Chapter Seven: The One with the Car Looks like a Hearse

Anna's POV

We were able to shoot the commercial and get them running on the stations within a week. It didn't look half bad, but you could definitely say that they weren't actors. It was just me and Egon renovating the area that would eventually become a lab for Egon and Ray.

"You're quieter than usual." I commented to Egon, not that he was a chatterbox, but he was not usually this silent.

He sighed, "I just have a lot on my mind, Anna."

"Sarah told you about Alice." I noted, observing the difference in his stature at the mention of his daughter and recognizing the changes that have come over him in the past few days. "She's a lot like you, you know. She has your eyes and your quiet manner. And she's smart with this aptitude and curiosity for learning. The school has been talking to Sarah about her possibly skipping a grade or two."

"I know." He replied, "I've been helping her look into different schools."

"That's very big of you."

"I didn't see how it would benefit anyone by being angry about the situation."

"What are you going to do about you and Sarah?"

"What about us?"

"You were about to propose before you guys broke up, Egon." I remarked, "Those feelings don't just go away so easily."

"Anna, I know you mean well, but please drop it." He replied seriously.

"But Egon-"

"Hey Anna, that woman you and Sarah decided to hire is here, you wanna show her around, while I supervise Marty on the sign?" Peter asked poking his head in the doorway.

"Yeah, sure." I agreed and went down the stairs with him.

"Good luck with her." Peter told me before he went outside. I went into the office to talk to our new receptionist. Janine was Sarah's pick for the job. It was down to Chris, a gorgeous moron, who was in-between two modeling gigs and Janine, an experienced secretary.

"Janine?" I asked, so I could get her attention as I came over to her, she looked at me blankly. I took that as a sign for me to continue, and then offered, "I'm Anna, you interviewed with my sister a few days ago. She's going to be gone for the next few days, but asked for me to get you acquainted with the business. I was hoping I could show you around, so you're not just standing around waiting for Peter, Ray, and Egon."

"I don't think she's going to take you up on the offer."Alexandra, our resident ghost commented. It took everything I had not to roll my eyes.

"I'd rather wait for the Ghostbusters."

"Told you." Alexandra smirked.

"Alright, suit yourself." I replied, "They should be in, when they're finished with what they're working on." I left her standing in the office, wishing we had hired the model.

Alexandra brushed her hand through her wavy blonde locks, "She's got a stick up her-"

"While I agree with the sentiment, Alexandra, I don't think it's the right time to express it." I told her, "What do you want know?"

"I'm bored."

"Then find something to do."

"I have, I'm talking to you."

"Well, I'm about to go outside, so you're not going to have me to talk to for much longer." I told her, she couldn't leave the firehouse for some reason. I didn't know if it was out of choice or if she was stuck here, but she didn't go outside. "Why don't you bother Egon in the lab?" I suggested, "He can't see you. You can move things around on him."

Her face lit up as she started to disappear. I went outside to watch Marty put up the sign.

"What happened with the woman?" Peter asked as I came up next to him.

"Her name is Janine." I reminded him, wishing I had gotten a jacket before coming out here in jeans and a t-shirt. "She wants to wait for you, Ray, and Egon."

Peter rolled his eyes.

"Where is Ray by the way?"

"Went to get a car." He replied before calling up to Marty, "You don't think it's too subtle? You don't think people are going to drive down and not see the sign?"

A siren caught our attention before Peter could ask any more questions, it was a black car that looked like a cross between an old ambulance and a hearse. The car stopped in front of the building.

"You can't park that here." Peter yelled at the driver as he parked. Ray got out of the car, shutting the door behind him.

"Everyone can relax, I found a car." He announced, "Needs some suspension work, and shocks, and a brakes, brake pads, lining, steering blocks, transitions, rear end-" He started to list off, before Peter stopped him.

"How much?"

"Only 4800." Ray replied, before listing off more things that would need to be fixed with the car.

"No wonder it was so cheap." I commented.

"All of these things can be fixed though." Ray told us, "I'll fix up the car in my spare time."

"You know, if we work on it together, we can finish it faster." I offered Ray.

"Do you know anything about cars?" Peter asked me.

"No." I replied, still looking at Ray, "But Ray does, he's always been really good with cars and I learn really quickly. I'd like to help if I could."

"I'd like that." Ray smiled softly.

"And I'd like to get our new receptionist working as soon as possible." Peter commented, we both looked at him, "Why don't you go get Egon, Anna, so we can talk to our new receptionist?"

"Her name is Janine." I reminded him again, "And why don't you go get him? I'm not your 'gofer'."

"Fine, if you want to stay here flirting with each other, I'll go get Egon." He told us and went back inside.

"Well, that's Pete for you." I replied awkwardly, running a hand through my brown hair, "He probably won't give you any peace if you stay out here talking to me."

"I don't care." He replied, "He and Egon can talk to Janine, set her up at her desk. Why don't we bring in the car? We can start fixing it in the garage."

"Yeah." I agreed, crossing my arms feeling the cold autumn air brush past me.

"Here." Ray said as he took off his jean jacket, handing it to me, "Did you bring any winter clothes with you?"

I put on the jacket, which practically swallowing me, due to my small stature. "I haven't gotten around to unpacking them yet." I told him as we got into the car. He pulled it into the garage and we got out of the car. "Where do you want to start first?"

Ray opened the hood of the car, "I thought we'd start here. We can inspect the engine and take a look at the transmission, the radiator, the brakes, and the battery."

"Okay, what can I do?" I asked him, looking under the hood, "And where are all of those under here?"

Ray pointed and explained the different parts of the car that were under the hood, how they worked, and what they did for the car. After he finished explaining, he got his tools and started to inspect and repair the car. I stood back and handed him tools when he needed them. After a while, we started to talk about the books I studied while I was doing my thesis.

"So, what ends up happening is this man is thrown in jail right before he is supposed to marry his fiancé and start his new position. These four guys, who were jealous of his success and love and just overall creepy dudes, arrange for him to be captured and secretly put into solitary confinement in the Chateau d'If, which is a prison that no one's ever escaped from."

"Why were they jealous?" Ray asked from under the hood as he pulled a cigarette out from the box in his pocket.

"I thought you quit smoking." I commented.

"I picked it up again a few years ago." He replied lighting the cigarette. I hadn't seen him actually with a cigarette until now. I couldn't really be around cigarettes. They irritated my asthma, my sinuses, and my allergies. I hadn't quite told Ray yet about the asthma yet, I knew he wouldn't have been smoking if I had. I got it later through a pneumonia that had been caught a little too late. I hadn't grown up with it, so he didn't know. "So, why were they jealous?"

I suppressed a cough, "One was jealous because he was in love with the man's fiancé, another was jealous of the man's new position, one was a neighbor without any morals, and the last man was a prosecutor, whose father was a Bonapartist and would go to prison if anyone found out, which would damage his position in society."

"Does he get out?" He asked as he moved to the other side of the car.

"I'm getting there, you'll see." I replied, suppressing another cough, "So for years, the man, Dantes was stuck in this isolated cell, losing his mind and his will to live until one day he hears another prisoner digging nearby, so he starts digging too. He meets the other prisoner, who turns out to be this old Abbe who knows the whereabouts of an immense fortune that used to belong to a wealthy Italian family. So, Dantes and the Abbe dig for several years, and while they dig, the Abbe teaches Dantes about history, literature, sciences and languages. When they eventually do get free, the Abbe dies. Dantes hides his body and sews himself in the burial sack, so that when the guards throw the bag into the sea, he can escape."

"And he goes and gets the money?"

"When he escapes, he ends up being picked up by smugglers, whom he joins until he can find the island where the treasure is located. After discovering the treasure, he emerges into society again as the Count of Monte Cristo, who had two goals: to reward the people who were kind to him and his father and to punish the people responsible for his imprisonment slowly and painfully."

"Hello?" I heard someone call as they entered the fire house.

"Heads up, a lady just entered the firehouse. Kind of tall, reddish brown hair. Guessing it's a customer for you guys."

"Thanks, Alexandra." I told her.

"Just keeping an eye out for the place."Alexandra replied before walking off, "It is my home too you know."

"What's going on?" Ray asked, looking back at me.

"It was just Alexanda." I answered.

"The ghost?"

"Yeah, she was giving me a heads up."

"Oh." He replied, looking back down under the hood. He changed the subject back to the book, "So what happens next?"

"You'll have to read the book." I teased.

"But I like the way you tell it." He smiled back at me.

I went over beside him, "And like that you've actually been listening to me ramble."

"It's an interesting ramble." He responded, before taking another breath from the cigarette. This time between the smell of the cigarette and the fumes of the engine, I couldn't suppress the coughing.

"Are you alright?" Ray asked concerned, putting out the cigarette, and then turning to try to help me.

"I'm fine, really." I replied, not used to the worry and concern I was getting, "I just need some air; you keep working on the car." I went outside and sat on the steps. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, but it didn't really help, I had been in there for too long. I took out the rescue inhaler, which I rarely needed now, and used it. "Fucking thing." I stashed it in the pocket of the jacket. I went back inside.

"You okay?" Ray asked as I came back over to him.

"Yeah." I nodded, "I just needed some air."

"That's good, I was worried."

"You don't have to worry about me, Ray, I'm alright." I told him, before noticing the grease or oil on his cheek, "You have something on your cheek." I gently wiped it way with my thumb. Our eyes locked on one another's. I had always loved his eyes, he had heterochromia: one of his eyes was green, while the other was brown.

"Thanks." He replied as he leaned in closer.

Before we could close the gap between us, we were interrupted.

"Egon's heading in the garage"Alexandra warned, "Peter sent him to get you and Ray. Something to do with the customer."

I stepped away from Ray, who looked at me confused. I looked from him, to Alexandra, to Egon who had just stepped into the garage, "We're coming, Egon." I told him, "I just have to go get my tape recorder, so we can get her experience on file."

"How did you-" Egon started to ask.

"Let's just say I have a friend on the other side." I smiled.

"Your friend keeps moving my paperwork and supplies." He commented vexed, before heading back to the lab.

"What was that about?" Ray asked.

"My guess is he's starting to get annoyed with Alexandra because she keeps moving his stuff around out of boredom."

"That isn't the whole truth and you know it." Alexandra stated, "I'll keep talking until you do. Seriously, I'll just keep talking, and talking, and talking, and if you leave, I'll just follow and talk more and more-"

"I suggested that she pay a visit or two to Egon."

"Why?"

"I don't know, she gets bored and sometimes I don't want to be her source of entertainment."

"That isn't right, Anna." He replied seriously.

"Why should I have to be her sole source of entertainment?" I asked starting to get slightly annoyed.

"You're the only one who can see her." He argued.

"That doesn't mean I want her by my side every second of every day." I retorted.

"I'm still here."

"You're the only one who can talk to her." He pointed out, "It isn't fair to the rest of us to be inconvenienced because you don't feel like being around her."

"Oh, bloody hell, I was going outside!" I retorted, starting to feel the English accent that I had acquired over the past several years and had been trying to cover up, "She can't bloody fucking leave the firehouse. I'm not going stay here all of the time and keep her bleedin' company cause I'm the only one who can bloomin' see her. I know I'm not overly helpful, but I can do more than that." I took off his jacket and put it on the car. I was done and I didn't want to say anything stupid or that I would regret. I walked out of the garage, happy now that Sarah gave me the keys to her apartment in case I wanted to get out of the firehouse for a while. I could hear Ray calling after me, but I didn't listen.

I whistled and called for a taxi, two stopped in front of me. I got into the one closest to me and gave them Sarah's address. I needed to cool off.

Ray's POV

I sighed as I put my jacket back on and then went to the lab where they had our first potential customer. Egon had already hooked her up to the scanners and Peter was asking questions about her paranormal experience. His questions weren't serious at this point, he was just using her paranormal experience as a chance to flirt with her. Some things never really did change. I turned on the scanners and monitors, so we could watch her brain activity as she talked. I turned on a few other machines that could record the data that the scanners were giving off. When I went to turn on the last machine, I found Anna's tape recorder sitting on the machine. That hadn't been there a few moments ago.

'Alexandra' I noted in recognition. Peter and Egon wouldn't have had the time or the ability to go get it without Anna or me seeing them.

"And this voice said Zuul, then I slammed the refrigerator door and I left." The woman, who we found out her name was Dana Barrett, finished her tale, "That was two days ago and I haven't been back to my apartment."

"Generally, you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance." Peter told her. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes as I turned off the machines. "What do you think it was?"

"Well, if I knew what it was I wouldn't be here." She retorted.

"Egon, what do you think?" Peter asked him.

Egon turned to him with the flashlight on his head still on, "She's telling the truth or at least she thinks she is." He turned off the flashlight.

"Well, of course, I'm telling the truth." Dana said, "Who would make up a story like that?"

"Some are people who just want attention." Peter answered, "Others are just nutballs who come off the street."

"You know what it could be, past life experiences intruding on present time." I suggested as I sat down.

"Could be erased memories stored in the unconscious." Egon suggested, "I wouldn't rule out clairvoyance or telepathic contact either." He grabbed the cheezeits and sat down next to me.

"Sorry, but I don't believe in those things." She told us.

"Well, that's alright, I don't believe them either." Perter told Dana as he came over to her. Egon and I looked at each other and then looked back at the scene before us. "But there are some things we do, standard procedures in a case like this, which often bring us results."

"Well, I could go to the Hall of Records and check out the structural details of the building." I suggested, a small part of me wishing Anna or Sarah were here. He wouldn't be saying half the things he was, if one of them were. He knew Sarah would call him out on his bullshit, but he made more of a conscious effort for Anna to not be a complete asshole. "Maybe the building itself has a history of psychic turbulence."

"Good idea." Peter agreed.

"I could look for the name Zuul in the usual literature." Egon commented.

"Spates Catalog." I suggested.

"Spirits guide." Egon added.

"Tell you what, I'll take Miss Barrett back to her apartment and check her out." Peter told us and then corrected himself, "I'll go check out Miss Barrett's apartment." He looked down a Dana, "Okay?"

"Okay." She reluctantly agreed, nodding. She stood from her seat and thank us. She and Peter left.

"Where's Anna?" Egon asked as soon as they left.

"We got into an argument and she left."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think she should pawn Alexandra off on us when she doesn't feel like dealing with her."

"You can't expect her always to look after Alexandra." Egon told me, "I get annoyed that Alexandra shuffles around my paperwork, but I don't get angry with her because she never takes it out of the lab and it's easy to find."

Now I started to regret getting on her case about it.

"Can I give you some advice?" He asked me. I looked at him curiously. "You've been in love with her since we were kids and now she is here on a more permanent basis, I would advise you to tell her that you're in love with her. Don't make the mistake I made with Sarah, I let her slip away and I shouldn't have. I've regretted it ever since." He stood, "Give her a day or two to cool off and then call her. Anna's probably at Sarah's apartment, she gave her the keys before she left. I'd call there first, try to get her to talk to you." He left the lab.

A couple of days later, I was trying to help Egon research the spirit guides since the Hall of Records was a bust, the phone dropped in my hands.

"I can take a hint. Thank you, Alexandra." I told our resident spook gratefully and dialed Sarah's phone number.

"Hello?" Anna answered the phone.

"Anna, it's Ray." I told her.

"What's up, Ray?" She asked, I could tell from her tone that she was not too thrilled to talk to me at the moment.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten after you about Alexandra." I told her sincerely, "Could you please come back to the firehouse?"

"Why?" She asked, "It's not like I'm that much help."

"You've helped advertise." I pointed out, and then added, "You were helping me with the car a couple of days ago."

"I was telling you about the Count of Monte Cristo, while you were fixing the car." She replied, "I don't think that counts as helping."

"I do." I told her. Was it true? Not exactly, I could repair the car without her there, but it wouldn't be as enjoyable as having her with me. "Please come back, I think you could be helpful with Miss Barrett."

"Who?"

"She's our first customer." I replied, before recounting the story Dana had told us she experienced. "Do you know anything about a creature called Zuul?" I asked her after I had finished.

"I might have something about it in one of my texts." She replied, "I'll try to find it when I come back tonight."

"Thank you, Anna." I told her. She hung up the phone.

I put the phone away and then went to go back to work on the car.

Anna's POV

I put away the phone and went to grab one of Sarah's jackets. She wouldn't care if I borrowed one while she was gone. I picked one out of the closet and threw it on, before I made my way out the door, making sure to lock it on my way out.

"Hey Pete." I greeted him as I passed him and the woman with the reddish brown hair from earlier, who I guessed was Miss Barrett. He didn't say anything, I guess he was a little too distracted with Miss Barrett.

To celebrate their first customer, I made a stop by Chinatown Brasserie to pick up a huge dinner. I made sure to get a small thing of hot and sour soup for Peter as well as vegetable spring rolls. For Ray and I, I made sure to get steamed pork buns and lamb dumplings, as well as vegetable potstickers for Egon. I picked up chicken fried rice and pork lo mein for all of us, as well as wok-fried beef. I also stopped into Two Little Red Hens and picked up a small 4" red velvet cake, which had always been one of Ray's favorites and a 4" yellow cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, which reminded me a little of Egon's love of Twinkies. One of the bakers was kind enough to give me a box, so that I could carry both of the cakes and the Chinese food.

"Hello?" I asked as I came into the firehouse.

"Didn't think you were coming back tonight, chickadee." Alexandra greeted me.

"Can you go get Ray or Egon for me, Alex?" I replied, "This is a little too heavy for me."

"I'll do my best." She replied before going upstairs. It wasn't too much longer before I saw Alexandra coming back down with one of Ray's spirit guide books, and put it in the box next to one of the cake boxes. "He should be right down, I took it while he was reading it." She disappeared.

"Alexandra, I need that." Ray called after her as he headed down the stairs. "Anna…" He smiled when he saw me and then hastened his pace down the stairs.

"Hey Ray," I greeted as he came over to me, "I brought dinner."

"Here, let me take that." He offered as he took the box of food out of my hands.

"Thanks." I replied, "I got Chinese food and a couple of desserts."

"It smells amazing." He said as we headed up to the kitchen.

"I thought you and Egon might like something other than Gray's Papaya hot dogs and Indian food for once." We brought the food into the kitchen, Ray unpacked the Chinese food as I put the cakes in the fridge.

"What did you do, buy everything that wasn't seafood?" He teased as went to get some silverware.

"No, that'd be a little too much food." I replied, "Just some things I knew each of us loved or that all of us would eat."

"You bought pork buns." Ray commented happily when he saw them.

"Those are for us tomorrow morning." I told him as I picked them up and hid them in the fridge, so Peter wouldn't eat them. "The lamb dumplings are for us tonight. I also got vegetable potstickers for Egon, and vegetable spring rolls and hot and sour soup for Peter. Everything else the four of us would share." I added as I got four plates out of the cabinet.

"I smelt Chinese food." Peter commented as he came into the kitchen.

"Good cause that's what I got." I replied, "Why don't you ask Egon if he wants to eat?"

"Will do." Peter told me and went to go fetch Egon. A few minutes later, they both came into the kitchen. We got what we wanted and then set the rest of it in the middle of the table so we could get at it if we wanted to.

"Oh, I forgot something." I stood from my seat and headed for the sleeping quarters in realization. I had brought the rest of the international alcohol with me here. I pulled out some bottles and brought them back out for us to have. "Alright guys, Irish, German, Scottish, or Polish?" I asked them setting them down on the counter.

"What have you got there?"

"Guinness, Schneider Weisse Tap 6, Windswept Wolf, and Kormoran Imperium Prunum." I listed off. I picked up the Guinness, it may have not have been the best of the bunch, but it was my favorite. Ray picked up the Windswept Wolf, the Scottish beer. Peter got the Schneider Weisse, the German beer. Egon picked the Kormoran Imperium Prunum, the Polish beer.

"To our first customer." Peter toasted.

"To our first and only customer." Ray said, which we all drank to.

"I'm gonna need to draw some petty cash." Peter told Ray, "I'm gonna take her out to dinner, we don't want to lose her."

"Um, that's not gonna happen." I spoke up. The petty cash had been given to me, so Peter wouldn't do this.

"This fantastic feast here represents the last of the petty cash." Ray broke it to him. I silently thanked him. "We thought it would be best to spend it on food."

"If you want to date the woman, take her out yourself." I commented, "Which I think may be a conflict of interest and unethical seeing she's currently our client."

"It can be unethical to date a coworker too, but-" Peter jabbed.

"That's none of your concern, even if I had."

"You're not?" Peter replied, quickly glancing at Ray and then looking back to me. Ray looked between the two of us confused, like he was missing a part of a conversation that he should have been included in. Egon looked down and focused on his food.

"It's still none of your concern." I insisted, 'How did he even-'

"We got one!" Janine exclaimed, before an alarm sounded through the firehouse.

"Call!" Ray exclaimed excitedly. He and the others got up and scurried out the kitchen to get ready to go. I chuckled seeing Peter take his food with him. I followed them down, so I could see them off. Peter and Egon changed quickly and got into the car. I caught Ray as soon as he finished getting into his uniform.

"Good luck." I told him.

"Look Anna, I can talk to Pete-" He started.

"I can handle Pete." I spoke up before he could finish, and then kissed his cheek, "We can talk when you get back."

He looked at me surprised.

"Go." I told him, "Looks like they're waiting on you to drive."

He got into the car and they drove off. I went inside and headed over to Janine.

"So, where are they going?" I asked her, trying to make conversation.

"Some hotel." She answered.

"Oh." I replied not knowing what to say.

After a few awkward moments, Janine spoke up, "I can tell you have something going with Ray, but is Egon single?"

"If still being in love with his ex and having a daughter with her is what you mean by single, then yeah." Alexandra answered as she appeared on top of the filing cabinets, "I can't wait till we get more clients and I can mess with her files."

"Ray and I are just friends." I corrected her, ignoring Alexandra, and then answered her question, "Egon is not dating anyone at the moment." Feeling awkward about the subject at hand, I changed it, "Do you like Chinese food? We have extra, I could bring some down."

"That would be nice." She accepted.

"Alright, I'll be right back." I told her, before going up to the kitchen. I got the fried rice and the lo mien, and then put the rest of the food in fridge. I pulled out two mugs and made some green tea to go with the Chinese food. "Alexandra, you want to do me a favor?"

"What's up?" She asked.

"Would you mind bringing the tea down?" I asked her sheepishly.

"I've got it." She responded.

"Thanks." I told her, grabbing some silverware, before heading down with the food. I set the food down on her desk. She picked up the fried rice and I picked up the lo mien. Alexandra brought down the tea a few minutes later. I silently thanked her.

"No problem, chickadee." She told me, "I'll be around if you need me."

She disappeared.

"So, do you have any hobbies?" I asked her, trying to start a conversation.

Sarah's POV

"So, what do you think?" I asked Alice after I explained everything to her.

"Can I ask something before I answer?" She responded to my question with a question of her own.

"Of course."

"We move either way?"

"We'll see." I nodded.

"What do you mean?" She asked stoically.

"I was hoping we could visit a little early during your autumn break, give you a feel for the city." I answered, "And then if you like it, we'll look into moving there permanently."

"My autumn break starts tomorrow." She replied confused.

"Then we'd better start packing, haven't we?"

Anna's POV

Janine went home a little after midnight. By the time she had left, the Chinese food I had brought down was gone and actually didn't mind her as much.

"Alexandra, I'm going to bed." I told her as I headed up the stairs, "Don't give the guys too much of a hassle."

"Out of sight, out of mind." She replied, which was basically her way of saying that she would leave them alone. I went to my room, changed, and then went to bed.

A few hours later I was awoken by a loud thud. I sat up in bed, rubbing my temples. "Guys?" I asked, knowing it wasn't an intruder, Alexandra would have warned me.

"It's just me, Anna." Ray told me, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay; if I wanted quiet, I would be in an apartment outside of the city." I replied, "Where's Peter and Egon?"

"Egon's in the lab, running some test on some ectoplasmic residue from a ghost we caught." Ray answered, "Pete's taking care of the ghost, said something about getting breakfast afterward."

"You were the only one who wanted to sleep?"

"What I wanted to come back to, the other person was already asleep." He replied vaguely, shrugging it off.

"Oh." I responded, "Well, I'm awake for the most part and there was a surprise I had gotten for you, if you are still awake enough for one last thing for tonight."

"More than awake."

I took his hand and led him to the kitchen. He looked at me curiously as I pulled out one of the cake boxes out of the fridge. "I got this and another one for you and Egon, with my own money, to celebrate your first customer, well customers now." I told him shyly as he opened the box.

"Red velvet cake…"

"Those are still your favorite, right?" I asked as I got two forks out from the drawer.

He nodded, "They are."

"Do we need plates, or can we just eat out of the box?" I asked him as I handed him a fork.

"The box is fine." He replied as we dug into the cake. "That's really good." He commented after taking a bite. "It reminds me of the cake you got me when you visited last year for my birthday."

I remembered that weekend well, the university was closed for a break that week, so I came back to New York for a weekend and spent it with Ray for his birthday. It was one of the best visits I had had up till now. Peter had gone off for the weekend with a girl, Egon was working on a research study, so it was just the two of us.

"Same bakery." I told him.

"Do you remember that weekend?" He asked.

I nodded, "I do."

"Maybe-" Ray started, but stopped as Peter entered the kitchen, "Thought you were going to get breakfast."

"Decided to stay here." Peter shrugged, "Thought I might find something to eat here."

"Unless you plan on eating what's left of the Chinese food, we don't have anything left." I told him.

"Where'd you get the cake?" Peter asked.

"I bought it for Ray to celebrate your guy's first customer." I responded.

"Why didn't you buy one for me and Egon?" He asked, "Shouldn't we get one too?

"Egon has a cake." I pointed out.

"So, it's just me."

"You flirt with the customer?" I asked him. I heard conflicting muttered answers from him and Ray. Peter's was an unconvincing 'no', while Ray snorted a laugh and muttered 'yes'. "That's why you don't get a cake."