I don't know when I'll post this one.
I realized that, halfway through the movie, I hadn't really thought everything out.
Like…I didn't know how I wanted everything to play out.
I knew how I wanted it to end?
But from the meeting to the end…I didn't know how to get Linda in there without making it awkward or not making it work.
Hopefully I can convey everything as well as I hope.
And, shout out to JolietJane:
YOU MAKE ME WANT TO WRITE MORE!
My gosh! You give such nice reviews and they make me want to continue, just popping out stories one after the other.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
The first thing Linda thought after two days of working with the Ghostbusters was:
What the hell are my parents going to think? When the hell are they even going to get home?
Answering the second question was tougher then answering the first one. She hadn't heard from them since they had left, which meant they were still partying with Tony and his new wife. The first question, though, she knew she could probably answer it all on her own.
They would most likely disapprove of her working with "slobs" or "heathens" or with "the enemy". But that was only their answer because they were gone. They probably hadn't even heard of any of the Ghostbusters achievements while down in the Bahamas.
She figured they must be arriving at some point. They had been gone a very long time and they had only told her that they'd be gone for a week.
But, nonetheless, Linda was going to go to work at the Headquarters as usual. She would go in casual clothes and not in fancy-wear. This was a perk, because she felt so at home with them, especially when she was in casual clothing.
She stood in the elevator patiently, her coat slung over her arm as she stood in sandals, jeans and a comfy t-shirt. Her hair was messy, her face wasn't caked with too much make-up and her nails weren't totally polished. She smiled to herself as the elevator did not stop at level 12.
The elevator let out it's usual ding and the doors opened just as slowly. She stepped out, nodding and smiling and giving a happy hello to people who were climbing into the elevators.
Hurriedly, she passed the front desk and she tapped it, waving at Jarvis who just lifted his hand and sneered at her. She rolled her eyes and smirked at his immature reaction to her new job, but what did she expect.
Before she made it to the door she looked down at her coat and large shoulder bag, checking things to make sure she didn't drop any of her belongings. She didn't, luckily, so she smiled and sighed contently and looked up at the front door.
"Honeyyy!" a high voice called and Linda slowed her pace to a stop, staring wide-eyed at the front door where her parents stood, her step-mothers arms thrown to the Heavens like she was expecting a hug.
"My little girl!" her father grinned holding his arms out in front of him, walking towards her and pulling her into a hug.
"Oof—hi daddy…." She muttered, her face still dropped in surprise, her step-mother giggling happily as her father patted her back ferociously.
He pushed himself away, holding onto her shoulders, "how are you doing baby girl?" he asked and Linda just looked around.
"I'm going…..fine…I guess…." She muttered, smiling awkwardly.
She looked over their shoulders and saw Tony walking through the door. He had her eyes, a trait they had gained from her father, but because he had Colleen as a mother and not Linda's birth mother he had blonde-ish hair, not black.
He trudged past them, his hands in his pocket and a look of utter depression on his face. Linda lifted her hand to wave at him.
"Hey Tony….Where's the wife?" She said and he just glared at her. She flinched and looked back at her dad and step-mother. She narrowed her eyes, "what happened?" she asked suspiciously.
Her father's smile dropped and he began to look smug. Colleen just rubbed her forehead, looking just worried and beat up.
"Let me guess. The Bahamas—or, the wife—not all she was cracked up to be?" she asked crossing her arms and her father hesitated before nodding. He stuck his hands in his pockets.
"The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, the drinks tasted absolutely amazing, the service at our glorious sister hotel The Ramis was outstanding…and we weren't, apparently, the only ones who thought so." He muttered.
Linda glared between them, thinking about how he had put that sentence. He obviously put a clue to their depression in there inconspicuously. Suddenly it came to her and she smirked, just lifting her head to begin a nod.
"Ohhhh, I see. The wife had her eyes on a worker. What a nice choice for a woman, Tony always chooses the most lady-like doesn't he." She teased, not feeling as sorry for them anymore. "So, when did this happen?"
"It happened right after the wedding. They went to their hotel room and Tony said he had to go to the bathroom. So he did, right as room service showed up."
She tried her best to hold back a laugh, "Oh. The slut ran away with the room service guy." She laughed and Colleen gasped.
"Linda! How dare you use that language!"
She let out an incredulous laugh, "I'm sorry! I can't help but call her what she is! I hope he files for divorce, because I don't think the people down at the Country Club would appreciate Tony being married to a bigamist. If she gets married to the room service guy that is." She shrugged and did her best to try and walk around them.
It was their turn to watch her incredulously.
"Now where do you think you're going?" her step-mother asked. Linda just shrugged.
"Out."
"No. You are supposed to be at work! Where are your work clothes?" her father asked, his hands set on his hips now as he glared at her doubtfully. She turned to look at them, not fearing their judgment.
"Okay. I am going to work. I am wearing my work clothes. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be late." She said and her parents just shook their heads. They seemed to be fine with her saying that she was going to work, but they obviously weren't fine with her outfit of choice.
Colleen stared her up and down, "You're going to work in that? You think that's appropriate for work? Do you think people, especially your Boss is going to like you when you come to work in clothing like that?" she huffed and Linda looked down at her outfit. She tugged at her shirt, looking at the fun and colorful print on it. It was flowy and, she guessed, not too appropriate, even for the Ghostbusters.
"My Boss? I have three…." she asked quietly and her mother nodded.
"THREE? You cannot have three." Colleen laughed disbelievingly. Linda looked between them. Technically at the hotel she had two bosses: her dad and Colleen. But she wasn't going to point that out.
If she had to choose though, she knew who was technically her Boss. Even if Peter thought otherwise.
"Well…Ray thinks this looks nice." She muttered nervously and her father gasped.
"You're on a first name basis with your BOSS? Honey, are you giving him more then just being a good employee?" her father asked, grabbing her arm and tugging it roughly, as though he was trying to pull her away from the door.
Linda turned pink, understanding his assumptions. With her free arm she tore at his hand and pried it off of her arm.
"Daddy no!" she gasped, not liking the assumption one bit. It made her feel uncomfortable.
"Then why did you call him Ray? Is that his first name? Why do you call him by his first name?"
"Daddy I have to go! I'm going to be late!"
"For what? A booty call—"
"DADDY!" she shrieked, feeling like some embarrassed teenage girl, she felt completely caught off guard.
"Darling, we told you to find someone right for you, but we didn't mean someone in your professional life!" Colleen cried out, feeling just as embarrassed by Linda as Linda was by her father.
Linda just looked between them and glared at them, stepping closer to the door.
"We'll talk about it later! I need to get to work. GOOD-BYE." She growled, pushing her way through the doors.
Her parents just watched the door. Staring at where she stood. Their faces were blank so Linda knew that even if they did show some kind of emotion it would've been that they had hoped she either wouldn't come back, or that she would come back being the perfect child.
Like that was ever going to happen.
They always overreacted to these things.
The taxi drive was interesting. Being in a taxi with some smelly driver actually made her smile. It perked up her mood seeing as how she was getting further away from the hotel and her parents. Something that always made her happy. At least she wasn't going to Dana's. She was still mad at her for assuming she liked Ray, just on the spot. They're colleagues. Linda had no feelings of that kind towards him.
She had watched his interview the other day though, and she felt bad for all of the random questions he was asked. Questions that were trying to be funny but weren't made both Ray and Linda feel uncomfortable.
"How is Elvis and have you seen him lately? Did he really expect you to answer that?" she had asked him. He just laughed and shrugged before lighting a smoke.
But Linda was happy to see the Headquarters knowing she would be there the next day, and the next day. When she stepped out of the taxi there was a man standing out in front of the place, holding a newspaper. He was dressed like he was ready for an interview. Must've been someone looking for the job.
She walked up to him and touched his shoulder, startling him, "Excuse me. Hi. Are you here for an interview?" she asked and he smiled at her awkwardly.
"Actually, yes I am. I just didn't know if it was alright to go in. There's no….open sign or anything." He laughed and she laughed encouragingly.
"Oh they're always open. Come on in. I'm Linda Sedgewick." She smiled, holding out her hand as they walked in step to the front door.
"Winston Zeddmore." He replied and Linda nodded.
She grabbed the door handle and held it open for him. He thanked her and they walked in one by one towards Janine's desk. The Ghostbusters were out, minus Egon, whose suit was still in his locker. He was still messing with the containment center downstairs, where he kept mumbling to himself about over-storage and some kind of build-up.
Linda walked up to Janine's desk and smiled.
"Hi Janine. This man, Winston Zeddmore, is here for an interview." She grinned and Winston waved to her. Janine motioned to the chair on the other side of the desk.
"Alright. I'm just going to ask you a couple of basic questions and then we'll begin with things you know about the paranormal. Oh, and Linda, there is a man from the EPA in Dr. Venkman's office." Janine said reaching out for Linda's arm as Linda walked around the desk to set her bag down.
She squinted at her confused, "well what does that have to do with me?" she asked and Janine shrugged.
"Dr. Venkman has practically made you his personal assistant since they haven't been needing money yet. I thought I just should've let ya' know." She muttered and turned back to Winston, ending the conversation at that.
Linda looked around and shrugged carelessly. She pushed through the swinging door into Peter's office and she set her bag down next to some cabinets that Peter probably hadn't filled yet.
She walked over the a small chair that was deemed "hers" and she picked up any piece of paper that must've been set there for her to look over. Most likely costs of things. They had learned right after Ray left for his interview that she could tell whether they were asking for too much or for too little per ghost.
A paper on top was a sheet that said the bill for one place that had both a poltergeist and anonymous free-floating entity. The price had come to two thousand dollars for containing both ghosts, and eight thousand dollars for capturing both of them (five thousand dollars for the poltergeist, three thousand dollars for the entity). Linda sneered down at it. Ray must've done the dealing because Peter would've charged much more.
Her eye's still on the paper, she turned to walk towards Peter's desk so she could sticky-note it. A man stood up from beside the desk and pulled out his hands from his pockets and flattened his coat.
"Hello miss." He said loudly and Linda jumped, almost dropping the paper.
She stared at him shocked and she began to chuckle nervously, having not noticed him, still startled that he was even there.
"Oh my Gosh…she wasn't kidding when she said that someone was here. Hi, I'm Linda. I'm…Dr. Venkman's personal assistant…." She said hesitantly, not exactly liking the title, but it sounded better then personal funder.
"My name is Walter Peck. I am from the EPA." He said holding out his hand and Linda looked down at it. She had done a lot of handshaking in this building.
"EPA?" she questioned.
Mr. Peck chuckled and nodded, "The Environmental Protection Agency." He said and he stuck his hand out farther, insisting she shake. So she hesitantly took it and began to shake it. But instead he bent over and kissed her knuckles lightly.
"It is nice to meet you…Linda." He grinned, trying to seem charming. Linda just sneered at him, not finding him the least bit pleasant. She just slipped her hand out of his and rubbed it.
"It's nice to meet you too. Now, why are you here exactly?"
He straightened up, coughing, "I have come to inspect the premises. The people in our group believe that your operation does not use very safe methods in this building or while on the job." He said and Linda glared at him.
"And…what is that supposed to mean?"
"It means we don't think as you do. What you think is right, we think is wrong. At least for the environment. We think you are poisoning people with gases to make them believe that something is haunting them so they can call you and you can take their money." He explained nonchalantly, all while Linda crossed her arms and glared at him.
She leaned against Peter's desk as she muttered, "that's a very dangerous theory Mr. Peck. One that, neither I or Dr. Venkman will take lightly."
Mr. Peck just chuckled and took a step towards her, getting too close for a professional meeting. She examined him up and down as he stared into her face, "I have a feeling you like things dangerous, seeing as how you are exposed to these gases everyday. You probably believe all of this true. And that's why I am here…to help you." He smiled slyly, making her shiver that he had more intentions then just "exposing" dangerous things that could harm the environment.
Linda stood up straight and looked into his eyes.
"I do like things dangerous I guess. But if you want dangerous, I suggest you wait until Dr. Venkman arrives and then you can take this matter up with him." She said quietly and she slid herself out from between him and the desk. She walked quickly towards the swinging door and she pushed it open with her foot so she could just walk right through it.
She didn't look back at him, for fear of making him think she was either up to something or that she was getting a little too into him.
Right as she walked up to Janine's desk to check in on the interview, the large doors opened and the Ecto-1 drove in. Linda's eyes looked at the car, darting from the passenger to the driver, not knowing which seat Peter would've been in.
He ended up climbing out of the passenger seat as Ray climbed out of the driver's seat with two smoking containment centers.
"I gotta get some sleep. I'm dying." Ray complained through a lit cigarette.
"You don't look good." Peter replied, to which Ray quickly answered, "I don't?"
"Well, you've looked better…you didn't used to look like this." Peter shrugged as Janine's phones started to ring and Winston stared at them awkwardly, both of them covered in glue.
Linda looked down at the desk and grabbed a stack of papers, knowing they were that night's worksheets.
"Here's the paper on the Brooklyn. She paid with VISA." Peter mumbled through his cigarette, tossing the papers to Linda instead of Janine. Linda just caught them, barley, and held them with her free hand. The other's held the work sheets.
She held them out to Ray, "Ray, here's tonight's worksheets."
"Great. Two more free-repeaters." Ray whined and Linda chuckled.
"Oh come on, you know it's worth it." She teased pushing his shoulder, which he looked over and grinned her sheepishly. He laughed through his cigarette and Linda looked over the file cabinets at Mr. Peck who was eyeing the group.
Another shiver went down her spine, Peter even watching her as Janine introduced Winston to the men.
"This is Winston Zeddmore, he's here about the job." She pointed and Ray looked him up and down, then looking at Linda who shrugged and nodded.
"Beautiful. You're hired. Ray Stantz, Pete Venkman." Ray introduced, pointing at himself and Peter with his handful of papers.
"Congratulations." Peter muttered shaking his hand.
"Can you help me please?" he asked holding out the two containment boxes to Winston. Winston stared at them before cradling his hands allowing Ray to drop the boxes into them. "Welcome aboard." He grinned and Linda snorted at Winston's confused expression.
Linda watched as Ray disappeared with Winston and she ran around Janine's desk to Peter who looked at her with a blank expression, not surprised she was acting weird. She looked back at Peter's office but she couldn't see Mr. Peck.
"Peter, a man from the EPA is here. He's waiting in your office."
"…EPA? What's he want?"
"I don't know…something about the Environment obviously." She muttered, blanking on what he was even there for. She lead him around Janine's desk, deciding to wait at the door to Peter's office as Janine complained about needing more help besides Linda.
Peter gave her some unsatisfactory answer and Janine stayed mad for the rest of the day. Peter eventually lead Linda back into the office to meet Mr. Peck, Linda staying close behind him.
"Can I help you?" he asked as he approached Mr. Peck, who was sitting down again.
He sucked in a breath before standing up, "I'm Walter Peck. I represent the Environmental Protection Agency, the third district." He smirked, shaking Peter's hand.
Peter let go of his hand, "Great. How's it going down there?" he asked, patting Mr. Peck's shoulder leaving both residue of slime on both his hand and his coat. Mr. Peck just sneered at it, then at Peter's back in disgust.
"Are you Peter Venkman?" he asked stupidly as Linda walked around Peter's desk so she could stay close to him at all times. She decided to stay standing so she could seem like she knew what she was doing. She really didn't.
"Yes I'm…Dr. Venkman." Peter paused and Linda smirked to herself.
"Exactly what are you a doctor of, Mr. Venkman?" Peck asked, setting his hands on his hips.
"Well, I have Ph.D.'s in parapsychology and psychology." He said in serious/sarcastic tone, but Linda knew he was being serious. She didn't doubt that Peter knew what he was doing.
"I see." Peck said, in a tone that was sarcastic, but that he was finally understanding something.
"And now, you catch ghosts." He said pacing across the room. Peter narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, you could say that."
Mr. Peck spun around, "and how many ghosts have you caught, Mr. Venkman?"
Peter shrugged, "I'm not at liberty to say."
Linda looked up at Mr. Peck who just stared back at Peter, no completely phased.
"And where do you put…these ghosts once you catch them?"
"Into a storage facility." Peter, again, shrugged, like all of Peck's questions were no big deal.
"And would this storage facility be located on these premises?" Peck asked, beginning to pace again. Peter just nodded, staring at him bored, "Yes."
"…And may I see this storage facility?" Peck asked expectantly.
"No." Peter answered simply, not really having to think about it.
Mr. Peck stayed quiet and that worried Linda, afraid he was planning on blowing up for no particular reason at any point. Especially with all of the answers that Peter was giving him, he was obviously not satisfied.
"And why not Mr. Venkman?" he asked, sounding stony and cold.
Peter paused, staring at Peck with his version of a suspicious glare, a blank face. His tone was all he need when he said, "Because you did not use the magic word."
Peck walked back to the desk and sat in the chair opposite of him.
"What is…the magic word, Mr. Venkman?" he asked, smiling like this was all a joke. He eyed Linda before resuming his staring at Peter.
Peter just stared at him wide-eyed.
"'Please'."
Peck just laughed, "…may I please see the storage facility, Mr. Venkman?" he smiled.
Peter's eyebrows dropped.
"Why do you want to see the storage facility?" he asked quietly, seemingly tired of Peck's questions that just danced around what he really wanted to talk about.
"Well, because I'm curious…I want to know more about what you do here." Peck said, raising his voice and shifting around in his seat. Linda did the same, trying to get comfortable leaning against cabinets.
"Frankly, there've been a lot of wild stories in the media…and we want to assess any possible environmental impact…from your operation." He explained, getting angry.
Linda remembered what he had come for. The creep was talking about gases.
"For instance, the presence of noxious, possibly hazardous waste chemicals in your basement." He explained and Linda just nodded to herself still remembering.
"Now, you show me what is down there, or I come back with a court order." He snapped at Peter, who sat there motionless. Linda flinched at the idea of getting a court order. She walked up closer to Peter and touched his shoulder.
"Maybe—we should let him go down and look Peter—"
Peter suddenly stood up, setting his hands down on the table as he proclaimed:
"You go get a court order, and I'll sue your ass for wrongful prosecution!"
Peck did the same and stood up, getting in Peter's face.
"You can have it your way, Mr. Venkman."
That was the last he said before turning to storm out. Linda just stood there, her hands cradled to her chest, still shocked at Peter's sudden out burst. But Peter just shrugged it off and lead her downstairs to speak with the guys as Janine took more calls.
As they made there way down the steps, they could hear Ray talking worriedly.
"We could be on the verge of a fourfold cross-rip…a PKE surge of incredible, even dangerous, proportions." He said quickly before continuing to smoke again with Winston.
"We just had a visit from the Environmental Protection Agency…."
Linda nodded her head.
"It didn't sound too good. I'm sorry Peter." She shrugged, crossing her arms.
"It's fine. But how's the grid holding up?" he asked, patting it. Egon shook his head, "Not good."
Winston pointed from Peter to Egon, "Tell him about the twinkie."
"Twinkie?" Linda asked, getting a bad taste in her mouth from the thought of the fatty treat.
Dramatically, Peter swung his head around and stared at Egon.
"What about the twinkie?"