Chapter 25 " Faithfully" (Valentine's Day- Two Weeks Earlier)

(Song Suggestion: "Faithfully" by Journey)

Janine

As usual, I wrestled with rising from my comfortable and warm bed in the morning, but Egon knew that tousling my hair and kissing me would assist my waking. A cheery smile formed on my lips as I stretched my arms over my head, and I mumbled incoherently.

"Good morning, my Janine. Happy Valentine's day," Egon murmured afterward, " I love you. I will be right back."

My boyfriend kissed me gingerly then I felt his body weight leave my bed for a couple of minutes. Yawning vociferously first, I giggled blithely and extended my arms out wide horizontally,

"Ohhh, Valentine's Day!"

Butterflies of excitement filled my heart as I rearranged my pillow and sat up. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect with my new boyfriend with limited dating experience, but I was curious yet excited. Egon and I had agreed beforehand to exchange gifts, but he would not give me any information regarding it. As part of his Valentine's Day's present, I had promised to make one of his favorite meals, beef stroganoff, from scratch. Still, I hadn't divulged the other part to him yet as it was a surprise.

Shortly, Egon brought me a boiling cup of coffee in bed on a brown tray with a silver-colored box and a frilly red bow on top of it.

He pointed at the box, and my heart leaped out of my chest. I thought it was an engagement ring, though I knew it was too soon for us to be considering marriage. My heartbeat thumped sonorously in my chest as I opened the box, and my hands shook a bit visibly to reveal an exquisitely shiny and magnificent 24 karat gold charm bracelet.

"Oh my God," I yelled, electrified, removing it out of the box with haste, removing it, and scrutinizing it closely. There were the following charms present on the lustrous bracelet: a tiny red sapphire heart with a J on one side and E on the other, a rose, and a pink tourmaline gem, which was my birthstone.

"It-it…it's… so …magnificent," I stammered in awe as Egon lifted my right wrist.

Subsequently, he joyfully assisted me by putting it on as exhilaration inundated my body.

"You are silent. Is this what I have to do to keep you quiet," my lover joked with an adorable smile on his long face while he secured the bracelet's clasp on my wrist. He apprehensively awaited my reaction until I could finally speak again.

"Wow, I just adore it! Thank you, my darling," I gushed, kissing him quickly. Then I examined each charm again with a wide grin on my face.

"You can add more to it as you wish," He responded, peering into my eyes for confirmation, and I let my lips do the talking by kissing him fervently.

"Mmm, I can't tell if you like it," he challenged me playfully by raising an eyebrow, so I oscillated him more ardently than before.

"Thank you so much, love," I repeated afterward, " I didn't forget that it was Valentine's Day, but your gift is coming later."

"You are quite welcome. This year is the first time I have had a girlfriend...Uhm... during this...holiday. Did I do OK," Egon inquired nervously, and I watched his hands tremble a little. Then, grasping his hands and squeezing them, I declared in stupefaction.

" Yes, Egon, you did super fantastic! I can't wait to show this off to Wendy, Lucy and all of my friends."

"There is more, but it involves the firehouse and your goddess dress from the gala. I won't say anything more than that. Still, you need to pack that in your suitcase for tonight," Egon hinted mysteriously, and his eyes glinted suggestively.

"What?"I thought, annoyed, and I begged him to tell me as I hated waiting for surprises. All I knew so far was that we were staying at the Firehouse tonight.

"Nope, I want it to be an eye-opener," the physicist coyly replied.

"Will we have your room to ourselves tonight," I questioned. Slowly, I batted my eyelashes at my boyfriend, wishing to flirt with him so he would weaken in his resolve and reveal the secret to me.

"Yes. We will have the whole place to ourselves," Egon stated huskily, with an adorable twinkle in his brown eyes. "Peter will be gone, and Ray is going to a party tonight. Both won't be back until tomorrow."

"Nice," I remarked, taking a sip of my coffee from my mug.

"Thank you so much for the lovely bracelet and the coffee. I'm so lucky to have you," I gushed, thrilled.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my Angel; I love you so," Egon wished and kissed me on the cheek.

Out of the blue, I remembered that I wanted him to open the first part of his gift. I placed the coffee mug on my nightstand and I hurriedly padded into my closet. Hidden in a trunk full of extra blankets for the winter, I removed the gift. Egon watched amused as I skipped over to the bed.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Egon; this is just part of your gift," I reminded, handing him a medium-size black box with a red bow on it. His long face reddened as he opened it to discover a pair of white boxers with hearts on them and another in black with red hearts and cupid shooting arrows. I giggled at his response and teased, "Hasn't anyone ever given you underwear before, Spengs?"

"Just my mother," he shyly admitted, his face flushing redder as he held up the second pair with the cupids on it. Egon put the boxers down for a second and then playfully corrected me, "Don't call me that, please; it sounds strange when you say it."

"Ok, Spengs," I joked, but he gave me a bothered look, so I apologized with a quick kiss, then urged, "You have to wear them today."

"If the guys see them, they will never let me live it down," he warned, with a slight furrow of his eyebrows.

"Unless you are all doing a circle jerk or something, they won't," I joked. Egon gave me an exasperated expression at my comment, causing me to chuckle softly.

"Do you dislike them? I can return them, but I thought it was cute," I inquired, wistfully, " I wouldn't mind seeing cupids all over your butt, though."

That made Egon loudly chuckle, and I grinned from ear to ear.

"No, I love them! Thank you, Janine. I will wear them today," he animatedly agreed, then questioned me with a lewd smirk on his face, "Shower?"

"Go ahead," I insisted, and he removed himself from the bed with a pair of his new underwear in his right hand. Egon found his clothing in my closet then trekked in the bathroom before shutting the door.

"There's room for one more," He appealed flirtatiously, sticking his attractive face out of the doorway a minute later after he turned on the faucet in the shower.

"I can't be late," I replied, with a slight smile, and I threw a pillow at him "hurry up!"

Promptly Egon shut the door again right before the pillow hit his face. I had taken a shower the night before to expedite my routine in the morning, so I searched for the red dress that matched my hair that I wanted to wear today. Unhooking the hanger from the shelf, I removed the dress. I padded to the dark wood drawers that I inherited from my aunt to search for my matching red bra, panties, and black leggings. Egon didn't take extended showers usually unless I was in them, that is, so I knew I should be dressed by the time he returned. Rapidly, I put my clothes on and then went into the kitchen to make some scrambled eggs and start the coffee maker.

Egon's manly aftershave followed him into the kitchen as he joined me there, and friskily, I felt his firm butt with my two hands. Then, twisting around to view me, my lover gave me that confident "I-knew-you-couldn't-resist-me" glare, and I felt a shiver travel down my spine.

"You should have gotten in the shower with me," Egon throatily muttered as I leaned into his backside.

Without a word, I used my hands to feel the front of his body hidden by his starched white dress shirt. I pulled down his slacks' waistband to reveal his underwear to Egon's amusement.

"Just ensuring you still have cupids on your ass," I reminded, with a provocative smile, and flipped it back up. Then Egon turned around to face me.

"Yes, Ms. Melnitz," he sassed with a devilish smile and then lowered down to kiss me.

"Ahem, excuse me, coffee needed NOW," Wendy grumpily interrupted, coming into the kitchen in a snit fit.

Bewildered, we stood to the side as my usually good-natured roommate whizzed past us to the cupboard to retrieve a cup and then poured coffee into it.

"Wendy, I want to show you Egon's gift to me," I announced as my charms jingled, hitting each other. Enlivened, I hugged my good-looking boyfriend and then put my hand through his damp curly hair, smiling.

She held her right palm towards me to halt my story and then pointed at the coffee. Wendy took a couple of sips of her drink, and I reminded Egon that she was not a morning person. Finally, my roomie was prepared to view my charm bracelet and nodded for me to show it to her.

"Whoa! This gift is major, Egon. Did you come up with this idea on your own," Wendy exclaimed, obviously pleased for me.

"Yes, I did," he answered, proudly, "my Janine deserves the best sparkling fine jewelry available."

Simpering, I blushed, and Wendy winked at him in approval.

"Phenomenal job, Egon," she responded and went back into her bedroom with her coffee cup.

Valentine's Day 1984 was the warmest one weatherwise in the recent history of New York City, and I found that I did not need my heavy jacket so I draped it over my arm as we walked to the subway station. Meanwhile, Egon held my small suitcase containing the goddess dress, a pair of heels, and a change of clothes for work tomorrow, along with some toiletries. He thought it hilarious that I couldn't pack lightly for one night over at the Firehouse, and I reminded him that this was normal for women.

"I would say it's sixty degrees out," Egon predicted as we took some seats on the Subway.

"Indeed," I jested back, using one of his favorite terms, and he grinned at me.

During the morning, I didn't have much on my to-do list, so I decided to make Egon an old-fashioned elementary school valentine. First, I found a piece of red construction paper from a materials box that held supplies that Lucy Stantz and I used to create a secret scrapbook for the business. Second, I folded it in half, drew a large half of a heart shape, and cut it out carefully. When I unfolded it, I wrote this message on the inside in my best handwriting: "My Darling Egon, Roses are red, violets are blue, how did I get so lucky to be with you? Love, Janine".

Then I reapplied my lipstick and smooched the outside of the heart multiple times. Finally, I wrote "xoxo" everywhere I could with a couple of "EgonJanine= forever" for good measure. After that, I planned on putting the two tickets to Stephen Hawking's lecture at Princeton University tomorrow night in the card. I knew it would be a great shock to him to obtain tickets because they sold out rapidly. Additionally, he adored Stephen Hawkings and coveted to hear one of his lectures.

"Hey little sister, how did you like your gift from Spengs? " Ray questioned me later as I waited for the phone to ring around noon. He kept me company downstairs since the business was slow. Dr. Stantz sat in a chair next to my desk and then removed a cigarette from his crumpled soft pack. Coughing, he turned the other way as I gushed,

"Oh my God! The bracelet is so gorgeous, and I adore it!". I admired it again for the one-hundredth time this morning as Ray lit up his smoke then asked, "What are your plans for tonight?"

"I am going to make one of his favorite meals from scratch and chocolate mousse for dessert. What are you doing" I answered, looking at the baby-faced Ghostbuster with two different colored eyes for a second. I felt a warmth for him that could be only described as love for an older sibling as Ray explained,

"One of my friends has a party for singles on Valentine's Day every year when he isn't attached, and usually, I end up on the sofa in his apartment. So I figured that I would give you and Spengler full access to our room since he normally goes to your apartment every night."

"Thank you, Wendy and her boyfriend are taking it over tonight," I remarked, smiling at him.

Shyly, he responded with "no problem" then casually questioned if I would set him up with a friend of mine while shifting his weight back and forth. I observed that his chubby cheeks transformed to light pink as he explained,

"Venkman's been setting me up with these airheads, and although they may be beautiful and alluring, I need a woman with a brain."

Ray shook out his brown hair with his right hand after placing his cigarette on the ashtray. Something fell from his hair and he absentmindedly picked up his smoke. Then Ray took a drag from it.

"Hang in there. I have a friend named Vicky that you may get along with well," I suggested, waving my hand to change the direction of his cigarette smoke. Then I coughed.

"Maybe you two can meet over a drink with Egon and me; after work next Monday?"

Excitedly, Ray agreed, then sauntered off to his office when the phone rang.

I wrote down notes on my notepad as I listened to the client and then rang the noisy bell, indicating a bust to my bosses. Ten minutes later, the Ghostbusters slid down the pole in their uniforms, and I handed Venkman the paper with the information while the other two put the packs in the car's trunk.

While the guys busted ghosts, I ran errands to the bank, post office, dry cleaners, and the market. First, I deposited two checks from our latest cases. I pulled one hundred dollars to keep on hand as petty cash as directives by my immediate supervisor, Peter Venkman. Second, the post office was four blocks past the guys' bank, so I strode amidst the crowds of people to mail the bills at the post office expeditiously. The market and dry cleaners were five blocks past the firehouse, and my feet were fatigued because I stupidly decided to wear my new black patent ankle boot with a spiky heel.

As I arrived at the nearest subway station, I curiously contemplated Egon's plans for tonight as I awaited the next passenger car. I lowered myself into an aisle seat and adoringly admired my elegant new charm bracelet. Daydreaming about later in the day with Egon almost coerced me to miss my stop, but luckily, I snapped out of it just in time to exit the subway train before it commenced moving again.

Tonight, I was preparing Egon, my maternal grandmother's beef stroganoff. Doris perfected it seven years by adding a secret ingredient of her own. However, we never mention it to Nana because it would break her heart to know we made alterations.

I knew that Egon would love the decadent chocolate mousse for dessert since he was a sugar addict, as I thought while standing in the long check-out line. There were guys buying flowers and chocolates for their dates later in front of me, making me grin.

"A year ago, you would not even be able to fathom the fact you would be with Egon now," I thought, grinning to myself, "he thought I had lied about knowing BASIC on my resume."

While I lugged the groceries back to the firehouse, I recalled the last year and all of the events that happened.

"What a year," I thought, "luckily, it all turned out for the best."

Slowly, I put the groceries up after removing my new shoes to console my aching feet. It wasn't until they were put up that I realized that I forgot to retrieve the guys' set cleaning.

"Oh well, there's always tomorrow morning," I eagerly wondered.

The phone rang, interrupting my contemplation, so I hurriedly ran to the landing to pick up the receiver. Peter's new girlfriend, Cynthia, who had a date with her tonight, left a message for him.

The rest of the day was predictable as the guys had various items to complete outside of the firehouse for most of the day. I went to the dry cleaners to pick up bosses' clothes an hour later.

Peter and Ray had left at six in the evening for the night, and I prepared our meal for later. Egon requested that I change clothes since my shift was over. As a result, I took my time showering and shaving, then using a curling iron to put some bounce in my reddish hair after blow-drying it. Unable to control himself, Egon knocked on the door.

I attached my cream-colored bra to my upper body then gradually put on a matching thong. One secret about my scholarly Dr. Spengler was that he immensely enjoyed me wearing the item. Ergo, he would often inspect my backside in the morning to determine if I wore one, usually in a high-spirited manner.

"Patience, my dear," I impishly responded, "but don't worry, it will be worth your wait, love."