly stopped talking.
"Hey, cuties!" He looked back and forth between the two. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Not at all!" John blurted out, pretending he didn't see Violet gazing at him with an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Alright then." Nick laughed and turned to Violet. "Hi, I'm Nick, and you must be Violet." She shook his hand and nodded. "John never shuts up about you."
If looks could kill, John would have made sure Nick dropped dead. A wave of relief washed over him as Violet just laughed the comment off.
Bill came back with her water, and she thanked him. "I live pretty close to here," She said after a gulp of water. "you guys wanna come hang at my place for a bit after this drink?" The rest of the group nodded in agreement.
