It's morning. Holtzmann is the only one at the firehouse. Always the first one in and last one out. She of course is working on a new gadget while jamming out to Shania Twain.
"Alright, now I just need to connect this red wire to this green one and turn this knob and bam- Jillian Holtzmann, you've done it again." She says to herself.
Holtzmann starts to belt along to the music and dance with her new gadget. Little does she know, she's no longer alone. Erin walks in with breakfast and a tray of coffees.
"The best part about being a woman-" Holtzmann sings out.
Erin watches Jillian dance with an amused look on her face.
"Is the prerogative to have a little fun. Oh-" Holtzmann continues.
Erin clears her throat. "Morning Holtz!"
"Oh Oh" Holtzmann turns around. Startled by Erin, she drops the gadget she was working on.
Erin rushes over. "Oh no, I'm so sorry! Is it broken?"
"No, no it's fine. Um, we'd just need to give it a few hours to cool down before we test it or else we may to immediately evacuate this part of Manhattan." Holtzmann says, a hint of a joke in her voice.
"Alrighty then!" Erin says nervously. "Um, I bought you coffee and a bagel. I figured you'd already be here so..."
"Thanks m'lady!" She winks and takes the coffee from Erin.
"And sorry again about that..." Erin points to the gadget.
"Don't worry about it, sugar." Holtzmann waves her hand.
"What is that by the way?" Erin asks.
"It's a proton cannon for our 'bigger jobs'. One blast and all of the ghost nearby will disintegrate." Holtzmann smiles wickedly.
"Oh... Well I look forward to seeing it in action on our next job." Erin smiles.
"Speaking of our next job... that reminds me, I revved up your pack so that it's easier to carry. I remember you complaining about your back so I thought this would be a big help."
Erin smiles, impressed with her friend's kindness. "Aw Holtz, you didn't have to."
"Oh but I did!" Holtzmann says. "Try it on!" She helps Erin put on her pack.
"You really didn't have to- Wow, this is so much better." Erin says feeling the difference in the weight on her back.
"I'm actually working on a smaller design at the moment so soon they'll be even lighter but just as powerful, maybe even more so. But for now, you should be okay." Holtzmann smiles.
"Thank you so much, Holtz! I really appreciate it!" Erin says, pulling the engineer into a quick hug.
"Not a problem! But to avoid any problems, let's not tell Abby or Patty about this. I haven't got around to theirs yet." Holtzmann winks.
Erin chuckles. "My lips are sealed!" She winks back.
Jillian smirks and grabs her coffee. Erin sits at her work station looking over some notes from the case they worked on yesterday.
"So what are you working on today?" Holtzmann asks.
"Well I've been looking over our notes from cases we've had over the last two weeks. Can you believe that in just that short amount of time, we've had over 30 jobs?" Erin asks.
"Over 30 in two weeks?" Holtzmann asks.
"Yes. Unbelievable right? We went from everyone thinking that we were frauds to now being taken seriously. And I don't mean to be all mushy but I'm really happy. I mean, I'm doing work that's mostly being taken seriously and I get to work with the most remarkable women anyone could ever know." Erin says.
Holtzmann smiles. "Well you're pretty remarkable yourself, Gilbert." She winks.
They clink their coffee cups. Holtzmann takes a seat near Erin and they eat breakfast and talk.
"So Jillian..." Erin starts.
Holtzmann's never liked being called by her first name unless it was Dr. Gorin calling her but with Erin, it felt right.
"Erin?" She asks.
"Before you met Abby and found the Science Institute, what were you doing with your whole life?" She asks.
Holtzmann smiles feeling amused. "Well I've been inventing things for as long as I could remember. When I was 5 years old, I won a science fair for building a robot out of a game boy, old gas tanks and a Barbie dream car. Since then I've always tested the limits with the gadgets I come up with. Of course, I didn't fit in much with the girls I knew because while they were trying out for cheerleading tryouts, I was in the lab hanging out with my science teacher. Then there were the boys who never wanted to hang out around me because I intimidated them. Not even the geeks, they all thought my ideas were to out there so I've always kind of been solo all through grade school and college. I worked a few odd jobs just to get by until met my mentor who took me under her wing. She taught me that my ideas weren't too outrageous and big but that people are too small minded. She also told me that some caution and hazard stickers are just there for decoration. Then she went off to work out of the country and I found myself alone again. Then I picked up a book that I read cover to cover in one day. I found out where one of the authors worked, went there and that's when I met Abby- who was just as ambitious and passionate as I was, if not, more. What was suppose to just be me meeting a personal hero became a newfound friendship. From then on we worked together trying to prove our work and ourselves to society but there was always something missing. Then one day a sharp and annoyed Dr. Erin Gilbert walked into our lab and suddenly everything fell into place." She winks.
"Well I have to admit, the day I walked into that lab and saw the work you and Abby had been doing, it made me forget why I ever stopped. You know, I still regret ever leaving Abby. It was selfish... but I'm happy that she was able to find a friend like you that didn't stop believing in your passion." Erin says, looking down at her hands.
"I don't think it was a selfish move and I don't believe that you ever stopped believing in your passion. I think you just stopped believing in yourself because of what you've been through. The important thing though is that you came back around and I find that very admirable." Holtzmann says, giving her a comforting smile.
"Thanks Holtz!" Erin returns the smile.
Abby and Patty walk into the firehouse.
"Good morning, ladies!" Abby says.
"Hey y'all!" Patty follows.
Abby takes in the scene of the coffee and bagels.
"What? No breakfast for the rest of us?" Abby asks playfully.
"Well this was the early bird special!" Erin responds.
"How early do I need to be for that?" Patty asks.
"Well I've been here since 6am so..." Holtzmann responds.
"You know what? I'm cool! I need my extra two hours of sleep or else ghost won't be the only things y'all are gonna have to bust." Patty says making the other women laugh.
Kevin walks into the firehouse and sits at his desk.
"Morning ladies!" He calls out and they all greet him. He settles into his desk before checking his calendar.
"Would you look at that, it's Thanksgiving. Shouldn't we have the day off?" He asks.
"Kevin, buddy, its July!" Abby corrects him.
"Oh! Well in that case, you ladies have a 9 o'clock appointment at Christopher Columbus University today."
"Christopher Columbus University?" Patty asks, confused.
"Yes!" Kevin responds.
"Wait- you don't mean Columbia University, do you?" Erin asks.
"Yeah, that's the one." Kevin responds.
"Oh no, I'm sure they can deal with whatever ghosts are roaming around there themselves." Erin says, anger in her voice.
"Erin, come on! I know they fired you but we can't let that stop us from doing our job." Abby says.
"That's right! Show them snooty booties what we're all about." Patty agrees.
"Erin, this would be a great opportunity to prove yourself to them... And also to test that untested nuclear cannon." She winks.
Erin smirks. "Let's pack up the car!"
End of chapter.