An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
A/N: With our deepest gratitude to this fic’s primary author, @dkc2017 , for everything you’ve done for this fandom 💜 - @trying-to-get-somewhere-real and I loved getting to play in the sandbox you created and add a few final scenes of our own to bring this fic to the world. Happy holidays!
Just a quick heads up that the vignettes don’t proceed chronologically, so do note the dates! And do check out the tags and content warnings
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June 1966
The first time Judith Jones sat alone behind the formidable desk in the wood-paneled office with the extraordinary view that once belonged to the woman who had most shaped her career, she wept. Blanche Knopf was gone.
“Oh, Blanche,” she breathed, tears welling in her eyes. “This will never feel right without you.”
It had never been part of Judith’s plan to climb the ladder in the publishing industry. It certainly had never been her plan to do so without Blanche. In fact, without Blanche she was questioning whether she wanted to be in publishing at all. Maybe it was time to move to Vermont once and for all. Yet she owed Blanche this much—to try. And, at Blanche’s insistence, if not the new vice president of Knopf, it meant stepping into shoes she was unprepared to inhabit.
The ringing phone startled her. She quickly grabbed for a tissue, dabbed at her eyes, and cleared her throat before answering, “This is Judith.” The familiar words felt new and unpracticed after days of fumbling silently and unmoored through the world.
