Ghostbusters Short Stories

Curse of Hanahaki

    It started with a minor congestion. A little cough; tickle in the back of her throat. Janine didn't think much of it. She was in her thirties... how many times had she had a cold? She ignored it for the most part.
    She was a busy woman and she didn't have time to stop for a persistent cold that sat in the bottom of her lungs. It festered while she took phone calls. She stubbornly worked through her discomfort. Going to the doctor was a larger discomfort than waiting for this cold to go away.
    Janine was the sole receptionist for the ghostbusters. She handled all their calls, all their appointments, and she warded off the EPA and the police when they were in the area. She was the only person who worked there who kept any kind of organization, and in April every year, she did the taxes. She was a force to be reckoned with, but she also was the glue that held them together.
    Her only issue was that with how much she devoted to them, her personal life suffered. She tried to date, to meet someone worth her time, but she never had enough of her time to make a relationship work. If a man did happen to hang around, he didn't after the calls at two and three in the morning from Peter or Ray.
    Janine knew deep down the reason why none of her relationships ever worked out was because of the feelings she pushed deep, deep down within herself. She wanted Egon bad. Her feelings were irrational, she knew, but she couldn't keep him off her mind. She tried to be obvious with him... drop hints that anyone would've seen- but after years it seemed that her feelings were not reciprocated.
    She had come to terms with that recently. No one would fill the void in her heart that he did, no matter what she tried.

    Janine rolled over, pulling the covers over her cold shoulders. She coughed twice, half-heartedly, and resettled into the sheets. Another cough, right as she reached the cusp of unconsciousness.
    She sat up, and hunched forward in defeat. This had been her life for the last couple of nights and it was becoming exhausting. She had a job and responsibilities that she couldn't just shrug off.
    The alarm clock taunted her from the end table on the other side of the bed and she rolled her eyes. No amount of coffee would be able to remedy a good nights sleep, but when the clock finally started blaring a few hours later, she knew it would be her lifeline.
    She brought a mug from home to work with her, and sat down at her desk, feeling like she just left it a few hours before. Peter wandered in a few minutes after she prepared for her work day, and took a seat on the edge of her desk.
    "Hey, Janine." He smirked. "Fun night?"
    "No." She pushed her glasses up her nose and stared back down at her paperwork.
    "Aw, whaddya mean no? You have the eye bags of a woman with a story to tell."
    "Peter, I'm not up ta this today. Alright?" She met his eyes with a razor-sharp glare.
    He rolled his eyes and stood. "Got any appointments today?"
    "Yeah. You an' Egon are suppose ta go down to the university today and give a talk about your ghost stuff."
    He shook his head. "I always get so bored at those. Can Ray do it?"
    "Just get out." Janine pointed at the door.
    "Excuse me- I am your boss." Peter put a hand on his hip and shook a finger at her. "You can't tell me what to do."
    "Peter, please-" She sucked in a breath to yell at him but it caught in her throat and it sent her into a fit. Janine felt like she'd triggered a coughing fit from hell... it wouldn't stop even when her abdomen ached and her throat was raw. Her face was more red than her hair when she finally managed to get it under control.
    And even still when she tried to breathe it started again until something finally came up. A petal from a cherry blossom.

Written 10/2018 - Rewritten 1/2024