The next morning Erin awoke in a panic, remembering she was sleeping in Holtzmann's bed. She didn't want to put the engineer in a predicament, knowing her friend was a dedicated and hard worker and was probably itching to get back to work. The Princeton Graduate rose quickly, sliding her legs to the side of the bed, pulling on her sweatpants she had tossed on the floor the night before. She looked over to Holtzmann's workspace, glad to see the blonde wasn't there, and stood up. She paused, adjusting the waistband of her pants and grinned, biting her lip as she noticed a tray filled with an array of breakfast foods on the bedside table. Erin let out a soft laugh, the platter consisted of Holtzmann breakfast foods, doughnuts, eclairs, croissants and an bowl of multi coloured sugary cereal.
'Ahem,' came a voice, Erin turned, seeing the blonde standing in the workspace doorway. Holtzmann was in her maroon robe, but beneath it she wore a pair of grey shorts and Erin smiled at the Columbia tee, her feet only in socks and her blonde locks wilder than usual. Erin smirked,' How was the spare bed? And my clothes?' Holtzmann grunted and walked towards Erin, the older woman smiling at her response, she turned back to the tray of foods, pointing, 'This for me?'
Holtzmann laughed, shaking her head,'For us babe.'
The blonde settled on her bed, patting the space next to her for Erin to sit back down, she did and Holtzmann picked up the tray, placing it on the mattress between them. Erin smiled into her lap, enjoying Holtzmann referring to her as 'babe'.
'There's a...lot..of sugar here Holtzmann.'
'All the better to see you with my dear.'
Erin laughed, picking up a croissant.
'Sleep okay Erin? How's the head?'
Erin adjusted her position on the bed, biting into the buttery pastry and folding her legs up, leaning back into the headboard.
'Much better. Thanks again for the bed'.
Holtzmann picked up a doughnut, breaking it in half and taking a small bite,'You can sleep in my bed anytime,' she responded with a wink. Erin blushed, fumbling with her croissant. Her heart pounding in her chest, her skin heating up. Holtzmann looked away, taking another bite of her breakfast, putting the remaining down and dusting her hands.
'I hope we have a few busts this week,' Erin said quickly, wondering if her lack of verbal response had offended the engineer. Holtzmann just nodded, 'Mmmmm, I want to use my Bracelets of Victory. They're done!' Erin smiled, meeting Holtzmann's eyes, the blonde suddenly quiet, even taken aback, returning her smile, her cheeks a soft pink.
'Alright, no problem. Okay. Sounds good.'
Kevin hung up the phone, turning to Abby who was at her desk on the lower floor, 'Suite Up!'
Abby tilted her head back with a sigh, rising from her desk, giving Kevin a frustrated look. She closed her laptop and called out to the other three Ghostbusters that were on the upper floor.
'Kevin,' Abby began, bringing her hands to her mouth,' it's 'suit up'. SUIT up. Not suite.'
'They're nearly spelled the same..'
'Yes, but they mean two different things.'
'Yes but when I say it you understand it,' the buff Australian pointed out,' so it obviously means the same thing.'
'Kev...Kevin, Kev...look, no.'
The receptionist shrugged, picking up the phone cord and twirling it, shrugging again.
Patty was the first down the stairs, an armload of books in tow, placing them on the coffee table as she bounded over to her locker that was in the open plan foyer, pulling open the metal door and stepping into her suit, tucking in her blouse before closing the zip. Abby began firing questions about the Call to Kevin as she grabbed things she needed from her locker, the brunette too stepping into her suit.
Holtzmann and Erin came barrelling down the stairs, the engineer tugging along a bag with her Bracelets of Victory inside, her redhead friend already at her locker, door open, suit haphazardly being thrown on.
''I'll get the car!' Holtzmann yelled, pulling her suit from her locker and running out through the back door. The other three women sped towards the front door, listening to the last few bits of information Kevin was calling out, waving briefly to him before closing the door behind them.
They had been summoned to many busts since defeating Rowan, many more paranormal entities and unexplained phenomenon being reported and they had made quite the name for themselves in the city and around the country. There were often interviewed for newspapers and magazines and Erin and Abby had even penned a second book together, this one Erin was proud to have her name associated with. Holtzmann was forever in demand with interested ladies and often returned to firehouse with a handful of phone numbers, all of which given to her, never requested and she always made sure Erin saw her toss them into the trash. Patty was often planning her latest history lesson and was almost always a special guest at local events and often at universities, giving lectures about the correlation between history and folklore, and she was constantly studying. Abby was the glue of the team, always on the front foot when it came to making plans and looking after everyone. She was always developing new ideas, passing them on to Holtzmann and Erin to bring to life, preferring to do paperwork and be the face of the Ghostbusters, often locking in meetings and important events for them. Erin was happy, and that's all she wanted, she was surrounded by friends, working a job she was passionate about and finally could stand up to those that called her Ghost Girl. Because now they had all the proof, they were all Ghost Girls, and Erin felt comforted by it.