Chapter Three "A Misunderstanding" Two Weeks Later (Mid March 1983)

(Song Suggestion: "Say Isn't So" by Hall and Oates)

Janine Melnitz

My attraction to Dr. Spengler only seemed to heighten the more I worked with him, and a couple of nights previously, I tested the waters with him. Approaching him cautiously as he worked on a ghost trap in the lab, I casually made some small talk with him. Dr. Spengler grumbled incoherent responses, but he didn't really engage in the conversation with me as he kept his focus on his work. I placed my hand on his shoulder, which finally precipitated a reaction from the physicist.

At once, Dr. Spengler turned around to peer at me through his glasses like I was an alien touching him. I withdrew my hand from his shoulder, feeling chagrined, and fled the room using some excuse about completing paperwork for Dr. Venkman. Even though it was an unsuccessful test, I didn't let that bother me.

Dr. Spengler, later on that week, left his PKE meter on my desk earlier. Most likely, he was too preoccupied with solving some problem or creating a design for a new invention to capture ghosts to realize it.

"I want you even more so, baby, say it isn't so?" I loudly sang with the radio as I completed some filing. I used my hand as a microphone as I stood in front of the filing cabinet, and happily persisted in my actions.

That was until I felt someone's prescence by my desk so I twisted my body to the right to discover who was there. My cheeks felt hot and beet red, and I felt slightly humiliated. There was an increase in my heart rate, too.

Raising one of his thick eyebrows, Dr. Spengler quizzically studied me.

" How long was he standing there?" I nervously wondered to myself.

Coolly, I strolled to where he stood in front of my desk to hand him his PKE meter while maintaining eye contact with him.

"Here you go, Dr. Spengler, " I informed him, making sure my hands brushed his lightly as I gave him his meter back. I discovered a slight tingle in my body when our hands touched, and Dr. Spengler, I think, felt the same sensation because he quickly moved his hand away.

His deep brown eyes met mine for a few seconds before he glanced away, embarrassed.

"I might as well use this opportunity to flirt with him," I thought, giving him a dazzling grin.

Undeterred, I teased the grave scientist," I normally only sing when I'm alone."

An awkward moment of silence passed by, then Dr. Spengler sheepishly stated, " I'm sorry... Uhm... to interrupt you, Ms.Melnitz."

His face flushed red as I stepped closer to him.

"It was a joke, Dr.Spengler," I playfully murmured, placing my right hand on his chest. I was close enough to smell his aftershave, a nice nautical flavor.

Backing up, my crush's long face turned a deeper shade of pink, and he cleared his throat before saying, "Oh."

Dr. Spengler hastily excused himself and strode away to go back to the lab.

"Didn't he know when someone was joking with him? " I asked myself, standing there dumbfounded.

To my further embarrassment, Ray approached the filing cabinets from his office saying with a boyish grin,

" Our brainiest Ghostbuster doesn't understand humor sometimes, Janine."

I felt a little churlish flirting with Dr. Spengler in front of another Ghostbuster, and consequently, I restarted my filing to cover my amazement at the former's lack of sense of humor.

"Don't worry, Janine, it's him, not you. Egon has a strange sense of humor," Ray assured, giving me a wink then he returned to his office.

Mental note, Dr. Spengler doesn't respond to humor or flirting.

Egon Spengler

Our new secretary, Ms. Melnitz, regularly startled me because she wished to have conversations with me at inopportune moments. Usually, I walked by her desk to go to my office or downstairs to the containment unit, and she would ask a question of me.

Ms. Melnitz once came into my office and stood in the doorway until I stopped solving a problem because I felt her eyes on me. Her request was not important enough to interrupt my work.

Consequently, I grew irate with our secretary's attempts to make small talk with me because it wasted time. There were things to prepare if we were going to successfully catch ghosts.

One afternoon I bemoaned this concern to my business partners as we were in the lab fixing our idea from the ghost trap. Ray was fiddling with the non working equipment with a screwdriver.

"Poor Spengs, a good-looking woman from Brooklyn wants him to talk to her," Peter stated in a whiny voice, clearly making fun of me.

"Come on, Egon. Janine's easy enough to talk to, Iggy," Ray insisted, winking at me.

Meanwhile, I worked on my project and didn't reply because I didn't think there was anything else to say. I groaned inwardly, and disregarded the teasing.

"Hey, Egon, Janine has 'the hots' for you," Peter mischievously informed me, tapping the table with his right hand to capture my attention.

Inattentively, I peered up at my close friend when he unexpectedly removed my notepad to force me to speak.

"Huh?" I asked, and Peter repeated his statement.

"Come on, Venkman, I need my notepad," I tersely replied, glaring daggers at the GB balding leader, who held it hostage.

"Not until you listen, Iggy."

Sighing heavily, I nodded. I knew that I wouldn't get my notepad back until I played his game.

"Janine has the hots for you," Peter smugly announced again.

"Oh yeah, badly, Spengler," Ray eagerly agreed with a wide grin, peering up from his work.

"The 'hots'?" I repeated, not understanding.

"Janine is attracted to you," Peter elucidated. For a second, I didn't say anything, puzzled, by the information.

"Why?"

"That's what I have been wondering," the leader of the Ghostbusters joked, pausing before persisting, "What does she find attractive about you? You work too much, you are too serious, you don't have much fun, and you don't like to smile."

I rolled my eyes at him and so stated, drily, "I am aware of my shortcomings, Venkman."

"You have good qualities too, Spengs. Come on. I was joking," Peter replied, reassuring me.

"You never noticed that she flirts with you?" Ray exclaimed, baffled.

"No."

"This is flirting, Iggy," Venkman said, standing up from his chair. Peter stood next to me, put his right hand on my arm and used an exaggerated Brooklyn accent, "Good morning Dr. Spengler." He then batted his eyelashes at me and put his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off and tate silent.

"That, my naive friend, is flirting. Janine also smiles brightly and will often simper at things you say. She touches you on your arm or shoulder at times. Finally, Brooklyn also asks questions about topics outside of work," Pete explained, giving me a knowing look then handing me my notepad back. Finally. I had ideas to write out.

Grabbing it, I put scribbled out an idea I had to assist us in catching ghosts.

"You should ask her out," Ray suggested innocently, " I'm positive she will say yes."

"What in the world do you think we would talk about," I incredulously inquired, becoming irked but not exactly sure of the reason. Frowning, I tapped my pen on the notepad.

"Janine has practically a degree in computer systems-you could talk about that or BASIC," Peter reminded me as I began working furiously on the invention from before, and I found that it wasn't going well. My mind raced through formulas, calculations and other scientific information, and I didn't have time to think about Ms. Melnitz. Tuning them out, I envisioned the new invention.

"Yeah, you both like computers," Ray chimed in later. Meanwhile, my colleagues had a lengthy conversation around me as I focused on my work.

They required my attention while I was in the middle of thought.

"What are you talking about," I blankly demanded.

"Janine Melnitz," Ray recalled in disbelief.

"Oh."

"Are you still sore that Janine knew BASIC when you thought she didn't," Peter joked, glancing at the youngest Ghostbuster with a smile.

"I said it was improbable that Ms.Melnitz knew BASIC because it is pretty new, and there aren't many women in the computer field," I countered.

"That means yes," Peter remarked, scrutinizing me, "she beat you on that one, Spengs."

Sighing, I tried to concentrate while Ray and Peter pestered me about Ms. Melnitz. I hoped by disregarding them, they would quit, but this wasn't the case.

"It's been a long time since you dated, Iggy. I want to assist you," Venkman summarized, "that's all."

When I felt myself become emotional, whether it was anger or another feeling, I had taught myself to repeat different scientific theories to calm down.

"Newton's first law of motion: An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force," I repeated to myself.

Agitatedly, I questioned my friend, "By insisting that I date a woman I don't want to date?

The Ghostbusters exchanged a bemused look at my reaction.

"Why was this bothering me," I inquired inwardly but I didn't have any solutions.

"Janine has a good sense of humor and is quite attractive. She's not dumb either," Ray added, closing his book for a while.

" Newton's second law of motion: The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object," I thought to myself, taking a deep breath before stating out loud,

"Ms. Melnitz isn't that astute if she's wasting her time on me and acting...foolishly as you said."

"Janine almost has earned a degree in computer systems. She's not dumb," Venkman reminded me.

"Then why does she act that way?" I questioned, seriously, scratching out the equation that I had written down on my legal pad as I became more annoyed with the conversation.

"A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment," I mumbled to myself, oblivious to Venkman's examination of me.

"Iggy, surely someone has flirted with you before?"

Again, I ignored my close friend, but they persisted in pushing my buttons. Finally, I snapped, "Why don't you go out with her, then?"

"Iggy, be quiet," Ray cautioned, viewing someone in the doorway, making a "shh" noise by placing his index finger at his lips.

"Enough, I don't want to hear about Ms. Melnitz," I declared, standing up abruptly, causing the chair legs to squeak as they scraped the floor. Rapidly, I walked to the lab's doorway, leaving my yellow notepad in there, and I bumped into something.

"Oof," a soft voice said when I wasn't paying attention to where I was headed.

My face registered shock and a tingly feeling traveled through my body afterward as I gazed down to find it was our secretary that I ran into, and her pale face swiftly changed to deep red.

"Excuse me, please, Dr. Spengler," our secretary shyly said. Ms. Melnitz lowered her blue eyes downward after speaking, and she went silent.

"Uhm, Ms. Melnitz," I nervously grumbled, "I didn't see you there. Are you Ok?"

Nodding, the petite lady gave me a thin lipped polite smile, and moved to the side to let me pass. I stormed out of the doorway and went up to the roof to calm down like I always do when I can't solve a problem or if I need a break. Peter liked to push my buttons, and I had let him do it about something insignificant, too.

Janine Melnitz

Accidentally, I overheard part of the Ghostbusters' conversation. Dr. Spengler gruffly stated that he was not interested in me outside of work. He looked immensely indignant for a highly profound man, and then my crush exited the room rapidly, almost knocking me over.

I'm not even sure Dr. Spengler knew that he wounded my feelings. Even though there was an injured look in my eyes, he genuinely seemed taken aback by my presence. He mumbled an apology for running into me, and left.

"Why was my body buzzing with electricity from touching him?" I wondered.

Exhaling deeply, I calmed myself as I crossed the lab to where they were sitting as if nothing had happened.

"Your phone messages, Dr. V," I stated, handing him a piece of paper, and then I spun around on my heels

"Janine, I'm not sure what you heard a second ago, but it wasn't as bad as it sounded," Dr.Stantz uncomfortably started, but his voice trailed off. He had extended his hand upwards to lightly grab my elbow to prevent me from leaving.

"I'm not sure which you are referring to, Ray," I happily replied, realizing the pitch of my voice rose, pointing out that I was distressed.

Dr. Stantz was the only Ghostbuster I felt comfortable calling by his first name, and a few weeks earlier, he confirmed it was fine.

"Ok," Ray warily conceded, and Dr. V.eyed him worriedly.

Striding out of the lab, I recalled the incident. I heard enough of the conversation to know that the Dr. Spengler was not interested in dating me. That made me feel silly for flirting with him, but also sad that I didn't have a chance.

From what I knew about the physicist, I liked him. I appreciated his dedication to his work in that he invented new devices, and plus he was very good-looking.

Something about Dr. Egon Spengler made me want to know more about him. Ergo, it was now clear that he did not have any curiosity about me outside of my job performance.

As I descended the stairs, I felt tears coming to my eyes and sniffled a little. I also inhaled and exhaled a few times deeply. Tears didn't fall from my eyes only because I wouldn't let them even though my pride was injured. Lifting my chin, I stepped to my desk and I began working on my next task.

Dr. Peter Venkman

"Now, you have to apologize to her," I told my long-time friend and current business partner on the roof as he sat on the edge of the building. Iggy was throwing pebbles off of it to relieve the tension he was feeling. It was a warm Spring afternoon in Manhattan, with the sun hiding in and out of the clouds throughout the day. Spengs took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves even.

"Why?" Egon wondered, genuinely mystified by my statement.

"Janine heard you say that you didn't want to hear about her anymore, and she also probably heard that you said she was dumb. Both statements imply that you don't like her and you are her boss. Your comments wounded her Iggy," I explained earnestly, meeting his brown eyes with my own.

"I don't know her well enough to like or dislike her, Venkman," Iggy admitted, feeling a little regretful.

"Yes. Janine is attracted to YOU, so you must be mindful of her feelings," I reasoned with him.

Although I realized this pep talk might be fruitless, I persisted, "unless you just want to be an asshole who says hurtful things to her."

"Peter, I don't intentionally hurt people. I struggle with interactions with others," Egon mumbled, looking ahead of him, throwing another stone, "there's a reason why I choose science over people."

"I know that Iggy, but she doesn't."

Egon questioned me about why I was pushing for him to date her, and I repeated my earlier explanation that it had been a long time since he dated. I also mentioned that I thought Janine would be a good match, but he disregarded that comment.

"If you hadn't pushed me so hard about dating, I wouldn't have said what I did," Iggy scoffed.

A few minutes later, Spengler, defeated,asked, "what do I say to apologize to her?"

I could tell he didn't comprehend why his comments hurt her, but Egon knew he needed to apologize. So, I let our brainiac chew on his apology for a while without help because he needed to think of this independently.

"I'm sorry that you overheard my comments at your expense. Peter thinks it is funny to push me when he knows I'm annoyed," he muttered in his deep voice.

"That would work. You have to say it a little nicer, though," I said encouragingly, "come on, Spengs, go apologize."

I noticed Spengler appeared nervous because he was wiping his palms on his pants. As he approached her desk, I watched from a far. Janine was on a phone call, and she gave him a half-smile.

"Ms. Melnitz, I'm sorry that you overheard my comments at...your expense. Peter thinks it's... funny to push my buttons when... I am irritated...admittedly, I'm not very good...with other people... I hope you accept my apology, please," he stumbled through his statement, red-faced and ill at ease.

Janine assured him there was nothing for him to apologize for with a small grin, but it looked forced to anyone who knew her. Brooklyn was visibly hurt still but she pretended to be ok for his benefit.

After Egon returned to his office, I observed Janine put her head down on her desk after his office door shut firmly behind him. He may have apologized and thought everything was resolved, but it wasn't for her.

Janine Melnitz

Dear Diary,

I feel humiliated for two reasons- first, I attempted to flirt with Dr. Spengler a couple of days ago by putting my hand on his arm, and he gave me a look like I was out of my damn mind for doing so. Second, I accidentally overheard part of a conversation today where he was very adamant about not hearing about me anymore. I did not hear the context of the conversation, honestly, but it felt pretty negative. Dr. Spengler almost ran into me after I overheard him at the doorway. Then he gave me an awkward apology for his comment, which I had to accept because he was my boss.

As a result, I feel disheartened about my crush on him. It maimed my feelings when I overheard him mention that I acted silly and was wasting my time on him. Reflecting on my actions now, maybe I was laying it on too thick with the flirting, but I have a crush on him. Dr. Spengler wasn't like other men with his two Ph.ds, his extreme dedication to his work, and the fact that he didn't like women to flirt with him (or at least in a silly way). I decided to stop flirting with him since he now thought I was dumb for the time being. Somehow I would work to get Dr. Spengler's attention without acting frivolously.