Friday night at The Belvedere Hotel.
The Ghostbusters – Peter, Ray, Egon plus Janine and Louis were seated at an elaborately decorated table in the centre of the Grand Ballroom.
A room full of identical tables bustling with formal looking guests surrounded them.
It was the night of the annual Celebrating Citizens of New York banquet and the Ghostbusters were some of the most popular and celebrated guests this year after saving the world last New Years Eve.
Louis was excitedly explaining the tax benefits of the event to Janine, who was stirring her cocktail with a straw and looking wistfully at all the ball gowns on display.
Ray and Egon were in deep discussion about the reported paranormal experiences in the art deco hotel, which were said to have begun back the 1950s.
Peter straightened his tie and took another sip from his whiskey glass.
There was a spare seat next to him, for Audrey, who was running late.
He scanned the room for her again.
Was she even going to show up, he wondered.
He'd gone to the trouble of dry cleaning his only suit for the occasion.
"Oh here she is!" exclaimed Janine, interrupting Louis.
Peter, Ray, Egon and Louis all looked over to Janine and followed her line of sight to Audrey, who was making her way across the ballroom.
She was wearing a floor length black dress that hugged her slim but curvy body.
The thin straps of the dress hung over her shoulders, her arms and delicate collarbone on display.
Her hair had been pulled into an elegant updo, with soft strands of hair framing her face and a pair of delicate silver drop earrings glimmered from her ears.
Her elegance and beauty had caught the attention of all three Ghostbusters, plus a trail of men craning their necks to get a better view of her as she walked past them on her way to the table.
Audrey was completely oblivious to the ripple of attention she'd caused.
"Jeez Venkman, you weren't kidding when you said she was attractive" said Ray, eyebrows raised.
Egon adjusted his glasses.
She was beautiful, he thought, but she's Peter's type, not mine.
"Back off Ray, she's mine" shot Peter quietly, half joking but half serious as he stood up to introduce himself to Audrey who had finally made her way over to the table.
"Audrey, may I introduce my colleagues Ray and Egon"
"Hi" said Ray and Egon in unison, taking the chance to observe Audrey close up.
Egon took in her face, admiring her blue eyes and the freckles across her nose.
"And of course we have Janine and Louis" finished Peter, casually signalling in their direction.
"Hi everyone" said Audrey cheerfully as she sat in the chair Peter had politely pulled out for her.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, I got lost on my way here. Turns out you can't trust directions from homeless people" she said, nervously tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
"I like your accent" piped Egon "Australian?"
"Yes actually" replied Audrey furrowing a brow "I think you're the first person to get that right, everyone else thinks I'm from Europe"
Peter's face grew pink and he sunk lower into his seat.
"I shared a dorm with an Australian guy back in college. He always wore odd socks. He left after a semester" finished Egon, quickly wondering why he'd just said that out loud.
Audrey laughed.
"How strange" she said with a smile.
Egon laughed too. He couldn't help it; Audrey's laugh was infectious.
The night progressed, speeches were made, course after delicious course was served while wine and whiskey flowed at each table.
"You know, Audrey" said Janine, with a mouthful of cake in her mouth "I really do believe your desserts are better than this fancy stuff we're eating tonight."
"Oh, really?" she replied.
"Audrey makes the most delicious desserts for book club. I think we've all gained 10 pounds since she started coming along!" said Janine looking at everyone on the table, "she's a real good cook."
"Thanks, Janine. It's nice to have an excuse to bake. It's not much fun cooking for one all the time" replied Audrey.
"Baking? You're like perfect wife material!" chimed in Peter.
He couldn't believe this woman.
Cute AND a good cook? he thought. I bet she's good in bed too.
"You should drop by with dessert sometime, Audrey. Our little Egon here can't get enough of the sweet stuff" said Peter, reaching over and ruffling Egon's hair playfully.
Egon slowly patted his hair back into place.
"I'll have to do that" said Audrey, catching Egon's eye.
She studied him, amused by his seriousness as he smoothed down his ruffled hair.
Egon quickly looked away.
A little later on in the night, Ray and Egon were again in deep discussion, this time regarding the latest Spectral Monthly magazine.
Janine had Louis in her arms, kissing him passionately.
Peter was trying to impress Audrey with stories of his academic achievements, of which even he admitted were limited.
Audrey briefly caught Egon's eye again.
She really wanted to talk to him, get to know more about him.
"Didn't this month have an article about Delilah Dagheart, the White Widow?" she asked Ray and Egon, edging her way into the conversation.
"Yeah, that's it" replied Ray, impressed that someone besides him and Egon read Spectral Monthly.
From the paranormal experiences of the Belvedere Hotel, to unsolved mysteries, UFO's, phrenology and the work of the Ghostbusters, the conversation spanned to the end of the evening but had quickly became an in depth discussion exclusively between Egon and Audrey.
She had even swapped seats with Ray so she could sit next to Egon.
Janine and Louis had left an hour ago.
Peter and Ray were sitting on the opposite side of the table watching the two talk excitedly.
"I've never seen him talk so much to anyone, let alone a woman before" said Ray.
He was surprised with how chatty the normally reserved Egon had become around Audrey.
"Yeah, well he totally cut in on my chick" replied Peter, feeling a little upset about having the girl he invited to dinner pay more attention to Egon than himself.
"Usually it's the other way around" he finished, taking the final sip from his forth or fifth whiskey glass.
Ray smirked at Peter and lit a cigarette.
"Okay you two, wrap it up! The cleaners are shooting me dirty looks now. It's time to leave" said Peter, clapping his hands together in an attempt to jolt Egon and Audrey out of their conversation.
It worked.
They looked over at Ray and Peter, both suddenly aware of how deeply entangled in their own exclusive conversation they had been for the last couple of hours.
The Ghostbusters, accompanied by Audrey, walked to the entrance of the hotel.
"Well, we're parked just around the corner here" said Ray, nodding his head in the direction where the Ecto-1 was parked.
"Which way to your place?" Peter asked Audrey, playfully.
He knew he now had zero chance of going home with her, but still he thought he'd ask.
"This way" replied Audrey, signalling down the road in the opposite direction to where the Ghostbusters were headed.
"Would you like us to drive you home?" asked Egon, secretly hoping she'd say yes.
"No that's okay, my apartment's not far from here" she replied. "Thank you though."
She smiled at the Ghostbusters and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Well Miss, thank you for the pleasure of your company" said Peter, kissing Audrey's hand again.
"Thanks for inviting me, Peter. It was nice meeting you all" replied Audrey.
She smiled at Egon.
What she really meant was that it was nice to meet him.
They all exchanged farewells before the Ghostbusters began walking in the direction of their car.
Peter turned around and mouthed 'call me' to Audrey.
There was only one Ghostbuster she was going to call and it wasn't going to be Peter.