Chapter 5 A New Start
As Egon settled into the back seat of Ecto-1, the others were settling down from the romantic scene between the genius and the pretty redhead. Winston started the car and began the trip back to the firehouse. Egon's face was a healthy shade of pink.
"Way to go, Spengs!" Peter teased, giving his friend a pat on the shoulder.
"Yeah, that looked like some kiss, man!" Winston gleefully added.
"Now you've GOTTA ask her out again!" Ray said.
"Should be easy enough - now that she's our new secretary!" Peter exclaimed.
Egon's eyes widened in shock. "Wh-what?!!"
"Yeah, Pete hired her! She starts tomorrow!" Ray replied.
"When did THAT happen?!"
"While you and Ray were checking the office for more PKE signatures," Peter said casually.
Egon shook his head. "Oh no, this is bad!"
"How so?" Ray asked.
"I can't date Janine now! She's an EMPLOYEE!"
"So? Easy access!" Peter replied.
"You don't understand, Peter," Egon protested, rubbing his head with his hands.
"What's to understand? She works there, you work there. Easy access!"
"I'm not you, Venkman. I don't chase every skirt that walks through those doors," Spengler firmly declared.
Winston and Ray looked at each other with surprised expressions.
Peter just shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I assure you - you can have this one! Not only have you already been out with her once before, but it's obvious you two have a definite connection! Besides, she's too much of a firecracker for me!" He smiled smugly at Egon.
Egon still shook his head. "I don't want to be one of those guys - the guy who sleeps with his Secretary. No offense, Peter."
"None taken. This is different. You're not sleeping with her …. Yet. Hell, you're barely dating her! If it turns into a real relationship, it doesn't matter."
"Right! You can't help it if you already knew her before we hired her!" Ray added.
"Exactly! She needed a job, we gave her one!" Winston chimed in.
Despite the encouragement from the other Ghostbusters, Egon just shook his head again and watched the streets of New York rush by his window.
Meanwhile, Janine had typed up her resignation letter effective immediately and laid on her boss's desk. She smiled smugly as she gathered her personal effects from her desk and carefully packed them in a file box. "Serves him right, the asshole," Janine thought to herself.
One of her coworkers, Vickie, cautiously walked back inside the office finally. "What's going on?! What was all that?!"
Janine stood and crossed her arms. "We had a ghost in the office."
"A GHOST?!" Vickie shrieked, her violet eyes opened wide in surprise.
"Yes."
"What did Gregory do?! Call somebody?!" Vickie demanded, still stunned by the information.
"I called the GHOSTBUSTERS! Dear Gregory had already hightailed it outta here, almost knocking me over in the process! He is still gone," Janine irritatedly revealed.
Vickie frowned. "I'm sure he was just…caught off guard?"
"No, he's just a coward, womanizing ASSHOLE! Which is why I QUIT!" Janine announced as she picked up the box, her purse and started to walk out the door. "My resignation is on his desk!"
"But, where are you gonna go?! What are you gonna do?!"
Abruptly, Janine halted in her steps and gave her a bright smile. "I already have another job! I start tomorrow!" She then turned and confidently strode out of the office.
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Janine woke up to a frigid gray morning the next day, and she felt butterflies flutter their wings in her stomach. There were two reasons- one she was starting her new job as the Ghostbusters newest secretary and second, she was going to see Egon again, her hot dark haired hero. Giggling, Janine recalled the kiss she planted on him and his fervid response back. She determined that they had chemistry after all, and that she needed to convince him to ask her out. Next Janine's thoughts returned to how Egon assisted her after she hit her head- his tender and gentle bedside manner then the look of concern on his face as he examined her. She shivered as a cold breeze traveled the length of her spine. Egon Spengler might be a genius and socially awkward, but he was interested in HER! Squealing, Janine hurriedly withdrew from her warm bed and ran to the bathroom to turn on the shower.
Egon had trouble sleeping that night. He found himself tossing and turning in his bunk bed until he finally returned to the lab to work. Janine occupied his mind- the passionate kiss they shared, concern for her welfare during the bust, how much he liked her and her upcoming employment as the company's secretary. Egon felt grateful for the opportunity to see her again although it was during a bust and not at a social occasion.
"I should have asked her out before I knew Peter had hired her," he bemoaned out loud as he rapidly tapped his pencil on his yellow notepad. He had been doodling absentmindedly and he had written Janine with a heart next to her name.
"Oh boy," Egon sighed, "I am really taken with her."
The fact that he felt attracted to Janine didn't bother him. Instead, the idea that Egon was her boss did. He didn't want to be in an awkward situation with Janine if something didn't work out. Simultaneously, Egon had this instinct that she was something special and that he would be extremely fortunate to date her.
"I don't want to date Janine and then we lose a secretary. That's Venkman's game. I am better than that, more professional," Egon murmured.
For an hour, he agonized over his situation and how Venkman put a wrench in his plans by hiring Janine as the company's much needed secretary.
"I guess my romance with Janine is over," Egon grumbled in a low voice, wringing his hands in irritation, "Not that it ever started."
Many hours later
Ray gave Janine a tour of the facilities after she filled out the required paperwork for her employment at the Ghostbusters. One of the first places they visited was the containment unit downstairs. The Brooklynite felt flabbergasted when she saw the wide variety of ghosts in an array of sizes and shapes while peering through the viewer window of the red contraption. Consequently, she felt a bit queasy for a few minutes afterward. Janine hadn't believed in ghosts previously, but this kinda proved it for her.
"This is the lab," Ray announced, after courteously opening a door for her. Gradually, Janine strolled into the highly disorganized room with papers, books, trash, tools, binders and other things filled the room.
"Wow! That is going to take forever to straighten up," she lamented inwardly.
An Apple computer sat on a sizable black table, next to a whiteboard that contained several sketches with various scientific equations in someone's scribbled handwriting around it. Suddenly, a voracious snore erupted from it, and Ray let out a chuckle.
Janine observed Egon, her crush, in a white lab coat with his head down and his arms used as a pillow. His eyes were shut and his glasses were still on his face.
Without a sound, Janine removed his glasses from his face. She inhaled his masculine scent as she did so and wished she could tousle his wavy hair with her hands. Affection coursed through her veins as she viewed him and Janine happily blushed.
"Usually, Dr. Spengler spends all of his time in here conducting experiments if we are not on a call. It is not unusual for him to fall asleep here because he is a workaholic," Ray explained, indicating with a nod that they go check out another area of the Firehouse.
"Well, that explains a lot," Janine inwardly concluded.
She crept away from Egon and followed Ray into the next room. Janine snuck a peak at the half visible yellow notebook pad that her love interest's body covered as he stretched across the table.
On it, he had writen her name, Janine.
Exhilaration flooded her body as she attempted to stay calm, cool and collected as Ray persisted in giving her the Firehouse tour. Meanwhile, Janine's mind pondered all the possibilities of what this meant.
Finally at the end of the tour, Ray deposited Janine at her new desk where Peter scrambled to remove himself from the chair. Winston stood next to him and greeted them pleasantly.
"You will report to Venkman here, and if he's not available, me or Zeddemore. If Pete gives you trouble, come to us," Ray instructed, giving Janine a wink.
"Why me?" Peter incredulously responded with a feigned hurt express on his face. He loved the attention.
"You have to do something around here," Winston matter of factly quipped while Janine attempted to conceal a laugh much to Venkman's annoyance. The more she hid it by covering her mouth the louder it got until she just let the laugh out. Winston and Ray both happily grinned at her as the pretty redhead giggled.
"A perfect hire, Pete. Fantastic job," Ray congratulated Venkman as Janine cleared her throat to regain her composure.
There were some things that Janine had to learn for this new job- the new spreadsheet program, the paperwork, the classification of ghosts, and other stuff she didn't quite understand yet. She felt extraordinarily excited about the new opportunity, though.
On a restroom break, Janine peaked into the lab to see Egon slumbering peacefully. She tiptoed to where he rested and scrutinized the yellow paper that had her name on it. Underneath it, Egon wrote 1. Now an employee 2. Not a potential reality.
Stunned, Janine's mouth dropped open and she felt a sharp ache in her chest.
"Didn't Egon save me from the ghost yesterday? Didn't he diligently take care of me when I hit my head," she questioned herself trying to figure out the alteration in Egon's feeling towards her.
"Awww, and I really liked him," she moodily thought, feeling severely disheartened. Janine observed her sleeping Romeo from up close one last time with an affectionate grin. She had dreamt all night about the incredible kiss that they shared yesterday, and had hope there would be more in the near future. Now Janine felt heartbroken at the news of his dismissal of her.
Spinning on her heels first, Janine determinedly strode out of the lab with her chin up. Egon's rejection stung her as she descended the winding staircase. However, she wasn't going to allow it to ruin her career opportunity with the fledgling company. Janine vowed to herself that she would remain professional with Egon regardless of her feelings. No matter what.