Prologue
The late afternoon sun cast a golden glow on the streets of Manhattan. Everywhere people were going about their business. And right in the middle of it all was renowned Ghostbuster, Erin Gilbert. She smiled to herself, feeling the sunlight warm her face fleetingly before moving along the shaded side streets and back to the fire house. 6 o’clock coffee runs were her favorite time of day. They were a great excuse to get out of the lab, stretch her legs, and (most importantly) a chance to stop thinking. She loved the mindlessness that came from being in the crowded city. As she navigated the maze of buildings and people the last thing on her mind were complex equations, or the day’s soup crisis, or the way Holtz’s dimples made her heart do that thing…
Nope.
She certainly wasn’t thinking about any of that.
Once she was home (because that’s what the firehouse was to her, a home) she discovered her three favorite people huddled around Patty’s laptop.
“No way!”
“Yes!”
“I am so jealous!”
“Hey, guys!” Erin chirped. “I brought coffee!”
“Erin!” Patty practically shouted. “You gotta come see this, baby.”
“What are you looking at?” Erin asked as she made her way over to the group.
“Have you ever heard of Pottermore?” The historian asked, eyes shining.
“No. What is it?”
“It’s a Harry Potter thing, it tells you your House, and your wand, and your patronus and stuff!” Holtz grinned. “It’s amazing!”
“Isn’t that a children’s book?” Erin asked hesitantly.
“Haven’t you read it?”
“No.” Erin stated simply.
“I told you.” Abby sighed. “I tried to make her read them when they came out, but she refused. Kept saying it was too childish for her.”
“I didn’t say it was childish, I said it was meant for kids. Besides, I was really focused on my studies, I didn’t have time. And I always figured if what I was reading wasn’t going to relate to my work then why bother, you know?” The physicist rambled and began to pull on the hem of her skirt, a coping mechanism she discovered in high school whenever she had to have an uncomfortable conversation.
“Well, I just finished reading the whole series with my niece. I can lend them to you!” Patty offered.
“No, I just- That’s really sweet of you Patty but- I- Um… I have to work.” And with that she turned on her heel and bolted to the safety of her whiteboards on the second floor.
---
Erin had been looking over her equation for about two minutes when she heard a pair of heavy boots on the stairs. She pretended not to notice and stared straight ahead, jumping slightly when she heard a voice at her ear.
“You forgot your coffee.”
“Jesus, Holtzmann.” Erin gasped. “You scared me.”
“Sorry,” the blonde grinned, not looking sorry at all. “I just know how much you need your evening caffeine boost.” Holtz set down the coffee and leaned in a little closer. Out of habit Erin’s eyes immediately found her shoes, knowing that prolonged eye contact with the woman before her lead to a lot of blushing and stammering. “Also,a little curious about that olympic sprint up the stairs, don’t get me wrong, you made great time, Gilbert, but I wanted to-”
“It’s nothing.” Erin interrupted, taking a step back and straightening up. “I just… wanted to get back to work.”
“Okay.” Holtz said, clearly not believing her, but she wasn’t going to push. After working together for a few months Holtz figured out the best thing to do when Erin was uncomfortable was to let her speak in her own time. So she hopped up on the physicist’s desk and sat, legs dangling, looking up at the ceiling.
Erin’s heart was racing. She knew Holtz was waiting for the real reason her anxiety had spiked and she took a few deep breaths before finally blurting out- “I can’t read.”
Whatever Holtz was expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. Her eyes snapped to her friend who was still looking at the floor and had begun rolling the hem of her skirt in her fingertips again.
“Erin,” she said gently, “I’m not trying to invalidate you, but... I’ve seen you read. You literally read scientific journals every second you can spare.”
“That’s not what I meant.” The red head’s voice wavered. “I mean I can’t read for… fun… the way most people do.” She took a deep shuddering breath. Holtz stayed quiet, not wanting to put more pressure on her friend. Instead she reached out and softly touched Erin’s shoulder. When the physicist relaxed slightly into the contact she tightened her grip and lead the other woman to sit next to her on the desk, and began to trace patterns on her back.
“When I was in first grade we would have reading time. Our teacher would split us up into groups and give us books for our levels. I was placed in the advanced circle. When we would read aloud together I could say the words aloud but my mind couldn’t conjure up a picture the way the other kids could. I remember we were reading a book about a town of animals, it was a cute story meant to teach kids about things like colors and numbers and shapes. There was one picture of a dog driving a car and I had to stop reading. I told my teacher that the book was wrong, because dogs can’t drive. She just asked someone else to read. Any time something was illogical, or there weren’t enough details for me I would ask why. After a few weeks I remember my teacher getting so frustrated she said ‘Erin Gilbert, you’re disrupting the other children. Just because you have no imagination is no excuse to continually interrupt your classmates, now please return to your desk and keep your questions to yourself.’”
The women sat in silence for a moment before Erin let out a shaky laugh. “That’s why I’ve always like math and science. All of the necessary information is right in front of you.”
“God, Er, I’m… That’s… Bullshit!” Holtz said, angrily hopping foo the desk and pacing in front of it.
“Holtz, really, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal.”
“No, that was inexcusable! That was so wrong on so many levels! That was- Jesus, Erin!” The engineer stopped abruptly and place her hands on either side of her friend’s head. She took a breath and leaned in so that their foreheads were resting against each other.
“Listen to me, Gilbert. Your mind is a beautiful thing, a gift most people could only dream about. To have it invalidated like that was criminal.” She pressed a friendly kiss to the top of Erin’s head and took a step back still holding on to the red head’s face. “Which is why I have a proposition.”
Erin blinked a few times, trying to quell the butterflies that had erupted in her stomach during their moments of connection. “Oh, um, okay… What is it.”
“Well, it just so happens that Harry Potter is the perfect book to read aloud.” Holtz explained, flashing a manic grin and making a grand gesture with her hands. “My proposition is this: Every night I can read a chapter or two to you and you are allowed to ask all the questions you want. When we finish the series we can watch all of the movies and you can have some glimpse of a regular reading experience…. There will also be snacks.” She finished with a wink and Erin felt her butterflies run rampant throughout her body.
“Holtz, that’s so sweet of you to offer, but you’re busy, and this would take up so much of your time, I couldn’t ask you to-”
“Hush.” The blonde commanded placing a finger over Erin’s lips. When she was satisfied the other woman wouldn’t speak she dropped her voice low. “Listen, Hot-Stuff, I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to do this. C’mon, it’ll be fun. Please? Indulge me?” Her puppy dog pout sealed the deal and a shy smile graced the physicist’s features.
“Can we start tonight?”