Set after the events of Jurassic World – spoilers!

From the movie…

"So, what do we do now?" Claire asked him.

"Better stick together," Owen responded. "You know, for survival and all."

My story starts here…

Chapter 1: A seed is planted…

And stick together they did.

The next few days were a blur. Between the news cameras, paperwork, and of course, general recovery, the aftermath of the deadly and destructive events stemming from the Indominus Rex escape seemed like they might never end. In truth, there was no real end in site, but things were at least settling down after about a week.

Claire's sister and her family were safely home as well as all the other guests. The majority of the employees (rides, food service, facilities, etc.) had also returned to their homes. Those remaining were more upper level employees like Claire and Owen, who were tasked with figuring out next steps. They were staying at a hotel in Costa Rica, which they had pretty much taken over and turned into a fully functioning off-site location, and they were trapped in meeting after meeting most days.

Claire and Owen had been sticking together as they promised – sharing coffee, grabbing a quick lunch together, checking in to make sure the other was okay when they passed each other in the hallway – but they had not been able to spend any real quality time together. Owen was on a team formulating a plan of how to get back on the island and retake control of the animals that were now roaming free, so he was staying busy, but not as busy as poor Claire. Claire had been reprimanded for her decisions to not immediately evacuate the island and to send out an initial team to hunt the I-Rex with only non-lethal weapons (both things Owen had been irritatingly right about); however, she had been praised for her final actions and bravery that ultimately resulted in saving tens of thousands of people. With Mr. Masrani dead and Dr. Wu nowhere to be found, it was hard to argue that Claire knew more about that park than anyone. She had been appointed interim CEO by the board of directors. It was a role she was happy to accept, but even she had to admit she already needed a break. It had been an intense few days.

She was sitting in a meeting listening to a team of geneticists present about what type of natural breeding, if any, could occur on the island before they were able to again take control. She was desperately trying to pay attention, but all she could think about was her conversation with Owen earlier that day when they had managed to grab a 20 minute lunch.

…earlier that day…

"Claire, are you okay?" Owen asked. "You look exhausted. Beautiful, but exhausted," he added grinning. She looked up from the salad she was mostly just picking at and gave him an appreciative smile.

"Yes, I'm fine she answered. Thank you. It's all just a bit overwhelming," she admitted. Owen was pleased and shocked to hear her share even an ounce of vulnerability. He decided he needed to act fast. He flashed a sneaky smile and leaned in close to her so only she could hear what he was about to say.

"You need to relax," he said. "I can, and am ready and willing, to help you do that, but it would require me actually getting you alone for more than five minutes," he added winking at her. Claire couldn't help but grin and shake her head a bit laughing. She was pretty sure she knew what Owen had in mind, and to be honest, she wanted nothing more than to spend some time alone with him. She wasn't sure exactly where their relationship was heading, but there was no denying that she was insanely attracted to and had romantic feelings for this man. She thought often of their heat of the moment, passionate kiss in the park after she had saved him from those damn flying dinosaurs. They had kissed a few more times in the past week, and Owen was always finding a way to touch her even it if was just grabbing her hand for a moment or placing his hand on her back as a show of support – but they had been hurried or comforting gestures. Nice – but not the type of kisses or touches that could lead to more even if they wanted them to. She decided to play along.

"Well," she said leaning in closer. "What did you have in mind Mr. Grady?" Owen was thrilled to have her attention, as it had been so hard to get for the past week. Plus, he felt his pants get a little tighter when she called him "Mr. Grady" in a flirting way.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," he answered playfully raising his eyebrows. Claire laughed but then came back to reality.

"Owen, I would love to just hang out with you, but I can't. I'm in meetings until 9 p.m. tonight just like every other night. By the time I'm done, I'm so exhausted; I can barely make it to my hotel room before falling asleep. The only good thing about sleeping like I'm dead until the alarm goes off at 6 is I don't have nightmares."

"I get it Claire," Owen said. "I know how crucial and busy you are, but you can't continue making all these important decisions every day if you don't allow yourself time to breathe. You'll explode. You're the boss. Give everyone the evening off. I'm sure regrouping would be good for everyone. Everyone here is working hard – not as hard as you – but they are," he lobbied.

Claire thought about his proposal, which was pretty hard to argue with. About that time her phone dinged warning her about her meeting in 5 minutes. She could see the disappointment in his eyes. For a moment, he'd thought he had her. "Sorry, I have to go," she told him as she jumped up and threw the rest of her lunch in a nearby trashcan. She started to walk off, and then stopped herself. She turned back to Owen who was still seated, bent down and grabbed his shirt in her hand pulling him towards her. She gave him a full kiss on the lips then whispered in his ear, "I'll think about, I promise." Owen grinned up at her. "That's all I'm asking," he responded smugly as she ran to the next meeting.

…back in the meeting…

"Claire?" one of the presenters asked pulling her out of her daydream. "Are you okay with those next steps?" Claire had been paying enough attention earlier and trusted these folks enough to confidently say, "Yes, that sounds great. Let's schedule another update next week." She looked at her phone. It was now 6:45 p.m., and she was scheduled to go into another meeting with several other members of the executive team at 7 p.m. Owen's words resounded in her mind. "You're the boss," he had told her and he was right. Claire waited for everyone to arrive to the next meeting then promptly dismissed it. There were no major updates that couldn't wait until tomorrow she told them. "Enjoy your night." The relief on their faces told her that she had absolutely made the right decision, which she had Owen to thank for. And, she was pretty sure a few ways of doing that. Who knew where the night would lead. Whether she snuggled up with him on a bed somewhere and watched a movie – or if they did something more (oh the possibilities) she knew she just wanted to spend time with this wonderful man who had risked his life to save her and her family and had done nothing but try to help and be there for her for the past week.

Owen had been busy too, but she knew his meetings were letting out at much more reasonable hours, so she expected and hoped he would be in his room. He spent a lot time having dinner or having drinks with Barry, so she wasn't certain he would be there, but she felt confident she could track him down.