I own Kitty and Angie Reed, and Remy Safar.
I don't own Ghostbusters.
Janine Melnitz groaned, her usually demeanor fresh on her face which at this point, five years later, had even larger glasses covering her delicate face. Her long fingers wrapped around the phone, lifting it from the receiver as she pressed it to her ear. "Ghostbusters?" The lady on the phone sounded desperate, but in all her worry over her ghostly phenomenon she still had the simple composure to ask "Are you guys really back?"
A sickly grin spread across her face at the question, the kind she would be embarrassed if anyone had seen. "Yes, we're back."
The first job Janine had, as per direct orders from Venkman, as to put out a "Help Wanted" ad in the Sunday news paper. Nothing fancy, just something that would attract the right person; the right person being someone who doesn't mind working like a dog for eleven five a year. She'd made sure to keep the name "Ghostbusters" out of the ad, not wanting to get fan boys showing up wanting to play with the proton packs. Egon would have a field day!
The first appointment of the day had gone flat, the applicant seemed disinterested in the work, and even zoned out a couple times as Janine was interviewing them. Janine got tired of their attitude and threw them out of the firehouse, threatening them if they came back. Venkman was sort of impressed by her switch, but more than impressed, he was also a little scared.
The second appointment was supposed to go much better, the applicant sounding rather eager on the phone; even giddy! Janine had finished up with the last applicant, now putting away the persons resume, which listed "Video Games" as a skill, in its proper place: in the trash.
It was about twelve when the second applicant walked through the door, her silky caramel colored hair pulled into a high pony tail away from her soft face as she smiled, taking in the scene around her. She gazed at the walls of equipment, most of which Egon had to modify to fix small bugs in the system. Her eyes wondered around the main garage before landing on Janine at her desk in the middle of all this. Janine smiled brightly, faking her expression to the farthest existent as she offered her hand. "Hi. I'm Janine, I'll be interviewing you today."
"Hi, Janine." She said, shaking Janine's outstretched hand with a firm grip. "My name is Remy Safar."
Remy sat down in the seat behind her, crossing her honey colored legs together to keep her modesty. Her dark, falcon like eyes set on Janine as she went through some paper work. "Okay, so you're applying for the part-time investigator, is that right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Why don't you just tell me a little bit about yourself?" Janine asked, resting her chin on her hand.
"I was born in Lebanon, grew up there until my parents moved my brothers and I to American, before the civil war. I went to public school most of my life, and I'm currently enrolled at New York University."
"Do you have any special skills?"
"I am fluent in Arabic, since most of family doesn't speak English. I am not opposed to hard work and getting 'down and dirty' as they might say. I also don't mind doing research as I'm currently at school; research is pretty much my life right now." She laughed.
"Now, I've got to ask." Janine started as she looked down at the folder in her hands. "Do you believe in UFO's, astral projection, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trans-medium, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?"
Remy narrowed her eyes, curious as she replayed the number of questions in her head. Full trans-what?
Saving her from having to answer Janine's 'routine' questions, Peter and Ray walked down the staircase from the upstairs. They had both been talking about how to reach new customers, but coming up with nothing, zilch. Peter recommended another thirty minute break from brainstorming, just enough time to see the exotic beauty Janine was interviewing. The boys stopped in their tracks, pausing on the stairs as they gawked at her. She had beautiful tan skin around a toned body; she had her hair pulled up out of her face, displaying her gorgeous Arabian features. They were stunned.
Peter continued to stare at the beautiful creature in their firehouse, elbowing Ray in the chest as he whispered "Dibs."
The two women noticed them on the staircase, standing up as Remy smiled widely at them. Good god she was pretty, Peter thought as he practically ran down the staircase to meet her. Ray on the other hand took the slower route, pacing himself as Peter laid on the charm for her.
"I'm Dr. Peter Venkman." He said, grabbing her delicate hand in his. She continued to smile as she introduced herself. "Remy Safar, pleasure to meet you, Doctor."
"Please, the pleasure is all mine." He said, almost growled as he bent at the hip to kiss her hand. She blushed slightly at the motion, but it didn't faze her too much. Janine shouted from the background, "She's here for the open position on the team."
Peter's eyebrow rose to the heavens as he eyed the young woman. "I don't know, Miss Safar. I don't know if you'd be able to handle our 'experimental' equipment." Peter said, making up excuses as to why she couldn't work for them. "I mean, have you ever shot a beam of positively charged ions at a negatively charged plasm?"
"Well, no…" She admitted, earning a faux-scoff from Peter. "But what I don't have in shooting capabilities, I can make up for. I can always learn how to shoot big bad ghosties."
A deathly smirk rose on Peter's tired features, an idea fresh in his mind as he exclaimed "Beautiful! You're hired."
"Really?"
"Really. Can you start today? We've got a lot to go over-!" Peter started before being cut off by the young woman wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling into a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She repeated, her words muffed by the fabric in his shirt before she pulled away, her eyes smiling with the rest of her pretty face. "You won't regret this."
"I hope not. We're going out on a limb for you." Peter said, earning another hug from the jumpy young woman. He smiled, getting used to the fact of having her around. "Now, I'll take you down to the basement so you can meet the rest of the team, 'kay?" Peter said as Remy stopped hugging him for just a moment, wrapping her arm around his as he led her back behind Janine's desk.
Ray shook his head as he watched Peter 'work his magic' on the new kid. Hopefully, this wasn't just a trick to sleep with her and kick her out, leaving a broken heart and still a position left to fill. She seemed eager, which was good, refreshing almost to have in the firehouse. And hey! Maybe a woman's touch is just what this place needed!
"Well isn't that something?" Janine groaned, placing her hands on her hips. "You'd think he'd never seen a girl before!" Ray didn't say a word, still in shock from how easily it was for Peter to hire her, charm her as he did so well with women. Janine just shook her head at how juvenile they were all being around a pretty girl. They acted like teenage boys, gawking at a pretty girl from the other side of the cafeteria.
The front door opened, squeaking as it did alarming Ray and Janine that her next appointment was here. It was the final appointment of the day, before she could go back to answering phones and making coffee. Despite how horrible it sounds, she actually preferred it to all this interviewing crap. The young women walked through the door way, her tall heels clicking as she rounded the Ecto-one, moaning at its current condition.
"Ray, I thought you of all people would have taken better care of this thing." She said, her voice echoing off the vacant walls. Her voice was so familiar, he thought before mentally slapping himself. Of course it sounded familiar; she was here only a few days ago.
Kitty smiled brightly as she walked up to Janine's desk. She was early, learning over the years that it was always best to be early then late for an interview. Ray stuck his hand out, blocking her way to the desk before asking "You're not the last interviewee, are you? Is she?" He asked Janine as she flipped through her day planner, finding today on the calendar. "Yep! Katherine Reed interview – 2:30."
"I know I'm a little early, I can wait if you're in the middle of something."
"Not at all. The last interview was over surprisingly quickly." Janine said before offering Kitty a seat. Kitty smiled as she took the seat, despite Ray's concern. He stood, hovering over the two of them as he watched the interview, choosing to oversee this one as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"So, Ms. Reed. Tell me a little bit about yourself."
"I am a native of Poker, Maryland. Don't worry, no one has ever heard of it. I moved here five years ago with my sister, where we live together in cute little apartment. Uh… average grades through high school where I excelled at drama and glee club. That was one of the reasons we moved to New York in the first place. But um, after we moved here I kind of put that on the back burner."
"Do you have any special skills?"
"I use to work as a receptionist in a dentist when I lived in Maryland, so book keeping is a big one. I also enjoy research, something I didn't know about myself until I started community college. Oh! And I have first-hand experience in the paranormal."
"'First-hand'?"
"I was possessed by a Sumerian dog that lived in my closet." Kitty explained, laying her hands in her lap.
Janine just blinked a bit; having heard a lot of strange stories, this one almost took the cake. She swallowed before looking down at the folder in her hands, reading off the 'script' Peter had laid out for her as she interviewed unsuspecting applicants.
"Okay, Ms. Reed, I have to ask you some questions now. Though, I don't see why: Do you believe in UFO's, astral projection, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trans-medium, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?"
Kitty thought a bit, before coming up with her smart assed answer. "Do you want me to address each individually or lumped all together?"
"Lumped all together, preferably."
"Okay…" Kitty said, itching her ear lobe with her free hand. "Maybe."
Peter and Remy returned from the basement, smiling and giggling as two teenagers. Remy was having a blast being shown around the firehouse with Peter's escort. She'd met Egon and Winston in the basement, and even learned that Winston would be teaching her, even after Peter's protests. As they returned to the surface, Peter's eyes locked on the young woman sitting at Janine's desk now, the color rushing from his face. 'Oh shit.'
"Kitty!" Peter exclaimed, being taken back by the suddenly omnipresent Kitty, as she was everywhere he turned around. He was aware that Remy had her hand wrapped over his arm, her soft skin stroking his wrist. "This isn't what it looks like."
"Ms. Reed is also here for the investigator position." Janine said, a smug tone in her voice as she watched her boss faced with a dilemma. Peter looked back and forth from the girls, making his choice in his head. Kitty wanted the job? Ha! "No."
"No? What do you mean no?" Kitty shouted, outraged at his casualness. Peter just shook his head.
"It's a bad idea to mix business relationships with personal relationships; right Ray?" Peter said, looking to Ray for some back up, as he was the 'expert' in that field now. Ray flipped him an obscene gesture before leaning on the hood of the Ecto-one, watching Peter bury himself.
"Besides, you have no experience in the field."
"I was possessed! How much more experience do I need?"
"I'm sorry, Kit. But we just don't have a position available."
"Yes we do!" Janine shouted over Peter and Kitty's argument. They both looked to her in confusion as she elaborated. "You promised me you would hire some more help five years ago."
"What are you getting at?" Peter asked, causing Janine to groan. She was going to have to spell it out for him.
"Hire Remy for the investigator, and hire Kitty to help out around the firehouse. Lord knows, you could use some help around here."
Peter thought about it. Hiring two women wasn't exactly what he was planning on doing, having limited funds as it is. However, with Remy taking on some extra jobs, more money would be pulled in, and Janine could occasionally have some time off, giving Kitty a job. It was crazy, but it could just work out. Peter looked from Kitty's pleading face, to Remy's satisfied one, bouncing back and forth between them.
"Alright. Kitty, you start work Monday." Peter said, his gravely expression seeping into his voice as Kitty smiled, jumping up and down at this job opportunity. Finally, she'd have a chance to join the work force again, taking some of the immense pressure off Angie for a little while.
"Ray," Peter called out, causing Ray to perk up a bit on the hood of the dirty Ecto-One. "Why don't you fill Remy in on the protocol of busting, huh?" Peter pushed, guiding Remy from his arm to Ray's.
Ray sent him a dirty look, but went along with it as Remy smiled. Her long fingers wrapped around his forearm as he lead the young woman upstairs, trying to fill her in on the process without drilling in a whole bunch of psycho-babble.
Kitty's brows creased at the woman's reaction to Ray, her eyes lighting up with each giggle from her lips. Something inside Kitty snapped, no longer liking the woman she'd just met only five minutes earlier. But, she couldn't focus on Ray and Remy, even if it was distracting seeing her sister's ex-boyfriend being hit on by such an exotic looking woman. She had to focus on the good news: she had a job! And now to tell Angie.
Angie.
Angie would have a heart attack if she knew that some bombshell was working with the guys, going on investigations with the guys, sleeping in the same room as them - her head would explode!
No, Angela Reed was to never find out about Remy Safar.
HA-HA! I'm back, baby!
Did you miss me? No?
... okay...
November was a pain, but I wrote all month.
End word count 57,442.
So I wrote a novel.
Yay.
Hope you enjoyed it. Look forward to more update in the next coming months.
~Pure