Chapter 7 "With A Little Help From My Friends" ( August 14, 1985)
(Song suggestion- "With A Little Help From My Friends" by the Beatles)
Winston Zeddemore
As the newest Ghostbuster, there were things that I had to learn such as how to clean the traps, use a proton pack, employ a particle thrower to capture a spirit or specter and my role in capturing a ghost on a bust. I also had to know when to overlook Dr. Venkman's biting comments and to evade asking the genius Dr. Spengler technical questions. Distressingly, those were only a few things I needed to learn because additional knowledge and essential skills were required. Ray and Egon lent me some books to gain additional insight into the profession in my spare time when Maura and I weren't busy. In my one-month employment, I had done more research than I had ever done in high school or junior college combined.
On a gray morning with high humidity, Ray, Egon, and I concluded two busts- one in Queens and one in Harlem. The first was a haunted laundromat in the older part of the borough where clothes were floating away from customers as they did their washes. It was a reasonably easy capture and entrapment. Regrettably, the latter took longer as it was a class three jogger ghost in a pair of black runner shorts and a white Nike shirt in Marcus Garvey Park. It was a twenty-acre park in East Harlem. Since the park was so spacious, we swiftly acknowledged that we could not just get away with tailing the ghost to discover its chosen route in Ecto One and that we had to capture it on foot.
"Suggestions or plans," Ray questioned Egon or me before we exited the car. I was a little hesitant to make recommendations because they had so much more experience with apprehending ghosts than I did, but I still found myself speaking up for the first time,
" Why don't we split up? I'll go by the arena to the right, and Dr. Spengler, would you mind going by the large cedar tree by that building on the northeast side? Dr. Stantz, go by the entrance with the trap."
"Sounds like the rookie came up with his first plan," Ray commented after scrutinizing it for a while, then gave me a high five by spinning around from the driver's seat to grin at me.
"Indeed," Egon affirmed with an arched eyebrow. That was enough consent for me, and I exclaimed with a liveliness that made even the solemn Dr. Spengler grin a little,
"Let's do this!"
My employers joined me at the back of Ecto One as Ray opened the trunk to retrieve our heavy proton packs. I worked out and kept in great shape because I was in the Marines for so long, but that equipment greatly outweighed anything I carried in my service time.
The plan worked out indubitably until the ghost realized it and went off route. Since I was in the best physical shape, I managed to run it back on track to the park's entrance, where Ray opened the trap just at the right time. However, I had to run for almost a mile, though, unexpectedly in our uniform and steel toe boots with a heavy proton pack on my back. We discussed the bust afterward as Stantz drove us back to the HQ.
"You are lucky that I didn't do my work out this morning, or I wouldn't have been able to run after him," I remarked, acerbically, sitting in the front seat of Ecto One. Meanwhile, Dr. Spengler wrote notes on his yellow legal pad in the backseat as he always did without commenting..
"Thank God, you are in shape, Z," Ray remarked, lighting a cigarette and patting his belly when we returned to HQ around eleven in the morning. We took our time exiting the vehicle as we knew we had a busy afternoon ahead of us, and we didn't want to tire ourselves out. My stomach began rumbling, reminding me that I skipped breakfast because Maura and I had a quickie before leaving for work this morning.
"It was worth it, though, to be with my baby," I thought, smiling as Ray babbled on as both Egon and I were distracted with other things. I opened the door, climbed out of the vehicle, and felt another growl coming from my stomach area.
"Even I heard that one, Z," Dr. Stantz joked, coming next to me as I began to unload the ghost traps from the back of Ecto One. He took the traps from me and winked at me indicating he would clean the traps.
"Yes, I am famished," I answered, then adding while shaking my head in disbelief, "Nothing like pursuing an overweight ghost running like the wind. There is no way that man was so fast when he was alive.
"Should have made Venkman come out this morning and chase him," Ray joked, chuckling.
"No, then we would still be running after him," Egon refuted roguishly," Peter is not off the hook for the rest of the busts this afternoon, though."
"Yeah, chick or not," Stantz agreed as he made his way past Janine's desk.
"Mmm," I muttered, gratefully, smelling the bacon, eggs, and other food, "Who made breakfast?"
"J," Ray suggested, glancing at Egon, who was preoccupied with his PKE meter and didn't notice his gentle teasing.
The redhead secretary was not at her desk when we arrived, and we all realized at the same time that it was Dr. Venkman.
"Peter," we said, simultaneously, eyeing each other.
"Did he use a woman as an excuse to get out of work," I inquired, baffled.
"Yeah, that's a new one," Ray mentioned, bitingly as he carried the traps downstairs.
"No, Raymond, it isn't," Egon contradicted, then wrinkled his nose in disdain as he strolled into his office.
I went upstairs to see the eats. Instead, I saw a young woman with long dirty blonde wet hair dressed only in a white bathrobe sitting on Pete's lap and kissing him. At the time, he was slipping his hands inside it and began feeling around her body.
"Ohhh, Pete," the woman cried softly.
"Oh shit!" I exclaimed when I realized what I had stumbled upon, but the two didn't budge. As a result, I crept down the stairs and sat at Janine's desk.
"What are you doing down here," Ray inquired after he cleaned the traps as I lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it.
I motioned upwards with my eyebrows, but he still seemed perplexed.
"He's got a woman up there," I whispered like we were in the army and I didn't want to disturb a friend getting lucky.
"Still?" My partner in crime asked,gobsmacked.
"I guess Peter Venkman is a ladies' man after all," I mentioned. Shocked, I didn't know he had a lady up there when I came to work because the subject never presented itself.
"Yep. A woman hurt him about a month and a half ago, but he was very secretive about it. We never found out who it was or what happened. Still, he has been sleeping with women with a vengeance after," Ray informed me, puffing on his cigarette.
Egon suppressed a laugh and cleared his throat as he came out of his office. That itself was an anomaly because he rarely did so. Therefore, Dr. Stantz gave him a peculiar glare as we heard the blonde lady squeal and run loudly around the landing. Next, we listened to the pounding of Dr. Venkman's footsteps, and a door slammed then locked. Silence.
"Ok, it's safe to go upstairs. Let's go," Stantz informed casually like this happened all of the time.
I reluctantly ascended with my bosses upstairs. We were all disappointed to find that there wasn't any breakfast for us. There were dirty dishes, however.
"I'll start the dishes, and we can cook our own, I guess," Ray pouted, down in the dumps when he spotted the dirty dishes.
Slapping the back of his shoulders, I agreed and asked, "Spengler, do you want some breakfast?"
The bespectacled physicist gazed up from the PKE meter, lost in thought, and I replicated my request. Egon nodded and strode to put his toy away in the lab. With teamwork, the three of us scrubbed and dried the dirty dishes. Since Ray made pancakes, I turned on the TV to watch the news. Dr. Spengler sat down on the sofa next to me with his yellow legal pad making calculations dutifully.
Before we ate at the kitchen table, Dr. Stantz made a toast with his coffee, "To the rookie and his excellent plan today!"
Next, both seasoned Ghostbusters chimed in unison, "To the rookie!"
I felt appreciated and told them so while blushing.
"Great job, Z," Ray repeated, grinning, "Will you turn the volume up, so we don't have to hear that?"
He pointed to the loud noise from Peter's room, and I rose from the sofa and turned the volume knob upwards to drown out the sex sounds.
"Hey, Iggy, we have to convince Venkman to get a dishwasher," the heavyset and youngest Ghostbuster mentioned after chewing his first forkful of food.
"Indeed," Dr. Spengler replied, without lifting his head from the notepad.
After eating, Peter and the unknown lady emerged from his room, fully clothed and holding hands as Dr. Spengler and I cleaned the dishes. Next, they sat down at the table, involved with each other and oblivious to everything else. The lovely blonde wore a button-down blue knee-length dress with uneven shoulder pads and an air of merriment as she spoke to our leader, who flirted shamelessly. At the same time, his hand rested on her upper thigh. The smell of sex was in the air.
"Thanks for making us breakfast, Venkie," Ray remarked acrimoniously, but Peter chose to ignore him. A little later, he rose from the table with his girl's hand in his, and they walked down the stairs. I guess she was leaving.
"Who was that," I inquired of Peter when he rebounded upstairs, looking as happy as a lark.
"That was one of the editors of the CUNY school paper, Sheila Connor. She interviewed me last night about the Ghostbusters; we went to one of the hot new clubs before we became romantically involved," he retorted, winking at me.
" Damn, she was wild. What a night! And morning!"
Ray raised his eyebrows, and Egon excused himself to his lab with his notepad in tow.
Janine Melnitz
As I approached HQ from the subway station, I witnessed Peter kissing a college girl in front of our business's door. Rapidly, I averted my eyes from this scene to the sidewalk and felt myself sighing heavily. It was the CUNY editor, Sheila, who had examined Peter about the Ghostbusters' last night. As I expected, he probably took her out to a bar, or a club then slept with her. I knew that the guys had some early morning busts. That meant Ray, Winston, and Egon had to complete them themselves, and they were pissed about Venkman using a woman as an excuse not to work.
"It's Peter Venkman, NYC's ladies' man. What did they expect," I mumbled to myself ruefully.
When Sheila passed me as I strolled on the sidewalk to the firehouse's door, I greeted her with a smile. Then she gave me a small wave, and on her face, there was a love-struck dreamy look that many of Peter's conquests displayed.
"Maybe Venkman was as good as he said he was in bed," I thought, then rolled my eyes upward as I opened the door to the building. The last thing I wanted to consider was his performance as a lover.
"Yuck," I muttered.
"Coming back for more, baby, already," Peter murmured huskily as I walked right into him and his arms enclosed around my waist quickly.
"Never!" I exclaimed, stepping back from him when I realized what had happened. Venkman jumped back when he noticed it was me. We both felt like brother and sister to each other, and the connotations that we would sleep together grossed us both out equally.
"What happened to you," he inquired, his pupils dilating in revelation. Peter had regained his composure already.
"What do you mean?"
"You look drained," Dr. Venkman discerned,looking closely at me.
"I babysat and spent most of the early morning writing and typing my paper," I admitted, sighing. I didn't spend much time getting ready, so I asked, "do I look that bad?"
Venkman tilted his head a little and offered, "Maybe a little make-up will help."
"I already have it on, Venkman," I exclaimed, annoyed.
"Nah, you look fine, Brooklyn. Don't forget once you go, Peter, you don't go back," he suggested airly, following me to my desk.
"No, thank you," I stated firmly, taking my book bag off of my shoulder and putting it in my desk drawer, "Don't make me ill, Pete. Don't you have any work to do?"
"I couldn't do that to Iggy anyway; he would kill me if I pulled you," Peter confessed, winking at me, and I rolled my eyes at him.
"Gross," I muttered, then I innocently questioned him with, "When are we going to find out who hurt you in June?"
I knew he brought up Egon to irritate me. Peter poked you until you lost all of your serenity to agonized aggravation. I opened my book bag and dug around for my purse.
"Maybe I will check my make-up," I thought as I provoked Peter.
"Who?"
"You know, Dr. Venkman, the chick who broke it off with you, and you sulked for two weeks," I persisted, needling him with a big grin on my lips. Since I was sleepy, my patience was thin today, and with Peter, that meant it would be even more so. However, I could tease and annoy him.
That did it- Peter left my desk area to search for someone else to bother, grumbling to himself.
"Yes, success," I exclaimed to myself enthusiastically and pumped my fist on my right hand in the air.
Before I did anything else, I dashed into the bathroom downstairs and checked out my appearance. There were dark circles underneath my eyes because I didn't sleep much, but my black skirt and sea green top were not wrinkled or disheveled.
"Stupid, Peter," I muttered, using the opportunity to use the restroom quickly then wash and dry my hands. I applied a little concealer underneath my eyes and the corners of them cautiously, then reapplied my lipstick. Usually, I wore eyeliner, but it would just cause me to appear wearier, so I didn't do that today.
As I strolled to my desk, I recalled writing and typing my rough draft after my nieces and nephew went to bed last night because it was due on Monday. Even though I was missing research, I needed to turn in something to this demanding professor, Dr. Smith. Ray graciously said he would edit it for me today between busts, so I had to remember to give it to him before other parts of my job made me too busy to do so. Bending from my chair, I reached down to turn on the computer. I worked on this paper all summer, but it still lacked a critical piece of research. Unfortunately, the report was due in a couple of weeks.
At that time, a brown envelope addressed to me sitting in the middle of my desk beckoned me to open it. Next, I took my paper out of my bookbag and read the letter's address without picking it up yet.
" Dr. James Richardson," I questioned in amazement as I heard the familiar sounds of my computer starting up. Sitting up in my desk chair, I frowned at the letter before I opened and picked it up to analyze the handwriting.
"Nope, don't recognize it," I muttered, mystified.
"Columbia," I read the address and unsealed the envelope gradually. Inside, a yellow sticky note on a rectangular light blue ticket with the university's seal on it said, "Compliments of Dr. Richardson."
"What is this?" I thought inquisitively. Like I was unwrapping a present at Christmas, I emptied the rest of the envelope's contents excitedly. There was a white piece of paper with a handwritten note that said,
"Ms. Melnitz, I would like to extend this invitation to you to Steve Job's exclusive lecture for my class at the - Hall at Columbia University on August 15, 1984, at 1 p.m. Cordially, Dr. Richardson."
I let out an electrified shriek despite my extreme fatigue. This was today!
"This could be the break that I need to complete my research for my senior paper," I thought energetically.
"Brooklyn, are you ok down there," Peter questioned innocently.
With my ticket in my hand, their schedule, and my rough draft, I ran upstairs breathlessly.
"Guess what," I yelled when I reached the landing, then walked up to the kitchen table and showed them the invitation while catching my breath for a moment. Consequently, Peter, Ray, and Winston gaped in surprise and appeared to think that I had finally gone insane.
"I got an invitation to attend an exclusive Steve Jobs lecture at Columbia today,'' I eagerly declared, not waiting for an answer. Next, I skipped around the landing and elucidated further," this is going to help me write my research paper on the Macintosh."
"Oh," Peter replied, looking unimpressed. Previously, they had been discussing his night with Sheila.
"Great," Winston responded, pleased, after sipping a cup of coffee.
I stopped skipping when I reached the kitchen table to drop off their schedule and my ticket.
"See?"
I handed Ray my ticket to view and then their schedule to Winston. My big brother scrutinized it in a bemused manner and then gave me a grin, questioning, "How did you manage that?"
" I don't know. Which one of you knows, Dr. James Richardson," I inquired, shrugging, carefree and full of joy.
"I am forever in someone's debt for this favor," I thought elatedly, "but I don't care!"
"Richardson?" Peter echoed, and I nodded.
"I don't know who that is, do you, Raymond," He inquired, helping me solve the question of who did me a big favor.
Shaking his head, Stantz indicated that he didn't, and Winston added, "don't look at me."
"You are telling me that not one of you did this for me? Knowing that I am writing my research paper on Apple's Macintosh series?"
"What's the MacIntosh," Peter questioned, and he seriously didn't know by his blank facial expression.
"It's a new personal computer that Apple released in January," Ray described slowly, "but I don't know that professor."
I looked at each Ghostbuster, waiting for them to admit it was them, but no one did.
"Come on; I just want to thank whoever did this for me. Peter, I need this afternoon off for a few hours, is that ok," I requested, really wanting to thank my benefactor.
"Of course, I will get a former student to cover the phones for the afternoon," he stated, a gleam in his eyes, " I know which one too, Cindy, then I can take her out..."
Deliberately, I handed my rough draft off to Ray and expeditiously made my exit.
Happily, I evaded the rest of my over-sexed boss's rant about the next woman he would screw by descending the stairs.
Egon Spengler
When I heard Janine bellow felicitously from downstairs, I knew she had seen the ticket to Steve Jobs' lecture. I automatically beamed ear to ear as I heard it because Ms. Melnitz's happiness produced joy for me, too. With my imagination, I envisioned her pretty face glowing with exhilaration, and I felt my heart skip a beat. Janine didn't know that I was her surprise sponsor, and that was a fact that I wanted to keep a secret for a bit longer.
For the past month, I had overheard Angel Janine complain about missing vital parts to the research that wouldn't allow her to finish her paper. I called in a favor from Dr. James Richardson, one of the few professors I stayed in contact with at Columbia after the board of trustees removed our grant two years ago. He was willing to help me when I told him this was for the woman I loved during lunch last week. When his eldest daughter had trouble in high school physics, I tutored her regularly in the late seventies.
"I know what you did now, Spengler," Venkman mentioned, slyly, to me after he found me in the lab analyzing results from my brain wave experiment.
"Mmm?" I feigned innocence as I made some calculations then concealed the half grin on my lips.
"Egon," Peter said, dramatically drawing out my name in a question.
"Yes, Venkman?" I remarked casually.
"Did you rig this invitation for your girl?"
Disregarding him, I continued my work, gratified, while my friend, impatiently, waited for me to reply, but I didn't. Peter tapped his foot, annoyed.
"Regardless, Janine is thrilled by the random invitation anyway," Peter reported.
Walking towards the door and out of the room, he mentioned, "if she asks me, I'll say that you don't know anything about it."
"Thanks, Peter," I replied, finally looking up to smile at him.
"Smart move, assisting her with her research," my oldest friend admitted.
Janine Melnitz
I arrived at Columbia fifteen minutes early in a short frilly red skirt with a crisp white blouse with low black heels, a notebook, a pen, and my purse, ready to take notes. There were twenty other people there, mostly students, in the front few rows of the large hall, and I sat behind them. My excitement level was piqued, and I tapped my right foot anxiously. As I was studying my notes, a man in his mid-fifties with wire-framed glasses approached me,
"Excuse me, are you Ms. Melnitz?"
Peering up from my notebook, I took my glasses off my nose and grinned at the unknown man.
"Hello, I am Dr. Richardson, a professor here at Columbia," the man with a pleasant air introduced himself with a smile and outstretched his hand.
" Good Afternoon, . Yes, I am Janine Melnitz; thank you for the invite. It is a pleasure to meet you," I responded sincerely, shaking his hand.
"I hear you are researching the new Macintosh personal computer," commented. He wore a light brown leisure suit from the seventies that matched his eyes and graying hair.
"Yes! I am working on my bachelor's at King's College in computer systems. I will graduate in December," I enthusiastically answered, smiling at him.
"I teach a class on Apple and IBM computers. If I can help you in any way, please give me a call. Unfortunately, my other duties require my attention. Still, it was my pleasure to meet you, Ms. Melnitz," he said, handing me a card with his office phone number.
"Thank you, Dr. Richardson, I am so grateful for this opportunity," I happily gushed, meeting his eyes.
"Anything for a friend of Dr. Spengler," the professor revealed with a smile.
"May I say without being too forward that you are even lovelier than he described?" He asked.
Stupefied, I froze when Dr. Richardson mentioned Egon until another person called for him.
"and I can easily see the reason he is enamored with you, Ms. Melnitz," he continued with a grin on his face.
My heart palpitated quickly in my chest, and I felt my temperature rise as the professor said his goodbye. Awestruck, I sat there for a minute thinking about Egon's role in my invitation.
"Why didn't I even consider that it was him?" I gleefully pondered and then speculated, "Well, Egon did know Dr. Bateman when he was at Columbia, and he was interested in computers. When did I talk to Egon about this paper? It's been so odd between us since we broke up in May. Then with Victor last month.."
I lacked time to contemplate the new information as Dr. Richardson introduced Steve Jobs. Next, I wrote "Egon" and a question mark in the margins on my first sheet of notebook paper. Struggling to focus, I realized that I would have to put my thoughts about the physicist away for now. I found myself drawing a heart and putting Egon's name in it as if I was in junior high, then smiling like a schoolgirl with a crush.
"Pull it together, Melnitz," I scolded myself as Steve Jobs came to the podium in front of the small crowd, and I clapped vociferously along with the audience.
Steve Jobs spoke for almost an hour about his new personal computer line, Macintosh, and I learned so much that my hand hurt from cramping as I wrote all the notes down that I could. He even answered questions from the audience for another hour. Enthralled, I loved listening to Jobs and lost track of time.
Before I left, I approached Dr. Richardson, thanked him again, and headed off campus towards the subway. I checked my watch, which read three-thirty, and my stomach growled.
"Oh shit, I forgot to bring my lunch today, and I am working until ten-thirty tonight to make up the time that I missed for this lecture," I recalled out loud as I walked to the subway station. I lightly smacked my head with the back of my right hand then hurried to catch the subway back to Tribeca.
Dr. Richardson's comments about helping out a friend of Dr. Spengler repeated in my ears, causing me to smile gaily after I located a seat by itself on the subway car.
"...and might I say without being too forward that you are even lovelier than he described. I can easily see the reason he is enamored with you, Ms. Melnitz."
Again, I simpered, happy to think Egon told his former colleague about me. Even though he never said it, I always felt too stupid for him. Egon encouraged me to follow my dreams of completing my degree for over a year now. I guess my insecurity was the problem and not him. Then I recalled an incident from January-
Egon found me dressed in a purple long-sleeve cocktail dress face down on my bed, crying. After resisting his attempts to roll me over on my back, he used a little more force to turn me over on my back. When Egon asked me about the problem, I told him I felt inferior to him, intellectually. He pressed me for more information, and I replied that I was afraid his colleagues would feel like I was not good enough for him.
"I don't have a degree and I am just a secretary," I cried as Egon watched with immense compassion.
"I don't care what they think, Janine. Look at me, baby, I am in love with you- you are an intelligent and gorgeous woman with an unbelievable amount of charm who thinks quickly on her feet. Those are just a few things that I love about you- there are so many more outstanding qualities. You sell yourself short."
When Egon pulled back from me, I gave him a meaningful kiss. The expression on his face was pure adulation with a side of gleefulness, and I felt like it mirrored my own.
Then, I recalled that we didn't make it on time to that party with a coy smile because I screwed his brains out first. My body flushed hot, not from the August heat but the memory of our actions. Consequently, I felt a bit dizzy from the memory of him bringing me to an orgasm time and time again until I begged for mercy.
"No, you aren't done, Angel," Egon impishly corrected me after I had another pleasure overload.
"Darling, I'm exhausted. You have worn me out," I whined slightly, sticking my lower lip out in a pout because Egon loved it.
He leaned over me and grabbed my lower lip with his teeth, pulling it gently while watching my reaction with a sexy smirk before letting go. Egon asserted his claim over me by covering my mouth for an open-mouth kiss. Finally, he began banging me with his manhood strenuously over and over.
Lost in thought, I almost tripped over my own two feet by missing a step on the way out of the subway station.
"Are you ok," a young military man asked me, clasping my arm before I fell.
"Yes, thanks," I responded, feeling a little chagrined, and I decided that I had to stop my daydreaming for now. My stomach growled as I strolled to the Firehouse, and I wondered if the guys had any sandwich meat in the fridge.
All of the lights were off in the building when I returned to work, but I didn't see anyone sitting at my desk answering the phone as Dr. V promised.
"Stupid, Venkman," I seethed.
There was a red light flashing on the answering machine alerting me to the fact that just because I wasn't there for a few hours, my job didn't stop.
Hurriedly, I ascended the stairs to the landing where I opened the fridge and removed lunch meat, mustard, and swiss cheese, then took the bread from the bread box. I rapidly made a sandwich but couldn't cease my thoughts about Egon's attentive gesture. His thoughtfulness was heartwarming, and I felt gratitude towards him.
"How was I going to repay Egon? I need to make sure to thank him later," I thought.
When the Ghostbusters returned, it was close to seven in the evening, and they had dropped Winston off already. I was in the middle of a call and rescheduling a client when Egon exited Ecto One, not meeting my gaze and speaking to Peter. He wasn't disregarding me on purpose because he didn't know that I wanted his attention. We rarely spoke anymore, anyway, but it was still irritating.
Ray came by my desk with four smoking ghost traps and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He grinned at me but didn't say anything. By the time I turned around to check on Egon, he was in the lab already.
"Damn," I said, hanging up the phone and glancing at my watch," I have a break in about fifteen minutes. Maybe then."
Ray strolled by me again ten minutes later, sans ghost traps, and asked if I could order some Chinese food for everyone. Nodding, I agreed as the sandwich from earlier was not enough to keep my stomach full. I then dialed the number to my guy's favorite local Chinese food place.
The owner first inquired about the name on order, so I remarked in my noticeable Brooklyn accent, "Ghostbustas."
Peter loudly mimicked my accent from the landing, and I rolled my blue eyes to the sky. Choosing to disregard my boss's provocation, I held my tongue until I hung up the phone and screamed, "Shut up, Dr. V!"
Smirking, Ray requested the amount of our order. After I told them, he handed me two dollar bills and a twenty-dollar bill to pay for the food charge when it arrived in fifteen minutes. Until then, I worked on my paperwork.
Later, Peter ran down here when he heard the knock on the door like a dog salivating at a bell and grabbed the money off of my desk before I could say "boo." It caused me to stop working and watch his ridiculousness with my mouth agape. Dr. Venkman came over to my desk and removed my order housed in a styrofoam container from the bag with some plasticware after I turned him down on the offer to eat with the three of them. This was a working dinner for me, and when I thanked Egon, I wanted to be alone.
Sighing, I felt preoccupied about thanking my ex boyfriend.