Authors note: This story timeline is based around 1991. I'm trying to keep things used in this story based on that timeline, but after 20+ years it's hard to remember what was and wasn't around at that time; so bear with me. I don't own any of the characters, I'm just borrowing them...
Also, Egon's ringtone is based on the ringtone of Sterling Archer...yes I know, but I thought it would be the type of thing Peter would change Egon's ringtone to as a joke to try and rattle him.
Hanging on the Telephone
TWEET TWEET TWEET TWEET
MULATTO BUTTS!
MULATTO BUTTS!
"
AAAHH!" Startled out of a sound sleep; Egon rolled off the bed and hit the floor. He groaned and pushed himself up with one hand while he fumbled with the other one, on the top of the nightstand, for his glasses. Putting them on he grabbed for his cell phone which was still screaming that obnoxious song.
BLACK ASS MOMMA!
WHITE ASS DADDY!
He checked the caller i.d. and sighed as he pressed the answer button. He help the phone away from his ear as the sound of techno music streamed from the background of the other end of the call.
"You mind telling me what happened to my Beethoven ringtone, Peter?" He asked with a note of irritation creeping into his voice. "And do you have ANY idea what time it is."
"YEAH! ISH PARTY TIME, EGON!" Peter yelled to hear himself over the music thumping behind him.
Egon picked himself up to sit on the side of the bed. He squeezed his eyes shut and used his free hand to push his glasses up out of the way to pinch the bridge of his nose. "No, Peter," he tried to keep his voice calm. "It's 3 in the morning, and I HAD been sound asleep."
"Thash ya problem, Egon. Ya gotta look at the big pisher! Ya gotta get out more and shake your ash."
"My ASH? Peter. You're drunk, and I was sleeping. Something to which I plan to resume, presently."
"But Egon, I got theesh two hot chicksh for ush, you gotta get down here!"
"Peter, YOU are in Mexico and I am in Florida. I can't, as you put it 'get down there'."
"OOOOHHHH YEAH!"
"Goodnight Peter!" Egon pressed the disconnect button and tossed his cell phone and glasses back on the nightstand. He layed down and closed his eyes; but now, thanks to Peter, he was wide awake. After half an hour he gave up, put his glasses back on and climbed back out of bed. He crossed over to the window of his hotel room. He hadn't bothered to close the curtains when he had turned in earlier and the parking lot lights provided the dim glow he needed to navigate the room without crashing into any furniture.
He was missing his lab. Nights when he couldn't sleep or when he woke up and couldn't get back to sleep; such as now, he had his lab to putter around in. A flash of irritation towards the necessity of this vacation flared through the physicist. What he wouldn't give to just get on a plane and go back to the firehouse.
He would have settled for dissecting his samples and studying them under the microscope that he had brought with him...but the clock on the nightstand read 3:43 a.m. No. No it'll just have to wait. I have that meeting at the University of Miami tomorrow morning. Or rather THIS morning! He thought with another flash of irritation.
Egon climbed back into the bed and removed his glasses. He had been having some kind of crazy dream before Peter had woken him up. It tickled the back of his memory, and he tried to pull it forward and recall what it had been about. Water...people in water...at the beach.
But that wasn't what he had found bizarre about the dream. What WAS it that he found so out of place? He tried to recall the people in the water. Then it hit him! Some of the people were standing on the water.
Standing ON the water? How can they stand ON the water.
He had been sitting on the beach watching them, and suddenly rising out of the water was a red head, and she was standing on the water too, and laughing.
That's it! Janine! I saw Janine, standing..no...SURFING on the water!
Egon quickly dismissed the thought as he turned over. Janine, surfing! How ridiculous! I need to cut down on my sugar intake before bed!
OOOHHH my HEAD!
Peter grabbed his pillow and slammed it over his head to block out the sunlight that was creeping into the room. He felt the bed shift from the weight of someone else moving. He moved the pillow enough to peek out and watched the blond woman that he had picked up at the club last night turn over in her sleep. He lifted the covers and looked underneath.
Both naked...damn! Wish I could remember it! And what the hell was her name...Carrie? Carly?Eh, screw it!
He rolled over and reached for the hotel phone. Picking up the receiver he pushed 0 and waited for the other end of the phone to be picked up.
"Front desk?" A pleasantly perky female voice chimed. It's way too early for her to be this perky thought Peter.
"Yeah, this is Peter Venkman in room...room...well, I don't know where the hell I am actually." He croaked into the phone.
"I'm showing that you're calling from room 235 sir."
"Is that my room?"
"One moment." He heard the faint clicking of the keys of a keyboard. "No, sir. I'm showing that the room you're registered to is room 309."
"Oh, well who is THIS room registered to?" He heard the keys click again.
"Karen Henderson, sir"
"Oh! Right!" He turned to look again at the still sleeping blond. "Well there's one problem sorted out. Could you tell me what time it is?"
"It's 11:22 in the morning, sir."
"Eleven already! Aw SHIT! Hey could ya do me a favor."
"Yes, sir?"
"Send a pot of coffee up to me. Actually make it two. Black!"
"Certainly sir. Is there anything else you need?"
Peter looked around the room before answering the voice. "Yeah, could you tell me where my clothes are?"
"Ok, so wait...he gets and hour with her and all he wants to do with it is SLED?"
"Yup!"
Janine burst into a fit of giggles as she jumped into her rental car and placed the key in the ignition. "That's our Ray..."
"And we wouldn't have him any other way," Winston finished with a laugh.
"So what have YOU been up to in D.C. Mr. Zeddmore?"
"Ohhhhh...nothing much, just sightseeing."
"Bullshit! I know that tone of voice. That's your 'I have a juicy secret' voice. So spill it Mister, what's her name?"
"What makes you think there's someone to name?" He asked turning at the corner to 15th St.
"Winston!"
"Ok, Ok! Her name is Emily."
"Emily huh? She pretty?"
"Beautiful!"
"Ooh la la, you didn't waste much time did ya?" Janine giggled again and checked her mirror before turning onto the highway. "You seeing her again soon?"
"On my way to meet her at a jazz club now."
"Dancing?"
"Hopefully."
"Well dip her a few times. Chicks love to be dipped."
"Dipped in what? Honey should be easy to do, but I don't have a microwave here to melt the chocolate!"
"WINSTON" Janine exclaimed in mock shock. "Naughty, naughty boy!" She chided him as they both laughed.
"And how about you lady? What have you been up to?"
"Welllllll"
"Ok, lay it on me...what happened."
"Well, I already sort of opened my mouth about it so you may as well know."
"Know what?"
"I'm actually not on Oahu right now. I'm over on Big Island."
"Big Island?"
"Yeah I ah...I spent yesterday looking at rental property and today..." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Today I have a job interview" she finished weakly.
"A job...you're LEAVING us?"
"NO! NO! I mean...yeah it's an interview and stuff but..."
Winston sighed as he walked to the nearest bench and sat down. "To be honest Janine, I wouldn't blame you if you DID quit after everything that's happened; Hell I was about to. But...HAWAII?"
"I know...I know! It seems a little drastic doesn't it."
"But Janine all your friends and family are back here in New York. You don't know a soul in Hawaii? Why move so far off?"
"Welllll...I guess that's kind of the point."
"Fresh start?"
"Yeah. You know out with the old, in with the new." She pulled the car over to the side of the road. She had to check her directions but she didn't want to try to drive, talk and read a map at the same time. When Winston still hadn't said anything after a minute she asked "you still there?"
"Yeah Janine, I'm still here."
"Your mad."
"No. I'm not mad Janine, I'm...well I'm not really sure what I am right now, but I'm not mad. I think if I have to put a name to it, it's more...I guess sad."
Janine's eyes started to tear up and she fought to keep her voice steady when she answered. "Nothing is definite yet, It's not like I've made up my mind to quit and haul ass out here it's just that I'm..." She paused searching for the right words.
"You're keeping your options open." Winston finished for her.
"Yeah."
"Who else have you told."
"Egon."
"You called him?"
"No, I told him at the airport, before I left. The only person I've talked to since we all left for vacation is you."
"At the airport? How long have you been planning this?"
"I haven't exactly been PLANNING this. It's just that it's been a thought running through my head." Janine pulled back onto the road and made a left, then a quick right into a parking lot.
"You should call Ray and let him know."
"No way Winston! It's hard enough discussing this with you, I don't think I can handle a conversation about this with Ray."
"You need to tell him sometime girl, and the sooner the better."
"Can't you tell him?"
Winston head the door alarm of Janine's car bong twice before hearing the door slam shut. "Girl, you know even if I did, he'd run right to the phone and call you and call you until you told him yourself."
"I know, I know! But...well...like I said nothing is set in stone, I'm just putting out some feelers. There's no point in making him go into panic mode for what may turn into a big pile of nothing!"
"Janine, you're going to a job interview! You're looking at property! I'd hardly call that a pile of nothing!"
"Feelers, Winston!"
"Ok, Janine, ok, I won't breathe a word to him, but if you DO make the decision to quit, YOU'RE gonna have to tell him. I'm staying out of this one."
"I hate to cut this short Winston hun..."
"But you gotta go."
"Yup."
"As much as I hate to say it girl; good-luck."
"Thanks Winston, and give that Emily of yours a giant, messy, wet kiss goodnight."
He laughed. "Messy and wet huh? Where exactly is it that you want me to kiss her?"
"WINSTON!"
MULATTO BUTTS!
MULATTO BUTTS!
Egon had been flipping through the file he had received from a former colleague he had seen at the University yesterday when his cell phone started screaming that song again. Getting up and crossing over to the bed where he had tossed his phone he thought, I'll kill him! When I get back to New York, the first thing I'm going to do is strangle him!
He checked the caller i.d. and seeing that it WASN'T Peter this time seemed to mollify him a bit. He quickly hit the answer button.
"Hello Winston."
"We have to talk my man."
"Oh?"
"About Janine."
"What about Janine? DId something happen to her?"
"Yeah! Seems like she had an epiphany!"
"Epiphany?"
"She said she told you about moving."
"OH!" He said dismissively. "Well she said it was just a thought."
"Yeah, well that THOUGHT turned into action. When I was talking to her yesterday she was on her way to a job interview."
"AN INTERVIEW!" Egon walked back over to the desk and sat down in the chair with a thud. He leaned forward and placed his forehead in his hand. As he closed his eyes he asked, "Does Ray know?"
"Not yet. Look Egon, you gotta talk her into getting her butt back to New York for good!"
"And how am I supposed to accomplish that?"
"You're SUPPOSED to be smart! Think of something!"
"Winston, if it would make Janine happy to quit and move to Hawaii then we should be happy for her and not stand in her way."
"So you aren't gonna do a damn thing to stop her?"
"I won't stand in the way of what would make her happy, no."
"Well my man, I hope that's a decision you can live with," said Winston as he hung up.
Egon sat back in the chair as he placed his phone down on the desk. He closed the file he had been reading and pushed it to the side. Suddenly he wasn't all that interested in spores anymore.