Chapter 11 "Boys' Night Out" ( September 1983)

(Song Suggestion-"Life in the Fast Lane" by the Eagles)

Dr. Ray Stantz

After playing poker, Peter and I observed the immediate change in our theoretical physicist's demeanor and actions with our feisty redhead secretary. That night Egon was very attentive to Janine and wore an idiotic teenage lovesick expression that Venkman and I dubbed "the look." However, Janine did too. Spengler observed Janine closely that night and gave her plenty of content smiles and other flirtatious compliments. I had never seen him flirt with a woman before, and it was quite the spectacle.

We observed Iggy furiously returning from downstairs when Janine left in a cab that night. At that point, we played an Atari game but made jokes at his expense about his actions earlier while we played poker.

The next day Egon stayed in our shared room all day as Janine worked with the exceptions of the two busts scheduled. He didn't go to the landing to get food or downstairs to retrieve his equipment or books. When Venkman and I inquired about his quietness, Egon stated that he didn't have time for anything else. However, we both knew that he was readjusting his thoughts from Janine to his work.

I hadn't seen Egon speak to her except two times in the past three weeks, and both times it had to do with her typing his notes on the busts. Egon acted very stiffly, and Janine, on the other hand, was highly disappointed by his lack of attention.

Janine

For fourteen days after I played poker with the guys, I waited to see if Egon would attempt to kiss me again, and for fourteen days, I was discouraged by the fact that he didn't, and there wasn't an opportunity to do so because he disregarded me as much as possible. We had a couple of emotional moments together that night between playing poker with Ray and Peter, but that all dissipated out of thin air the next day when I returned to work.

Since then, I have been dreaming about kissing Egon. I wanted to discover how he kissed and wondered about his lips' feel and taste.

Would his lips be dry, cold, and crusty? Or warm, soft, moist? Would they taste sweet like candy? Or like onions? Would he kiss me passionately, or would his lips be unmoving?

I cursed myself for not taking the matter into my own hands and grabbing him to kiss right after the initial shock of the driver blaring his horn wore off.

"What did you do to Spengler? He's been acting more offbeat than normal," Peter inquired as he sat on a chair in front of my desk as we discussed a movie that I had seen over the weekend downstairs.

"Nothing. Egon's been purposely overlooking me," I whispered, giving him a disappointed glance.

"Why is that, Brooklyn? I haven't seen the two of you talking as much as you were for a while," he agreed, with a confused expression on his face.

"Dr. V., this has to be between you and me if I discuss this with you," I warned. I gave him a menacing look, then inquired that "I want doctor-client privilege and absolutely no teasing."

My balding boss raised his right hand solemnly and nodded.

"The night that we played poker, Egon asked me to stay for him after you pushed my buttons too much, and I attempted to flee. Later, while you and Ray were still drinking, I asked him to wait with me for my cab downstairs, and we were flirting a bit back and forth. Egon was going to kiss me, then the bleeping taxi arrived, honking the horn, and the moment was over," I exclaimed quietly.

"Wow, are you sure he was going to kiss you," he questioned, entertained like he was at a comedy club, with a big grin on his face.

"Yes," I said definitively, "Before that, he leaned into me, and our lips touched for just a second, then the taxi arrived."

"Maybe Spengler does have some moves," Venkman replied playfully and laughed at the dreamy expression on my face. Suddenly my expression changed to irritation at his comment.

"Peter!" I yelled, then realized that Egon was in his office, so I whispered again, "you promised not to tease."

"OK, OK, I know. That was three weeks ago, right," Peter restated, trying to be serious.

I nodded and added, "Now he's neglecting me like I have a disease."

"Do you want me to talk to him," he questioned me. Gradually, I shook my head from side to sidefeeling discouraged..

"Spengler never mentioned that to us, but he wouldn't. Although I am his closest friend, Egon has trouble talking about his feelings with anybody."

" Do you know how long it has taken him even to admit that he finds you attractive or interesting?" Peter demanded after a long pause.

"No," the lady from Brooklyn pouted..

"Egon cares for you, Janine, but he has issues," he explained exasperatedly. I "shhh" ed him as his voice rose while speaking by placing my index finger on my lips then pointed to Egon's office. Dr. V. rolled his eyes. and smirked.

"The two of you just need to get everything out in the open," he added, then he went back upstairs.

Dr. Peter Venkman

Speaking to our pretty secretary about Egon Spengler was an eye-opening experience as Janine divulged at least one thing I didn't know as she typed.

After she explained their experience together in July when he consoled her during a bad day that she was having, Janine looked up from the typewriter to find a mistake on the paper. She swiftly removed a bottle of white-out from her middle desk drawer. Cautiously, Janine dropped it on the error before replacing it, and blew on the paper to help it dry. She then waited a minute before moving the typewriter back into place before typing again.

"Egon also convinced me to finish my degree and confront my fears of failing at a career."

Dumbfounded, I glared at Janine and exclaimed, "Egon Spengler did that? Really? That doesn't sound like something he would do."

"I thought he might kiss me. He didn't, though," Janine recalled, absentmindedly, as she typed, "it was romantic."

We stayed silent for a while as I couldn't fathom the information I had received from her. At the same time, Janine finished the letter and removed it from the typewriter.

"What do I do when Egon pulls away from me as he has now? It's been three weeks since we almost kissed, and we have barely talked to each other. We were so close, Peter," she whined softly, with a distressed facial expression.

" Egon is conflicted with his feelings about you, and he doesn't like to be out of control of his life," I reported,

"Regardless, Spengs cares about you, and I told you that before I knew all of this other stuff. If it makes you feel better, it is noticeable when you two have an "intimate" moment because Iggy shuts down with me and Ray, too.

Eventually, I went back upstairs.

Janine Melnitz

At first, I was skeptical about talking to Peter about Egon, but I found, surprisingly, that it had been beneficial. We didn't always get along, but I felt safe in revealing some of the details of my recent exchanges with Egon. Dr. Venkman seemed to be supportive of the idea of our dating.

Later that day, I had completed all of my usual responsibilities, so I decided to fix the IBM computer processing speed in the lab. This semester, my professor, Dr. Bateman, gave me a couple of free disks of applications that both Drs. Spengler and Stantz mentioned they had wanted offhandedly to me, so I requested my prof if he had copies of them. Luckily, he did. Before adding the computer applications today, I had to quicken the processing speed, so I first checked the hard drive. When I examined it, I saw that it was highly fragmented, and I decided that it had to be remedied immediately.

"Are you putting pornography on our computer," Dr. Venkman quizzed me, in jest, as the other two Ghostbusters sat around the table talking. Noisily, Dr. Stantz began to laugh.

"Very funny, Dr. V. No, right now I'm defragmenting the hard drive because there is too much information on it. First, I must repair the processing speed. Have you defragmented the hard drive recently," I answered, typing in a command at the prompt.

Two of the Ghostbusters looked at me wide-eyed like I had spoken another language; however, Dr. Spengler kept on working but eventually said, "No."

Turning away from the computer for a second, I briefly reported, "you should be doing that every once in a while."

"I thought you only did that infrequently," Egon inquired of me, looking up at me, baffled. Our eyes met for a split second before he looked back down at his notepad, and I replied to him, slightly irked at his last action,

"Yes, but if you are going to keep on using this old computer, then you need to do it more often. You need to start putting the files on disks, and this is going to take at least a couple of hours to do."

"Well, guess who won extra duties to her responsibilities? Congratulations, Ms. Melnitz, you won the opportunity to back everything on the hard drive onto floppy disks," Peter announced in a voice like one belonging to a game show host.

"Thanks, Dr. V; how many floppy disks do you have? You are going to need 8 to 10. The disks don't hold much," I replied drily.

"How many we got, Spengs," he asked.

For a minute, Egon pondered the question and then answered, "five or six."

"Brooklyn, Start with my stuff first and back that up," Peter added, his brown eyes twinkling with mischief, "we can buy you some more later."

"Dr. V., You may not be able to run the applications I want to put on here because of the processing speed, and that is why I am correcting that problem," I informed. Next, I noticed that the computer had barely started to defrag with a frown on my face.

"What are you putting on there?"

I gave him the name of the applications.

"Have you heard of any of those," I asked Peter sarcastically, noticing that Ray was laughing at him and that Egon smirked. I rolled my eyes at our psychologist.

"No, he hasn't," Egon replied, glancing up at me with a knowing look in his coffee-brown eyes for a second, and I felt my cheeks redden.

"Peter, for your information, your business partners wanted copies of those applications for this computer to use. I inquired of my professor at King's, Dr. Bateman if I could have free copies for the company," I explained.

"Tom Bateman," Peter inquired of me incredulously.

"Yes, he's teaching the class that I am in. I think he used to teach at Columbia," I said, offhandedly, not thinking anything of it.

All three Ghostbusters exchanged a distressed glance, and I gave them a questioning gaze, hoping for an explanation. Peter uneasily elucidated,

"You know that there are rumors that he, uhm, forces himself on women if they don't agree to sleep with him."

"Yes, I have heard those rumors. Dr. Bateman's interests lie in the younger students, not "older" ones who are closer to the big 3-0 like me," I replied humorously.

" Thanks for the warning, Dr. V," I quipped.

"Brooklyn, I don't know if you know the reason he left Columbia a while back. He had an affair with one of his students, who ended up pregnant, and it was a big scandal in a school that tried to uphold high moral standards. Bateman then divorced his wife, refused to pay child support, and continues to seduce younger naive female students," Peter explained, warning me.

"Did he request a date with you for those disks? That used to be how he persuaded someone to go out with him."

"I wouldn't have requested you to ask him if I knew your prof was Dr. Bateman," Stantz added, blushing, looking guilty. He was working on some paperwork.

"Don't worry about it, Ray! I can handle Dr. Bateman as I have been on dates with jerks in the past. Yes, I'm having one drink with him because he gave me the disks for you all. My roommate is going to be there with me," I answered airily.

Peter and Ray gave each other another disturbed glance. I noticed that even Egon's eyes had narrowed. Spengler's mouth formed into a scowl with this information as he loudly tore a piece of paper out of his notepad. Next, he crumbled it up with his hands and stood up to go to the trash can, where he threw it away. When my love interest returned to his seat, his displeased expression had vanished.

Was that the reaction I had hoped for?

When the phone rang, I answered it and stopped analyzing his actions. A slight shiver did go down my spine, though, as I hoped that Egon was jealous.

"Ray, it's for you," I informed my big brother with a slight grin.

After the phone call, I descended the stairs to my desk to complete a few easy items on my to-do list for today. It would take the computer two hours or more to defrag, and I realized that I had some checks to prepare for the deposit for tomorrow morning.

Five days later

Dr. Peter Venkman

To everyone's surprise, Tom Bateman showed up at the firehouse to pick up Janine at work a quarter to nine in the evening.

"Oh no, she's going out with that slime," I exclaimed in wonder when he showed up.

Tom Bateman did even worse by coming upstairs to see Egon and me. Still, there was a backstory to the situation.

In the late 1970s, Spengler met Bateman through a faculty gathering. Both found a common interest in computers, and they became friends. Later on, one of Tom's friends in the Art department introduced Egon to his last girlfriend, Leslie, the one who broke his heart. She was an art teacher at a local school in Manhattan, working on her master's degree in art history. Eventually, Tom stole Leslie away, and Egon was heartbroken for a long time.

In reality, Spengler and Leslie were a badly mismatched couple- she was an artist and a free spirit, and Egon was a rigid man who liked control, math, work, and science. It worked out OK for a month or six weeks, but it was bound to fizzle. The main attraction for both of them was that they were complete opposites. Being in a relationship with Egon Spengler couldn't be easy, and he was one of my closest friends.

When Janine brought the tall, sandy-haired, blue-eyed man with a determined chin upstairs, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I didn't tell Janine about Dr. Bateman's history with her crush. Still, I wasn't going to let her reintroduce them either tonight.

"Peter Venkman, well, I'll be. How are you" he said, extending a hand to me.

"I'm fine. Tom, how are you," I asked, shaking his hand. I thought to myself how much I disliked this guy even though I had a smile on my face. Although I hadn't seen this man in five years or so, he still had the rugged good looks many women liked and a smile with many dimples on his slightly chubby face.

After Janine introduced him to Ray, I inquired if I could speak to her privately.

"Brooklyn," I said, "can I talk to you in the lab?"

Rolling her eyes, I noticed that Janine had changed into this sleek short-sleeved black and white dress, and she looked pretty pleasing to the eyes. Her dress was relatively short and barely covered her ass. Janine liked to show off her shapely legs often with her clothing, and as she walked with me to the lab, her high heels pounded the wooden floor as she moved. When we arrived there, I pulled her to the side.

"Janine, you need to rethink this decision to go out with Tom Bateman tonight," I urged her, "I have a bad feeling, and this is not a nice guy."

"Peter, I am 28 years old, and I can handle a man in his late forties who's having a midlife crisis. I'm having a drink with him, that's it," she replied, hands on her hips.

"Tom Bateman is here," Egon questioned in an irritated tone of voice. I forgot that he was in the lab, but where else would he be? I glanced over at my friend at the lab table, analyzing a sample from one of our busts, and gave him an exasperated sigh. He hadn't looked up from the microscope.

"Yes, Janine here is stupid enough to go on a date with him," I replied, giving her an irked look.

"Peter Venkman, don't call me stupid and stay out of my personal life," Janine remarked forcibly, with an attitude. She looked at Egon to see if he reacted to the situation, which he hadn't, and that tormented her, so she stormed out of the room, silently fuming.

"Oh! That was for Egon," I thought to myself, watching her reaction, "that's why she was going on a date with Tom. Why didn't I realize that?"

After Janine left the room, I looked at my friend, who finally peered up from the microscope with an irate facial expression. It appeared like he would burst with anger any moment as his face turned a very bright fire engine red.

And so the plot thickened.

Dr. Egon Spengler

I didn't want to see Tom Bateman, and I was horrified to learn that Janine agreed to go on a date with him after Peter's warning. However, I couldn't communicate my feelings at the time. She could be in trouble with going out with him, even if it was for a drink, and I was preoccupied with that thought. Peter stood next to me to analyze my reaction, but I wasn't in the mood to be teased about Janine. Instead, I attempted to clear my head by repeating Newton's laws to myself,

"First Rule: An object will remain at rest or in a constant state of motion unless an external force changes that state."

Peter observed my reaction, shook his head ruefully, and asked, "How are you holding up with the fact that Bateman's going for a drink with Janine?"

"I'm angry and jealous," I answered straightforwardly for once.

"Well, I didn't expect that answer. Normally you deny anything regarding Janine," Venkman admitted in shock.

"True," I revealed and then asked in a wounded voice still hiding my face in the microscope, "why would she go out with him?"

As Ray strode into the lab, our conversation was disturbed, and my frustration level kept heightened silently.

"That guy is a complete wanker," he stated, coming into the lab, "a-hole alert."

"You don't even know the half of it," Peter declared in a wowed voice.

"Why not," Ray wondered, wide-eyed.

"That jerk stole Iggy's girlfriend five years ago, and now Janine agreed to go for a drink with him."

"Uh oh," Ray responded, wide-eyed. He generally liked everyone he met, so it was strange when he had used a curse word to describe Bateman.

I rolled my eyes, repeating Newton's laws and analyzing the sample with the microscope. Still, it didn't eliminate my thoughts about Janine and Bateman.

"What happened," Ray questioned.

"I don't remember," I answered, lying, trying to focus. Of course, Peter told the story to the youngest Ghostbuster.

I rose from the lab table and walked briskly to the stairs to the roof, away from everyone. Swiftly two at a time, I climbed the stairs then threw open the door to feel the warm night air on my face. I kicked some stones on the roof, my thoughts reeling, and stared up at the sky on the roof.

"Hiya Spengler, " Peter greeted me, tapping me on the shoulder. I jumped, not realizing he was there. I was loat in my thoughts about Janine.

"What do you want, Venkman," I scowled, incensed. Dr. Venkman didn't say anything for a moment, scrutinizing me.

"I don't feel like discussing this situation," I grumbled a minute later.

"That's too bad, Iggy because we are going to do it anyway. You need to process your emotions," my friend replied, a matter of factly.

"Fine," I answered him like a child who wasn't getting his way.

"Can we cut through the bull shit," he quizzed me directly.

"Sure," I shrugged my shoulders.

"You're not disconcerted about Leslie, and it's Janine you are upset with because she left with Bateman tonight. You are crazy about her," Peter remarked, looking me in the eye.

Of course, he was correct, and we both knew it.

Sighing heavily, I bent down from him to pick up some rocks from the ground to throw. I hoped that throwing them would help relieve my stress, but it didnt. My body had tensed up to an intolerable level, and my neck and shoulders were throbbing ferociously.

"I'm not cut out for love, Venkman. I'm too practical and rigid on things," I announced, then I went silent.

"Why are you sulking?"

"I'm not sulking," I stated stubbornly, and Peter gave me a discerning glance.

"OK, I am sulking," I admitted, grouchily, "Crazy about her? What does that mean?"

"It means you are fascinated by her," Peter divulged, watching me, with a smirk.

He then said," Egon, she only went out with him to see if you would be envious. Before she told me to mind my own business, Janine viewed your face closely when I attempted to persuade her not to go. She wanted to see your reaction."

"She did," I hopefully sked, and my heart fluttered in my chest.

"Yes. Janine was hot under the collar that you didn't seem jealous," my balding friend explained.

"And what if I am," I commented, trying to be nonchalant, throwing another stone off of the roof.

"What, envious or besotted?"

"Both," I emphasized the word heavily in my deep voice and gave him a heartfelt glance.

Peter asked me to elaborate on my emotions like we were in a therapy session.

Grimacing, I provided more detail to my friend, the therapist, by saying, "I have admired Janine's beauty and charisma from the onset. At first, I wasn't willing to let myself become attached. Now, the more I know her, the more fond of her I've become."

"Go for it, Spengs; you need to ask her out, relax, and have some fun. Janine's an attractive, smart, and feisty lady, and she would be lots of fun to date. Plus, she's enraptured with you, man," Peter urged, punching my arm lightly as he smiled.

"I enrapture Janine?"

"Yes, Iggy. It's been discernible to everyone around the two of you except YOU! Plus, she bewitches you," he exclaimed, examining my expression, disbelieving.

Peter's last statement made me grin involuntarily.

"What's dating Janine going to accomplish?"

"First, you will be happy, and second, some of your aggravation/frustration might be relieved. You are too tightly wound and need to let go once in a while," Venkman remarked, "think with your other 'head' for a while. It might help with your creativity if you relax."

There was a long silence.

"Come on, let's go; I have a few calls to make. We are going to get you drunk and possibly laid tonight since I can't solve the Janine problem right now, anyway," my old friend urged.

Resisting initially, I eventually conceded and followed Peter to the landing to take shots of alcohol. I didn't want to sit around and worry about Janine all night and that buffoon.

"Come on, Iggy, here you go, "Ray called out, pouring a clear liquid into a shot glass. He held it up and handed it to me when I was close enough to take it.

"To the Ghostbusters!"

We clinked glasses and drank our vodka shot. It was evident that the other two had a few drinks before I joined them. The harsh liquid burnt my throat, but I drank it anyway. Like the others, I turned the shot glass afterwards.

"Another," I said, making a face, and Ray turned over the glasses and filled them up. Maybe I could drown out all of my troubles with Janine with alcohol.

"To a boys' night out," he toasted again as we touched our shot glasses together. We drank them down. My neck started to feel looser, and the tension seemed to lessen.

Dr. Ray Stantz

It was surprising to see Egon Spengler take shots of anything other than sugar products. Still, the love-sick expression on his face appalled me even more. He was hung up on Janine and livid that she agreed to go out with Dr. Bateman. Although alcohol seemed to help him relax, I could still see his mind analyzing the situation since I knew Spengler well.

"Maybe we will find some new girlfriends tonight," I commented, writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Hmm," he answered absentmindedly, sitting on the sofa looking at a science magazine.

When Peter emerged from the bathroom, he was dressed in pressed khaki pants and a white polo shirt and inquired, "Ready?"

"No," Spengler responded quickly. I think he was changing his mind about going, so I indicated Peter's time by pointing at my wrist.

Exasperated, Egon was aware of our nonverbal communication.

"Yes, Raymond is right, we need to leave expeditiously, or I will alter my decision. The alcohol is wearing off."

Spengler stood up and retrieved another beer. Quickly, he popped the top off and began drinking it with almost the same intensity he consumed sugar. It was strange to see him drink with so much vigor as he usually didn't like to consume alcohol or drugs.

"OK, I am making the calls right now," Peter stated," be ready to have some excitement, Spengler!"

Egon murmured from the sofa incomprehensibly, and I gave him a dubious glance. He continued to drink his beer.

"I will bet you a six-pack Spengler leaves the bar before fifteen minutes is up," I whispered as Peter started to dial the phone number of one of his friends.

"Deal. I give him an hour. If I can convince Kirstie to work her magic on him, I think he will stick around for a little making out," he remarked.