Chapter 31 "I'm Alright" (early February 1984)

(Song suggestion: "I'm Alright" by Kenny Loggins)

Janine

As the anniversary of my first year with the Ghostbusters approached at an unexpectedly swift pace, the first week of February arrived. To my surprise, a beautifully wrapped red gift sat on my desk. I examined it, then turned to face my boyfriend, quizzically. Egon initially wore a fake baffled expression, as if he had nothing to do with it, but his smug grin and the twinkle in his eyes betrayed him. Leaning down, he kissed the top of my head before I settled into my desk chair.

"Is today special?" Egon inquired, feigning ignorance. He tried to conceal the smirk on his lips as he hovered over me while I scrutinized the medium-sized gift in my seat.

"hmmm," I replied. My brillant physicist bent down to give me a deep kiss.

"Hey Juliet, open the darn gift already," Peter's annoyed voice interrupted from the landing, and we stopped kissing. Turning our eyes upward, we saw him and Ray watching us from above.

"Ugh, Peter," I muttered irritably. After the interruption, Egon caressed my cheek with his forefinger and pointed at the gift to encourage me to unwrap it.

"I am so happy that you all remembered," I admitted as I gingerly opened the gift. When unwrapped, the box revealed a book. Mystified, I picked it up and read the title aloud, "Everything you need to know about BASIC."

Uproarious laughter echoed from above, and I turned my neck to see Ray and Peter turning red as they slapped their knees. They had given me a book about the subject I used to prove Egon wrong during my interview. Even my boyfriend chuckled in his deep voice as he kissed the top of my head, sending chills down my spine.

"Blasphemous," I declared teasingly, spinning around in my chair to face my tall, goregous lover, who looked bemused.

"Oh, come on, it's diverting," my handsome boyfriend remarked, pulling me up from my chair with his long arms so we could embrace. His coffee eyes conveyed happiness, and I loved that. After Egon released me, I picked up the book, and thumbed through it for a second. It was interesting, however.

"You are the one who needs this more than I do, Spengs," I joked, gently hitting him on the top of the head with it.

Egon hated it when I called him Venkman's nickname for him, which is why I did it. The two other Ghostbusters howled with laughter again as I did so from upstairs as they watched.

"uhm," he uncomfortably mumbled, and his face changed to a medium pink color for a bit.

With a pompous smirk, Egon removed the book from my hand and put it back on my desk.

Gazing into my face, he whispered lovingly, "I guess I owe my life to that computer program because it brought me you."

Egon moved closer to my lips without touching them, making me desperate in anticipation for his lips kissing mine. The bespectacled physicist rested his forehead on my own.

"I love you so much, Janine Melnitz," he confessed. Then, we deeply kissed, and I almost forgot I was at work until Peter and Ray started to clap.

"I love you to the moon and back, Egon Spengler," I murmured after Peter and Ray disturbed our make-out session again. Next, I reluctantly withdrew from him, feeling dizzy from our manifestations. With a pleased expression on his face, Egon gradually withdrew from my desk.

"Juliet, your true gift is up here; that was just for shits and giggles. Will you two come upstairs so we can have our weekly meeting afterward," Peter irritatedly demanded, pushing away from the railings.

"Yes, Dr. V.," I responded in a smarty pants voice, starting my computer first. Then, after I printed their schedule, I ascended the stairs with a notepad and a pen with Egon next to me. Playfully, I tickled his right side underneath his ribs, which irked him because he didn't like it.

"Ok, we just poured a cup of coffee for you, J; please sit down," Ray requested with a wave of his hand.

"Thanks, Ray," I replied merrily.

"Iggy, you have to get your own," Peter quipped sarcastically as I sat down where a similar-sized box with the same red wrapping paper appeared with my name on it.

"You didn't have to do this," I gushed and questioned if I could open it.

"Of course we did, Brooklyn," Peter replied in an overly fake accent, pushing the present towards me with a genuine grin on his face. Disregarding his horrible fake accent, I sat excitedly waiting for permission to open it.

"Go for it, Janine," Ray enthusiastically answered.

Egon sat down with his coffee next to Ray on one side of the table and me on the other, and I opened the present excitedly. Another box revealed a beautiful rectangular silver picture frame, and I lifted it carefully. It was a photo of us from the gala dressed in our formal wear, smiling jubilantly at the camera.

"Oh, I forgot that we took this picture," I exclaimed, feeling touched by the gesture. It was just the four of us without Lucy and Bianca, and we all looked fabulous. My eyes filled with tears as I gingerly held it and muttered, "I love it! Look how great we look! Thank you so much, guys."

They appeared highly pleased with my reaction as I happily gazed at it and set it up on the table.

"This will be perfect for my desk," I responded excitedly.

"Oh," I whispered, tearing up again, and I rose from my desk to give each Ghostbuster a side hug to thank them, "thank you so much."

"It was your boyfriend's idea to get you a gift you, but I thought about the picture frame" Venkman confidently informed after I hugged him.

Egon sheepishly appeared when I kissed his cheek chastely and whispered something naughty about thanking him later in private.

"Uh oh, Iggy's going to get laid," Peter declared, and I winked at him, much to Egon's embarrassment.

"Well, everyone is getting more action than I am," Ray whined, and we all laughed with him.

"I think Spengler's getting more than I am right now," Venkman stated honestly, and Egon raised his thick eyebrow upward.

"Oh yeah, he is," I quipped, lowering myself down in a chair and taking a sip of my coffee.

"OK, OK, the first item of business for today, what is your favorite memory of working here, Janine?" Peter steered the conversation back to something productive, smiling..

"Oh! Last summer, when you, Peter, had a water gun and started shooting it at me from the second floor while I typed my junior thesis paper. Ray and I bought some of our own later, and then, at the end of my shift, we all ganged up on you, Venkman, and we soaked you right before you went on a date."

I cracked up in the middle of the story as I recalled chasing Peter with Ray and Egon throughout the firehouse. Then, we all started to laugh.

"Somehow, I don't know how exactly," Dr. Venkman contemptuously said, "you even got Iggy involved in our water gunfight."

"All she had to do was bat her eyelashes and flash that smile at him," Ray commented, and Peter groaned at him and replied that his comment was acerbic.

"What was your favorite memory with me being employed here?" I questioned my three bosses, taking a sip of my warm coffee.

"Hard to pick just one," Peter confessed, after a moment, and the others nodded agreed, "But I have to say your interview when you proved your boyfriend wrong. That was fucking riotous."

"Mmm. Any time you came into my office or the lab bending over to show me your butt or bust or when you flirted with me," Egon revealed, giving me a sly smile and a wink after a pregnant pause.

"Janine, I enjoy your sassiness," Ray solemnly admitted.

Sniffling a little, I mouthed "thank you" to my faux big brother as I became a little emotional.

"Alright, now that Ms. Melnitz's first anniversary with the company has been celebrated. Let's get down to business, please. Would you update us on the status of our finances," Peter inquired, and I immediately reported the information.

"Don't nobody worry 'bout me," he sang with the radio. Cheerfully I tapped my foot with the song's rhythm, feeling beyond loved by my employers.