Authors Note: Thanks for the review and just for you Exley, another chapter! Also I've notice that some stories have Winston in the Army, so I went to the Ghostbusters wiki and it says there that he was actually Air Force. So hold back your wrath people, I just went to the holy grail of Ghostbuster info to confirm the info.

A Brief Interlude

Ray took one last swipe at the fresh plaster he had just coated the wall with. "Does that look even to you?" He turned to the brunette on his right. She was kneeling on the floor trying to pry the top off a can of paint. She looked up and tilted her head.

"Looks fine from here Ray." She noticed that he was frowning at the wall. She knew he liked to get things right, but he had been particularly fussy today. She stood up and walked over to him, tapping him on the shoulder. "Ok Ray, what is it?"

"What's, what?" He turned, still frowning.

"Whatever seems to have you pre-occupied today. You were all smiles yesterday, and now..." she waved her hand in the direction of the wall. "You look like your about to pull a Jackson Brown on that wall."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind," she laughed. She took the plaster float from his hand and dropped in on the floor. "Come on." Grabbing his wrist she lead him into the kitchen where she pushed him into a chair at the table. Neither of them spoke a word until she placed a cup of coffee in front of him and sat down beside him.

"Now spill it; and I don't mean the coffee."

With a sigh Ray told her about the previous evening. He finished by saying "I've always been too soft on him. He can't help himself! I KNOW he'll get into some kind of trouble there again, I just don't have the heart to trap him. I don't know what to do."

Elaine twirled her coffee cup around on the table top for a minute. "Ok, Ray," she said; finally looking up at him. "How about you and Slimer stay here until your vacation is over. I mean, I have plenty of room and since the house is being renovated Slimer can't do that much damage here. But Ray..." at this she pointed her finger at the auburn haired Ghostbuster. "You need to keep him in line. He can have free rein here, but he can't get out of hand!"

Ray jumped up from his chair. "Do you mean it Elaine, I mean are you sure you want both of us here?"

Elaine also stood up and took hold of Ray's hand. "Well I can't let you guys get thrown out of the only bed and breakfast in town with nowhere else to go. Of course you two can stay here."

He grabbed her into a bear hug and lifted her slightly off the floor. "Elaine, you don't know how much this means to me! And don't worry about him getting out of hand. If he misbehaves HERE he will end up in a trap." Ray suddenly became aware he was still hugging Elaine and he released her and stepped back quickly; his face turning crimson. "UH...I better go get him now before something else happens." He headed towards the backdoor.

"Hey Elaine." He turned back to her from the doorway. "I owe you one. A BIG one."

"Oh, I know it, and I DO plan to collect," she replied with a laugh.

With an audible gulp Ray closed the door and headed back to the bed and breakfast in the Ecto 1.

Winston stood in Emily's kitchen chopping tomatoes for the salad as she opened the oven door to check on the fish. "So I know I've seen Dr. Venkman on the t.v., and in magazines, but have you ever done any 'self promoting.'

He laughed "well, there was the time I was going to be on a game show."

"Really?" She closed the oven and walked over to the counter to stand beside him. "A game show?"

"Yeah, but it turned out that it was a plot run by a minor demon of the devil to try to move up the ladder. Ray and I almost sold our souls to him, but we ended up winning a free trip to Tahiti. Then there was the time I was invited to do a soda commercial, but that was a trap set up by the Ghostmaster to imprison the Ghostbusters. Luckily Janine and Louis found us."

Her prolonged silence made him look up. She was staring at him as if he had grown another head and her mouth was hanging open.

"I...you..." she shook her head. "I don't even know what to say to that. Are all your stories that...unusual."

"Actually...yeah." He shrugged and started slicing the cucumbers. "In my line of work it's always something."

"So how was Tahiti?"

"It was great, although we also got a TON of deviled ham out of the deal. Man I NEVER want to see another deviled ham sandwich in my life!"

Emily burst out in laughter. "Ok, I get it now, you're pulling my leg."

"Wish I was," Winston said with a sigh. "The stories only get crazier than that."

"For instance?"

"Well, for instance...apparently I'm the living reincarnation of Shimabuku."

"Shima...?"

"buku. About 6000 years ago he was the leader of the Ibandi tribe of Tangalla." He threw all the chopped vegetables into the bowl with the lettuce and started tossing it together.

"You lead a very...unusual life Winston."

"You're telling me. Who knew when I applied for this job five years ago all the crap I'd have to face."

"Is this why you and the other Ghostbusters are on vacation. To get away from all the 'crap'?"

"Actually I think it's because one of them is cracking up. Maybe two of them. Hard to tell sometimes though." He shot her a look out of the corner of his eyes. "I'm not one of the two though."

Emily laughed. "That's very reassuring from my standpoint, however if need be I'm sure I could take you down."

Winston put down the salad tongs and wiped his hands on the towel that she had placed on the counter. "Really, and how would you do that?" He leaned against the cabinets.

"Ah!" She picked up the bowl with the salad and carried it towards the dining room. "A girl never reveals her trade secrets." She shot him a look out of the corner of her eye and laughed at the expression on his face. "Ok. My trade secrets were learned by my stint in the U.S. Navy."

"HA! U.S. Air Force!" He replied following her into the dining room and pulling out her chair for her.

"Well," she said seating herself and placing her napkin in her lap. "So much for me having a leg up on you."

Winston, who had just seated himself stopped and glanced over at Emily, who was staring at him with her eyebrow cocked and a smirk on her face. Do I dare? He thought to himself. "Emily, you can have a leg up on me anytime."

She threw her head back and laughed. "I'll be sure to remember that," she replied as she passed him a basket of rolls.

It wasn't that she wasn't having a good time she reasoned to herself. She just wasn't having as much fun as she had expected to. She had come to the cultural center to learn about the natives of the Pacific islands, and to a point she had to admit that she HAD learned things, but...But WHAT, Janine! she chided herself. Why the hell are you so friggin MOPEY!

To be fair it was more of a malaise. Here she was, doing things by herself. AGAIN! All day long she had been the odd man out so to speak. Everyone had been able to pair off and do things, but since she was single, the guides or instructors had to pair off with her. She had watched while everyone had snapped photos of their friends and family members in various activities. All the shots she had taken were of her surroundings, but not one with her in it. She didn't want to look at photos of herself alone in paradise.

So she had spent the day with that feeling of dim sadness following her around, and now here she sat at the luau dinner, listening to the other people at her table talk about the things they had done, what they were planning to do and the fun they were going to have. She pushed her plate away from her and focused on her pineapple full of booze instead.

She looked up as a good looking young man plunked down beside her in the only available chair left. "HI!" He thrust his hand out to her. "I'm Mardy."

"Janine," she replied grasping his hand. "Are you here alone?"

"Yup, 'fraid so. How about you?"

"Yeah. All my friends," she paused as she thought of a good explanation. "They decided they'd rather vacation elsewhere."

"They'd rather be somewhere OTHER than Hawaii?"

She laughed, "Yeah, I've got weird friends."

"Where are you from Janine?"

"New York; and you?"

"L.A. I'm an architect. My company has been hired to design a building out here. I decided to come out a week early and sort of soak up the vibe out here. I thought it might help me in the design."

Janine looked her new companion over carefully. With his black hair, brown eyes and tanned skin, she would have sworn he had been born here. "You're from L.A.? I would have thought for sure you were a native!"

He smiled. "My family was originally from the Philippines."

"Ah." Janine replied. "So have you toured the island yet?"

"No. I just got here yesterday. This was my first stop. Tomorrow I'm going on a bus tour around the island."

"NO KIDDING! So am I! What company are you going through?"

"Roberts."

"NO SHIT! So am I!"

He laughed. "Great minds apparently. What time is your pick-up?"

"Ugh! 7:23 am!" Janine said ruefully. "This is supposed to be a vacation, they should schedule pick-ups around 9."

Mardy laughed. "My pick-up is at 7:38. Apparently your hotel must be in the middle of Waikiki. The Sheraton?"

"The Bamboo."

"I'm at the Marriott."

"Right at the very END of the beach!"

"Right!" He said with a smile. "Will you save me a seat next to you, Janine?"

She smiled as she raised her pineapple to take another sip from it. "Sure!"

He listened to the phone ring a fourth time before he started to fume. "I know you took that damn phone with you," he muttered to himself. "Why the hell won't you just pick UP!

I know it's day there, so pick up the fucking phone dammit!" He swore to himself as he heard Janine's voice on her voice mail message.

He had been calling her all damn day and EVERY time it went to her voice mail. He hadn't left a message before and was about to hang up again but decided to leave a message and maybe she'd actually call him back.

"Ok Janine," he said after the beep had let him know he was being recorded. "I know I'm probably the LAST person you want to talk to, which would explain why you didn't pick up the 9 OTHER times I tried calling you today." The irritation was starting to creep into his tone. Cool it Peter! He chided himself as her ran his hand through his hair. Keep it calm or she won't call back!

"And I know the last thing I said to you was pretty mean. In fact a lot of what I've been saying has been pretty mean lately but...I mean...dammit Janine I don't want to do this over a damn voice mail message. I've been wrong lately, ok! And if you call me back I promise you I won't start any crap or annoy you or ruin your vacation...look can you please just call me back I HATE voice mail!"

He was about to press the end button when he decided to add one last thing. "Look, even if you don't call me back, I...well I hope you're having a really great vacation. You deserve it, Janine." He pressed the end button and slammed the phone down on the table.