Ghostbusters Love is Eternity

Ch. 6: Getting to Know You

As Ray pulled the Ecto out of the hospital's parking lot, he asked Victoria, "So, what would you like to do? I'm free all day."

"Hmm, well, I could use some real food. The food they had me eat all that time I was there wasn't all that appetizing."

Ray chuckled, "Yeah, we can do that. What are you in the mood for?"

"I'm not sure. What would you recommend for someone who's new here?"

"Well, for me, it's pizza. Chicago style all the way."

Victoria giggled, "Pizza sounds good." She scooted closer to him, placing a strand of loose hair behind her ear. Ray looked at her beautiful face and smiled, taking her hand in his.

****

Ray and Victoria made it to the dine-in pizza place on Columbus Ave. called UNO Pizzeria & Grill. They wanted time to themselves, so Ray ordered their pizza to go.

He parked the car around the corner, and they shared a medium box of deep-dish pizza with chunky tomato sauce, large amounts of cheese, and lots of pepperoni.

The pizzeria gave them paper plates and enough napkins for a calmer mind for a messy eat in the Ecto-1. The two sat facing each other with the pizza box between them.

Ray started the conversation, "So, that other day when I was talking with Pete, he brought up the fact that two months' vacation usually means something happened. I don't want to pry or anything. I'm just curious about what happened."

Victoria sat her pizza back on her plate and took a breath. "Five months ago, I lost my job as a retailer. I worked at this place; I don't really want to say the name of it...."

"That's fine. You don't have to. You can tell me whatever feels comfortable," Ray told her.

She nodded slowly in understanding, then continued. "I worked at this place for over eight years when they decided to let me go. I mean, they never even gave me a second thought to climbing that ladder to the top. It's like I was just old boring trash." She took another deep breath; she did not want to return to that dark place of emotion. "They never gave me any reason."

Ray kept quiet. He wanted to let her speak. His pizza was also back on his plate.

"I didn't know what to do. I was lost." Victoria shrugged her shoulders, "I became depressed. I couldn't afford to stay at my house any longer, so I had to move in with my parents."

"I'm so sorry," Ray said apologetically. "I didn't mean to make this day a negative one."

"It's not your fault, Ray. I would've had to tell you this story eventually."

"So, why did you come here to New York? It is expensive here."

"I wanted to escape the depression. I didn't know what else I wanted to do with my life. So, I took as much of my clothes I could pack, the money I already had saved up, then left my town to see what else was out there." Victoria gave a slight smile, "I heard some exciting stuff happening around here and decided, what the hell, I need some excitement in my miserable life." She stifled a laugh, "well, of course, the ghost in my hotel room wasn't my idea of excitement...."

Ray watched her as she spoke and noticed a twinkle in her eyes when she added, "But he led me to you." Ray sucked in a breath; he seemed to be doing that a lot lately; when he saw her reach over with a napkin and wipe a lone sauce from the side of his mouth. He unknowingly licked his lips as he choked out the word, "Thank you."

She, too, licked her lips as she whispered, "You're welcome."

Ray felt heat enter his cheeks; this woman was making him blush...even in places that shouldn't be this early in the relationship. "At least something good came out of all this," he said softly.