Chapter 3 "We Aren't Going to Take it Anymore" ( mid-October 1984)
(Song Suggestion: We Aren't Going to Take it Anymore" by Twisted Sister )
Peter Venkman
With the increase in caseloads, everyone was on edge with the stress, with the exception of Winston, who generally seemed easy going. Janine complained daily about needing assistance with her job, and the fact that she did two people's work. Meanwhile, even with four Ghostbusters, we were struggling with our caseload. The media also wanted endless interviews and pictures with our brand booming.
That morning Janine gave me one too many snide comments under her breath about her workload, and I couldn't take another round of her grumbling. Even though I knew I was tempting fate with Egon by increasing my chances of getting a beat down, I chose to provoke our secretary as my temper flared during our meeting. Winston hadn't arrived yet as his shift hadn't begun..
"You answer the phone, Janine," I coldly reminded, my blood pressure rising, "that's your job."
"Oh no! I don't just 'answer the phones', Dr. Venkman. I do the scheduling, filing, accounting, plus your personal errands. Do you want to start doing those things too?," our petite secretary questioned angrily, rising from her seat with her hands on her hips.
"Don't take your poor career choices out on me," I countered, pointing my index finger at her because she hated it, "just complete your job and shut your mouth."
Indignantly, Janine glared at me for a long time before sitting down on her chair. I felt surprised at that reaction because she usually didn't back down so easily. Sensing a fiercer fight brewing, Stantz strolled toward me attempting to diffuse the situation, Ray casually placed his right arm around my shoulder and he good-naturedly urged,
"Come on, Pete, let's go upstairs and have some coffee."
The youngest GB was a couple of inches shorter than me, but he had a more rotund stature. Ray attempted to corral me towards the stairs and away from Janine. However, I shrugged him off after taking a few steps, and hurriedly walked back towards our brooding secretary.
"Say what you wanna say, Peter Venkman. Get it all out," Janine icily demanded, her very noticeable Brooklyn accent evident as her displeasure rose rapidly and she folded her arms across her chest. Our secretary scowled as she swiftly tapped her foot on the floor, awaiting my answer.
"You have somehow single-handedly dismantled the best member of our team this year. Now we're not 100% as a team," I yelled, my face flushing with heat and my palms sweating. I was frightened by my rage, and I didn't look at Spengler because I knew he was already pissed.
"Are you going to beat me up, Iggy?" I wondered inwardly but I kept my eyes steadily on our secretary, whose mouth dropped agape. Her infamous temper flared as evidence of her widened eyes and the transformation of her pale face to a bright red one. Janine automatically jumped up from her seat in front of me, placing her hands on her hips, ready for action. We were almost standing toe to toe now.
When Brooklyn was enraged, I teased her once that she was like a tornado all wound up terrorizing the firehouse with her sharp sarcasm and caustic tongue. Needless to say, she wasn't amused by my analogy.
"This was not the time to mention the tornado comparison," I reminded myself, even though I felt something inside of me, poking at me, saying, "Go ahead, Peter. She's already furious."
"Dr. Venkman, I've been doing my job the best that I can. If you want me to quit, please just say so. I attempted to quit in May, but you begged me to stay, remember," Janine reminded me, slowly, after taking three deep breaths to assuage herself. Her face had turned reddish, and her pretty blue eyes narrowed while she spoke down to me like I was an idiot.
"Oh, Janine knows that I hate that when she does that to me, damn it," I thought inwardly, my face twisting into a grimace as my head rapidly thumped in my chest.
Turning around, I resentfully declared, "not if you are going to demolish our team."
"What does that have to do with me," demanded Janine, vexed.
"You know damn well what it means. Spengler is a disaster," I elucidated, staring down at her, "because of you."
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Egon finally spoke, clutching his fists and fuming with smoke coming out of his ears metaphorically," I hate that."
"That's Dr. Spengler's problem and not mine. He dumped me; it wasn't the other way around. YOU also know that. Why are you blaming this on me? YOU hired me, and YOU did so blame yourself, not me," Janine screamed as her voice became hoarse.
Like a caged animal, I lashed out at her, but I didn't care. I knew I was doing the wrong thing by provoking Janine because she had made some real sacrifices for us. For example, she even agreed to take her last class to complete her degree in the upcoming Spring semester due to our significant workload.
I honestly felt like I had been pushed out to the edge of a cliff, and I was about to jump. The pressure was too powerful, and I decided to leap.
"You are fired, Janine," I calmly instructed.
"What!?" She squeaked in a high-pitched voice then instantaneously started to sob as she sank into her chair. Janine covered her face with her tiny hands, weeping loudly, and fell into her chair.
"Damn," I thought, "just what I needed for her to do. Cry."
"Go home; you are fired," I repeated firmly. I felt absolutely out of control of the situation and my emotions as I felt my whole body shake in both stress and frustration. My outrage was on several items: not helping Janine by hiring another person, Egon's stupidity with her, our client workload, my irritation about not persuading that delightful Dana Barrett on a date yet, the media pressure, and overall fatigue. The shock of my actions mystified my business partners, Egon and Ray.
"Peter, this conversation has to stop; it's not productive," Iggy interjected, still balling up his fists. He appeared to be incandescent but still under control until Janine began crying. That did it- Spengler walked towards me once her floodgates opened, bearing his teeth with his jaw clamped down tightly. I knew he was about to start whaling on me, but Ray swiftly moved in between us. Honestly, I almost wished Iggy would get out of the way and let it happen.
"Pete, you are jumping the gun here," Ray replied anxiously, "you are exhausted. We all are."
"Go ahead, slam me against the wall, Egon, just like last year. If I could, I'd fire you, too," I admitted , meeting his eyes.
"D-Damn, take it back, Peter," Spengs stammered while he strode towards me. His face was turning red, and I saw that he was balling up his fists.
Egon's voice grew stronger and more solemn as he stated, " I don't care what you say about me, but I won't let you speak negatively about Janine. EVER!"
Suddenly, Egon put his hands on my collarbone ready to engage in a physical act. I turned away in retreat like a coward and headed toward the front door, scared.
"Fuck you, every one of you. I have had it, do whatever," I ferociously yelled.
Next, I stormed out of the firehouse and slammed the door with as much force I could muster.
Egon Spengler
"Janine, please don't quit. Normally, we have to decide as a group," Ray begged, perplexed as I was at Venkman walking out on us.
Unable to move at first, my heartbeat raced, and my hands were shaking. I finally turned to face Janine, who shielded her face by putting her hands over it. The sounds of her weeping made me feel powerless. Her words about me ending it with her reminded me of my most unfortunate and idiotic decision, and I felt morose.
"Please, Janine, don't listen to Peter. He's mad at me and just took it out on you because he knew it would hurt me," I explained, stepping towards her gingerly.
The beautiful red head did not respond or did she move to indicate that she heard me. My heart ached at seeing Janine disconsolate, and I was irate at Peter for causing her such distress. Therefore, I returned to my office to calm down and ponder my decision to split with her anyway when we were so in love.
"I have to win her back," I muttered as I opened the door to my office.
Ray Stantz
Peter exaggerated his claims about Egon's lack of concentration and the number of mistakes. In fact, it was so much more prevalent when he was indecisive about his own feelings about Janine last year.
The big difference was that Egon had grown as a person during his courtship with Janine. It was all for the positive except that Iggy didn't know how to deal with his emotions for Janine and his work. He never had to divide his focus on more than one thing. While the two were together earlier this year, Iggy learned how to do both, not entirely but with much improvement. I think Spengler realized that he needed and wanted Janine in his life after this summer without any doubt that she was actively dating others. I know it injured him deeply when she went on dates.
"Of course, this is all speculation," I pondered until our sorrowful secretary turned her chair around to face me. I noticed that the skin around Janine's eyes was a bit swollen. She used a white Kleenex to dry her eyes and wipe her nose a little. I put my hand gently on her shoulder and gave her an empathetic grin.
"So I am ruining Egon's life and the Ghostbusters business," Janine inquired. Her sad blue eyes opened as they could be after giving me a slight grin at my attempts to console her.
"No, Peter is exaggerating," I responded with a small smile.
"This hasn't been easy for me either, Ray," J confessed, her blue eyes filling with tears, "Being in love with someone who can't make up his mind about you, and he is my boss! Peter acted like I single-handedly destroyed Egon. Well, in some ways, he did the same to me. Despite my attempts to get over him and date others, it hasn't worked, and I still love him tremendously."
"I know, J. I don't know what to say," I gradually answered, nodding my head at her remark and scratching my head with my right hand. At the same time, Janine threw her Kleenex away after blowing her nose again.
"Peter really hit below the belt," she admitted, removing her purse from a drawer and removing a compact, "and I am incensed with him."
Janine began to powder her face and especially the area underneath her eyes to disguise the fact she had been weeping. Then she admitted,
"My life won't go back to normal until I leave here, and my heart won't be able to recover from Egon until I do. He won't go back to his usual either until I am gone from here."
"Iggy can't go back to 'normal' as you say- he's changed for the better because of you," I informed her, patting her back lightly.
Shrugging, Janine reapplied her lipstick and then put her cosmetics back up without responding verbally.
Thirty seconds later, Janine abruptly informed me, " I need to take a walk."
"Ok," I absentmindedly agreed as she rose from her chair and walked out of the firehouse.
"Keeping Janine here when she was so anguished was wrong," I thought as I sat in her chair and awaited the phone to ring.
Winston Zeddemore
When I arrived at HQ, I overheard some of the argument but the others didn't notice because they were engrossed in the situation. Janine gave me a small thinned lipped smile as she strolled out of the firehouse because I stopped walking when I initially realized that they were fighting. It wasn't my place to be in the argument, but I felt sympathetic to her.
Before I met Maura when I had completed my first tour in the army, I had fallen in love with a beautiful lady who couldn't make up her mind about me. It drove me insane for months.
It seemed odd that Egon wasn't resolute in his decision-making as he always was for the business. I guess that didn't include his personal life. Shocked, I couldn't believe that this work-obsessed genius had a secret life at one time.
After hearing Ray and Egon go into the latter's office, I descended the stairs to operate the phone at Janine's desk. Luckily, there weren't any calls at the time. All three of them, Janine, Ray, and Egon returned to her desk simultaneously about twenty minutes later, all calm like nothing had happened. I stood up to give our secretary her chair back with a smile. Returning my grin, she lowered herself down in it and questioned us, attempting to maintain professionalism although her expression remained unsettled,
"What about Peter? You have a busy afternoon."
"We'll go on the busts without him as we still have three of us, and we don't have any evening clients, so that we will be ok. What do you think, Spengler," Ray questioned the brainiest Ghostbuster.
Egon curtly nodded, watching Janine instead of paying attention to him. She didn't make eye contact with him and had gone back to disregarding him. We had fifteen minutes until it was time to leave for the busts, so we prepared as if nothing had happened and as if Venkman was with us.
Needless to say, the busts were successful, albeit tricky, because the two experienced members of the team were still frazzled from the fight earlier. Plus, I noticed that Venkman really did add to the group by taking the leader's role during a bust and directing the other's attention. The fact that Peter wasn't there either made the busts last longer than usual too. We arrived at the firehouse at seven oh seven.
Surprisingly, we discovered Peter sitting at Janine's desk, swiveling in her chair and flipping through a psychology magazine.
"Where's Janine," Spengler inquired, looking mystified as to why she wasn't there.
"Relax, Tex, Your beloved is ok," Peter declared, with a grin.
"A few hours ago, I came back to apologize to Janine and offered her some free therapy. I also gave Brooklyn the rest of the evening off," my boss happily responded, pleased with himself, " I hope that I made it up to her some."
"Way to go, man," I complimented, giving him a high five and a smile, both of which he returned, "Now that's class."
"Janine deserves it after you went off on her earlier," Egon quipped sharply as his brown eyes flashed anger at Peter.
"Yes, you are right, Iggy. I have been resentful with you for fucking up with her so badly that you are both completely out of sorts," Peter agreed, and he rose from the chair.
Dr. Venkman strode over to Spengler out of the blue and then apologized for his comments earlier, offering his hand out for the tallest GB to shake as a peace offering. Egon glared at Pete for a second but shook his hand emphatically with a small smile. Then he mumbled something quietly to Venkman about talking to him later privately about Janine.
" I'm sorry, Spengs. I had just lost it," " he apologized to Egon. then Ray and then to me. I didn't feel like I deserved one and told him so.
"Maybe, but we are all close like family here. Usually, we don't have blowouts like that one."
"Ok, then I accept," I answered, shaking his hand. Peter inquired about the busts, and I informed him.
Egon Spengler
After checking on my spores, mold and fungus collectionlater on that evening, I discovered Ray sorting a massive amount of photos he took earlier this year at the kitchen table. The Yankees were on TV, and once again, losing to the Red Sox at home for the second day in a row. Quietly, I sat down with a notepad and pencil to write down some new ideas for ghostbusting equipment. Peter was on a date, and Winston had left for the day, so it was just the two of us.
"Stupid Yanks, why do I even watch them," the youngest GB whined rhetorically as I stood up to heat up some Chinese leftovers from earlier.
"How are the Indians doing," he inquired of me when I lowered myself into the chair with my heated food later.
Ray pushed a big stack of photos towards me to scour through. Sighing heavily, I felt weary about looking through them.
"I am not sure," I answered, studying the first picture. Ray referred to the Cleveland Indians and knew that my Dad, brother, and I occasionally went to the games as I grew up. Watching baseball with them was OK, and I didn't mind the statistics of the sport. Truthfully, I preferred keeping track of them.
"These are from the end of last year, so you may not have seen them," Ray casually explained, lighting up a cigarette, " I was going to give them to you earlier this year, but..."
Stantz's voice trailed off, indicating that Janine and I had broken up. The first few photos were of Janine and me after I confessed that I was in love with her for the first time on a snowy day in December. Little did we know we had an audience who witnessed the whole scene as we passionately kissed after I begged her not to go. Peter and Ray hollered encouragement and clapped loudly like they watched a baseball player hit a home run to win a game. However, I didn't hear anything because we were too busy engaged in a series of kisses, each more zealous than the last one.
The deep-rooted love that I felt for Janine in my heart produced tears in my eyes that I attempted to conceal from Ray, and my heart tinged vigorously in pain. I took my dark circular frames off my face to wipe my tears away with my hand and quickly put them back.
The next picture occurred after she forgave me with us holding hands, going back to my office with broad smiles on our faces like we had won the lottery. In a way, we had- with the prize our love for each other. Subsequently, I recalled what happened afterward when we made it to my office.
Janine shut the door closed tightly, closed the blinds, and turned the door's lock with a seductive smile on her face as I went to the sofa shivering from the cold. She meandered to where I sat, removing her jacket and her snow boots, then sat on my lap, and I pulled her close to me. Next, I planted a very sensual kiss on her lips as she felt my chest through my shirt then wrapped her arms around my neck. I shivered afterward.
"I will warm you up, Dr. Spengler, " Janine whispered up to me afterward. Her blue eyes twinkled like stars in the night sky, and I grinned mischievously at her before crushing her lips with my own for another impassioned kiss. We kissed and fondled each other through the clothing as foreplay, thoroughly enjoying our time together as it had been a couple of months. Next, we began to remove each other's shirts. Janine's groaning and moaning only intensified as I reached down her leggings and to the area between her legs, desiring to give her pleasure.
" I want you so badly," I admitted, revealing my vulnerability in her ear first. I nibbled her earlobe as I rubbed her genitals through her clothing.
My fingers began pulling at the top of her leggings, removing them gradually, revealing her creamy skin as she kissed me deeply with her tongue. Afterward, my Angel moaned delightfully agonized,
"Ohhh, Egon. I want you too, but our first time together isn't going to be in your office, darling."
"Iggy, did you hear me?" Ray's voice interrupted.
"Huh," I questioned him, lost in my daydream. I suddenly sat up and found myself at the kitchen table with Ray, not with Janine clad, only in a bra and matching panties on my sofa. My business partner studied my blank expression curiously.
"Shit!" I thought to myself, noting my aroused manhood.
"Don't worry; you two are meant to be together. It will all work out," he said, picking up a stack of photos and shuffling them like cards.
Nodding, I let myself wander back into the dream.
"No, I don't want it to be here either, my Angel, but there are other things we can do," I suggested, raising my eyebrow.
" I like the way you think."
Before I could speak, she squeezed my erect penis with her right hand and then used both hands to unbutton my pants. Janine's eyes met mine as she pulled them down and used both to fondle my aroused sex carefully.
"Ohh, mmmm," she said, seductively licking her lips, " you are enormous, Egon!"
"Ahhh," I sighed as she began to stroke my thick shaft slowly at first, then more speedily, causing my breath to increase. Janine watched my face as I became more aroused and then she sweetly kissed my lips. I returned it using my tongue to stimulate her, and then she used her fingertips to tease my head by lightly touching it. A bit of cum erupted from my opening, and my Angel used that to stroke me harder and faster again.
"Wait," I grunted while panting, "I have an idea."
Ray kept requiring my attention so that I couldn't finish the memory, but it was probably for the best as it was about to be X-rated. I vowed to bring that memory back when I was alone.
Instead, I exhaled deeply and focused on the following picture: eating lunch with Janine, sitting side by side and leaning down to kiss her cheek. Janine exuberantly grinned her million-watt bright smile at me. Fondly, I caressed her cheek in the photo remembering her skin's softness and how that smile always brightened the room. Another sharp pain stabbed at my heart, and I wondered if it was a good idea to continue to view the photos.
"Too late for that, Spengler," I said, flipping to the next one.
In the next photo, we were dressed in formal wear, Janine in a sparkly off-the-shoulder sequined gold floor-length dress and me in a tux. We went to a classical music concert after eating dinner at the hotel overnight. After the show, we spent the night together for the first time and made love. New, fresh tears filled my eyes, and once again, I took off my glasses to wipe them quickly as I didn't want to think about how magical that night was with her.
Flipping the picture, I saw us plus Ray's date and one of Peter's girlfriends at our Pre New Year Eves party. Janine looked absolutely fabulous, of course. We were sublimely happy, and I remember her persuading me to stand in Times Square with everyone else in New York at midnight. She insisted that I had to do this since I was from Cleveland, mainly since I lived here for ten years without going. Personally, I didn't give a damn about seeing the ball drop, but I loved being with Janine, so I did it. The best moment of the evening was counting down with the infectiously energetic crowd and watching my Angel's face light up excitedly.
After we got to zero, I grabbed her tightly and kissed her like there wasn't any tomorrow.
"Happy new year; I love you to the moon and back, Egon Spenglee," she whispered to me.
"Happy new year, Janine Melnitz; I love you. I'm so ecstatic I get to be here with you," I confessed, honestly. Janine kissed me again, pressing her heavily jacketed body against mine, then shivering from the cold.
" I told you that you would enjoy coming here," Janine teased me, her breath visible from the cold as she jumped up and down to keep herself warm. I chuckled at her.
"You were right," I agreed, grabbing her arms to stop her movement. My angel kissed me quickly, and I advised, "let's go home and warm up."
Back in reality, I shiveredfrom the magic of our kiss travel down my spine and sighed heavily. Finally, in January, the last picture was one of us when we were at a science lecture at the American Museum of Natural History with Ray. He took a picture of us examining an engineering challenge, where I explained to her how to work. I asked Stantz if I could keep the images, and he agreed. Then I put them into my room in a drawer where I had other pictures, except for the picture of us in our formal wear, and kept that picture to where I could see it from my bed.
In the lab alone sometime after midnight, I recalled the memory of Janine and me alone in my office in December. Ray was asleep, and Peter wasn't back from his date yet. As I lay down on the sofa, I unzipped my pants and pulled my penis out of my underwear. Shutting my eyes, I imagined us back on the couch in the nude. We were fondling the other's body in a teasing manner while fervently kissing. I recalled every curve of her voluptuous body from the top of Janine's body down to her feet. I soon stroked my penis from the shaft to the head and thought about the rest of the afternoon.
"You are so naughty, Dr. Spengler," Janine replied with a sultry smile. I had just suggested we do a variation of the sixty-nine position, so we received and gave sexual pleasure simultaneously. I raised my left eyebrow as a result, and she kissed me as an affirmative response then laid on her side with a dazzling smile on her face. As I positioned myself over her womanly parts, Janine gently kissed my inner thighs up to my ball sack and cock.
"Ohh, baby, that feels so... unbelievable," I groaned.
Janine clasped my erection firmly and brought it down to her sensual mouth. She gradually licked it from the bottom to the top and down the other side.
With sinful pleasure, I moaned gutturally and began to alternate nibbling and kissing her inner thighs until my mouth was in between her legs. There, I eagerly licked her labia slowly like an ice cream teasing her with my tongue. Janine arched her back into the sofa, throwing her head back and groaning hedonistically. Finally, she used the tip of her tongue to trace circles on my penis, causing me to huskily moan her beautiful name again and again.
As I bit down gently on her clit, Janine called my name out breathlessly, "E-E-Egon," and writhed on the sofa, happily. She placed her lips on the tip of my head and sucked it noisily.
"Ohhh," I moaned, biting my bottom lip, imagining that she was next to me, sucking my penis as I was about ready to erupt.
" Ohh, baby, yes! I need you, Janine."
Meanwhile, Janine shook slightly with her upcoming orgasm in my memory as I put two fingers inside her.
"You are so wet, Janine, mmm. I love that you are ready for me, baby," I mentioned excitedly, prepared to tease her with some more licking. Instead, I moved my index and middle fingers in and out as she swallowed more of my cock in her throat, deeply.
"Ohhhh, God!" Janine shouted, releasing my penis from her lush mouth for a second as I quickly moved my fingers to please her further.
Remembering how much I loved the feel of her trembling under my touch, I started to shudder as I closed my eyes, enjoying the glorious feeling. Janine persisted in moaning in her soft voice, which became louder as she came closer to her orgasm and began to use her nimble hands to pleasure me.
"OHH!! YES!!!!! I can't hold...on...much...longer.."
"I want you to come for me, Janine, baby," I growled, feeling empowered by knowing she was about to cum by my actions.
Again, my angel screamed in pleasure as I finger fucked her more rapidly. Janine came first, and I did shortly after her.
After succumbing to my orgasm back in reality, I opened my eyes to see that I was in the lab. I was not in my office with a warm and glowing post-orgasm bliss Janine, naked in my arms and snoozing with a beaming grin on her lips, but all alone.
Although the sex was off the charts fabulous, I missed the intimacy with Janine the most. I longed to feel her tender touch on my skin, to hear her laughter, charm, and sassiness. When I embraced Janine, it felt like a perfect fit, and I adored it. I also loved to view the way she looked in the morning when she woke up. Moreover, the way Janine said my name or how her voice sounded when she stated she loved me, the way she would run her fingers through my hair, the twinkle in her eye, and the whole package that was Janine Melnitz.
" I will win her back," I determinedly stated.
Janine Melnitz
Dr. Peter Venkman could be a real class act when he chose to exhibit it. He could show great maturity, too. Although these were not characteristics that I wouldn't always attribute to him, he displayed them today. Peter shocked me by apologizing for his outburst by handing me a bouquet of gorgeous yellow roses while I was in the middle of doing some accounting work.
"Janine, I am extremely sorry for the way I behaved very poorly earlier and would like to ask for your forgiveness. I consider you like a sister and value your contributions to the company and you as a person. I am very sorry for causing you so much extra stress," Peter confided earnestly, handing me the flowers, much to my surprise.
I felt tears fill my eyes as I attempted to find words to respond to this unexpected kind gesture from him.
"Speechless? Must be one of the first times ever," my partially bald headed boss remarked anxiously as I took the flowers. Rapidly, I brought them to my nose to inhale their lovely aroma and grinned. I rose from my chair with my flowers indicating friendship by their color to thank him with a hug. As I came around my desk, a tear or two came across my cheeks, and then I gave him a quick sisterly embrace.
"Thank you," I whispered to him afterward, sniffing my flowers again with their scent as a wide grin spread on my lips.
"You are welcome, Janine. Would you please put the answering machine on and save the work you are completing on the computer so we could speak privately in my office," Peter questioned sincerely.
"OK," I replied, bringing the flowers with me.
We spoke about numerous topics, including his poor professional behavior from earlier, but also about Egon. Peter divulged that he had continuously been anguished with his friend's choice to throw, in his words, "the best thing that has happened to him," away.
Dr. V conceded that it must have been exceedingly a challenge for me to work with Egon. I revealed that my feelings hadn't changed for him despite my attempts to move on, and I doubt they would. Then we spoke about what happened between us a month earlier. Our interactions had grown more flirtatious for a short while but then seemed to cool off again.
" Even after everything this summer, Egon can't make up his mind about me, Peter," I tearfully replied.
Consequently, the balding Ghostbuater spent a great while attempting to dissuade me of my thoughts but to no avail. Once again, I thanked him for the heart-to-heart talk, the flowers and the evening off. I told him that I felt very appreciated, and Dr. V. acknowledged it with a slight nod and his trademark smirk.