Louis could remember a time when he was younger and he'd gotten to spend the day at Coney Island. He hadn't really gotten to pick any of the rides, and he'd mostly been dragged along to all of the rollercoasters. And of the ones he'd actually been tall enough to get on instead of just waiting by the entrance, he could remember what it felt like pretty vividly. He remembered always starting out feeling confident that it was going to be perfectly fine. Enjoyable, even. And then everything would turn into an out-of-control blur, and he'd find himself wondering what on earth he'd been thinking. But by then it was always far too late to back out, so all he could do was sit there while his heart hammered in his throat. And he also remembered never quite learning his lesson and always being willing to give it another go, no matter how many times the same thing happened all over again.
That was what talking to Janine was starting to feel like.
He could never bring himself to avoid her. He always wanted to talk to her so badly, especially now that he felt like he was bursting with more things to say than ever. But as soon as he tried, he could swear the ability to form a decent sentence fled his mind even faster than the way the car always went screeching out of the fire station.
He didn't even want to know what she had to be thinking about him. He'd lost track of the amount of times he'd wound up awkwardly stammering out some excuse about getting back to work and scrambling away as he tried to hide a deeply red face by pretending to be buried in looking at forms. Did she know what was on his mind? He'd only realized it himself a short time ago. How could she know? But there was something in the little smirk she'd get when she looked at him that made him worry she knew exactly what all of his nervous fumbling was all about.
And of course, that left him with another issue. Thinking about it was one thing. But how was he supposed to know what to do? He seriously didn't have the first clue. Knowing whether or not someone was interested had never exactly been his strong suit. If he didn't know better, he'd think that maybe the way she looked at him was the sort of look people got when they thought something was charming. Possibly even 'she might say yes if I asked her out' levels of charming. But past experience made him think that he really should know better. Maybe that look was just because he was making such a fool of himself she thought it was funny.
More than ever, Louis found himself wishing he was more like the guys he worked for. At the moment, he particularly wished he was a little more like Dr. Venkman. He never seemed to have these sorts of problems talking to anyone. So when Dr. Venkman himself had wandered into the main office of the fire station, Louis was doing his best to learn by example.
"So, eight, right? What time were you figuring on getting there?"
"You know, I don't recall actually agreeing to babysitting." Janine reminded him after only briefly glancing up from the work littering her desk. "You could at least ask before assuming I'm free."
Dr. Venkman leaned casually against one of the many cabinets lining the wall, distractedly taking a bite out of the apple from his lunch. From across the room, Louis glanced over and tried to mimic the posture. His elbow couldn't quite reach the top of the filing cabinet next to him.
"Well you are free, aren't you? Might as well pick up a few bucks, right?"
"Did it ever occur to you that I might want to make plans for myself?"
Louis settled for leaning against the wall, and wondered if he should go grab his lunchbox. Somehow, it always seemed to make people look more confident when they were eating an apple.
"Everything's booked solid by now anyway. You'd have to spend a fortune to get a table anywhere."
"Well some people know how to put something nice together without spending a fortune."
She looked up across the room, and Louis instinctively stepped away from the wall and jammed his hands into his pockets.
"Bet you'd know how to show a girl a good time, huh Louis?"
She was giving him that funny look again. Was it supposed to be some sort of joke? He wasn't quite sure whether to smile or look embarrassed, and the corner of his mouth twitched into an expression that was somewhere between before he found a spot off in the corner to stare at.
"Well, I, uh… I don't know… probably not…"
Dr. Venkman glanced over, a vaguely thoughtful expression on his face as he waved a hand and gestured to a spot roughly above Louis's head. "Anybody else hear a giant whoosh noise right about there?"
Janine sent an unamused look in her boss's direction.
"I'll get back to you about tomorrow night."
Dr. Venkman shrugged, but took the hint and soon meandered his way out of the room again. So… it was just him and Janine. Alone. Together. Hanging out in the rare occasion of a quiet room. Which meant he was probably supposed to say something. But what, though? He supposed… he could… maybe… Oh geez, she was staring at him.
…aaand he was face-to-face with a bunch of papers again. He was so bad at this. How was he so bad at this?
He was already feeling as if nothing at all was turning out well for him when his lunch break came around. Honestly, he didn't even have it in him to be surprised when he once again found everything he'd packed being dumped down the gullet of the giant slime ball. The ghost dropped everything and bolted the moment it noticed him, making a sound that Louis thought sounded like some sort of self-satisfied laughter.
He reached down to where his now-empty lunchbox had clattered to the floor, and noted that the ghost didn't seem to have gotten around to anyone else's food yet. As usual, it had gone for his first. Louis was absolutely sure that thing was doing it on purpose.
"Does it have to be mine?" He shouted in the direction the ghost had disappeared through the wall, giving his slime-covered lunchbox an angry rattle. "Does it always have to be mine?"
That same laughter came from somewhere off in the distance.
"Alright, that does it."
Throughout all of his attempts to finally catch that thing, it had proven to be a lot faster and craftier than he expected. Still, he wasn't willing to give up yet. The way he saw it, he had two problems he needed to handle. And in his opinion, it was always best to get a simpler problem out of the way first. That meant talking to Janine could wait, and it was time to deal with the flying abomination that liked to eat everything in its path.
Louis knew that those proton pack things the guys wore seemed to be an important part of their job. And if he wanted to finally get rid of that ghost once and for all, it seemed like he'd have to stop resorting to trying to chase it into a trap and finally strap on a pack himself. He just wished he had a little more experience with these sorts of gadgets. He didn't suppose it worked much like a calculator.
Feeling determined to be as prepared as possible, he had also decided to attach a bike mirror to his glasses so he could see behind him at all times. Feeling much better equipped, he proceeded to go prowling around the building on a hunt for his lunch-stealing nemesis.
"Okay, Stink-Man…" He continued his running narration as he carefully crept down the staircase. "It's just you and me, pal. 'Couple of guys looking for each other, only one of us did a wee bit better on their SATs."
He jumped off the last step, and found himself stumbling as he struggled to maintain his balance. Those packs really were heavy.
He wandered into the cluttered main office, every sense on high alert. A door creaked open, and the heavy weight on his back was likely the only reason he didn't jump out of his skin. He wondered how the people in those film noir movies that played on late night TV always kept such a cool head in these situations. But he'd have to try and figure it out, because he needed to keep a grip. This could finally be the moment.
He didn't dare to turn around, but carefully adjusted the small mirror in an attempt to get a better view. It was hard to make much out on the tiny, wobbly little mirror, but he was sure he spotted movement.
"Okay Buddy-Boy, I got you scoped." He muttered to himself as he switched on the proton pack, eyes widening as it hummed to life. It felt a lot more powerful than he anticipated, and he found himself wondering how easy it would be to control. He already knew the ghost was fast, and he probably wouldn't get a second shot. It would be best to get his target as close as possible. Time to employ deception tactics.
"Oh, Mr. pizza delivery man! What're you doing here?" That seemed believable, right? He was sure it was the sort of thing that would get the ghost rushing into the room. "Pepperoni and pineapple? I guess I'll have to eat these both by myself!"
He spotted movement again, and with that, he whirled around and opened fire. The stream arced wildly through the room, causing a lamp to go up in a huge burst of sparks and smoke as a few papers went fluttering off their desks, as if startled into jumping into the air.
A high-pitched shriek rang out, and a red-bobbed head ducked for cover. Horrified at realizing what he spotted hadn't been the ghost at all, Louis frantically scrambled to turn the pack off.
"Janine! Are you okay? Sorry, it was an accident!"
She placed a hand over her chest as she struggled to catch her breath again, but otherwise looked fine. Just to be sure, Louis did his best to rush over, stumbling into nearly everything in his path in the process.
Much to his relief, she didn't look angry. "Louis, you gave me a heart attack, what are you doing there?" She asked, not snapping like he would have expected, but sounding almost concerned.
"Well, I was just trying to catch that stinky green guy." He explained as he struggled with the gate in front of him. Why were there so many barriers in this place?
She glanced briefly around the room, probably noting that the ghost in question wasn't anywhere nearby, but she was nice enough not to point it out. Instead, she waved a hand in a nonchalant gesture. "Oh, he's alright."
Having finally made his way over, Louis couldn't help smiling as he fidgeted with the nozzle of the proton pack. Heavy as it was, there was something about wearing one of those things that made him feel like he was maybe sort of a little cool. And the fact that Janine hadn't laughed at the way he looked helped boost his confidence further.
"I'm like the fifth Ghostbuster." He stated proudly. She'd started giving him that look again, the possibly 'she thinks I'm charming' but probably not look.
Janine smoothed down her dress a few times, and then leaned against the table behind her. "Why would you wanna be a Ghostbuster if you're already an accountant?"
That was something he found even harder to explain. No one ever seemed to talk about his life as if it was something worth admiring. She couldn't possibly think who he was could be better than being a Ghostbuster, could she? Maybe it was just some sort of playful teasing.
"Well… what if one of the guys gets sick? Or wants to go on an extended vacation, huh?" He attempted to justify himself. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, he started sliding his arms out of the straps attaching the heavy pack to his back. "Do me a favor, don't tell anybody about this, okay? My training is secret."
"Oh, sure." She responded earnestly. With only one strap still over his shoulder, Louis began heading off to put the proton pack back where he'd found it. But to his surprise, she rushed after him and stopped him after only a few steps. "Have you made any plans yet? I mean, you know, tomorrow night's New Year's Eve."
He found himself glancing away, struggling to figure out why she would be asking. "Well, I usually celebrate New Year's at the end of my corporate tax year, on March first. That way I avoid the crowds."
Out of the corner of his eye, which was as close as he dared to look, he could see her smile grow wider, showing that strange look even more clearly. "That's very practical. I hate going out on New Year's myself." She paused for a moment, almost as if she was expecting something. When he didn't say any more, he was pretty sure he saw her smile fade. "Goodnight."
She said the last word almost dejectedly, already turning to walk away. "Goodnight." Louis called after her, but she didn't seem to hear him. He soon found himself alone in the room, the building empty except for the fading echo of her footsteps.
He wanted to kick himself. He still felt like he didn't have a clue what he was doing, but he was sure that he was doing absolutely everything wrong. This was so hard. How did other people do this?
Maybe he should just go find a form to fill out somewhere. At least he was pretty sure he could trust himself to manage that.