The sun was just beginning to break over paradise as a young woman sat outside on the porch swing of her bungalow with her feet up and a mug of coffee in her hand. She watched the streaks of light stream from behind the mountain. Sunrises on Isla Nublar were a breathtaking sight. Same with the sunsets.

Twenty-seven year old, Tia Miller took another sip of hot coffee from her Jurassic World mug before she sighed. This wasn't exactly what she had planned for her life. Sure, living on a beautiful tropical island was a dream come true, something most people dreamed of doing one day. But being a sales associate at the park's gift shop wasn't how she had planned on using her degree in Genetic Biology from MIT.

She had spent some time living at home with her parent, unemployed, but it wasn't a lifestyle she could continue. Having graduated valedictorian of her high school class she felt like a failure and living in her hometown wasn't helping her self-esteem any. The offer to work at Jurassic World was the only somewhat decent off that came her way. Although, she had only gotten the offer because of her connections and not because of her hard work and dedication.

The job in the gift shop was the only thing her brother's best friend could offer her. She was going to have to work her way up the ladder the hard way, but she had her sights set on a job in the lab. Although, working in the lab was the job she told her parents she had landed when it wasn't. Tia knew that lying was wrong, but she was sick of being a disappointment after having lived most of her life as the perfect child. She didn't want to be an embarrassment to them any more than she already was. So it was better that they believed the lie—or at least that's what she told herself.

Tia stood up and stretched, looking at her reflection in the window. Her dark hair was tied back in a high ponytail and her baggy long-sleeved shirt almost covered the jean shorts she was wearing. She scrunched her nose at her reflection before she tiptoed back inside, careful not to wake up her roommate.

She zig-zagged through the maze of clothes on the floor and made her way over to the corner of the room. She didn't really have a bedroom—just a bed and dresser behind a paneled divider. But it was all she really needed. Well, it was actually all she really could afford. Hell, she was lucky enough that her brother's friend was nice enough to let her stay here rent-free so that she could pay back the tens of thousands of dollars she had taken out in loans. Loans that she didn't want to think about because they only made her depressed.

Tia plopped onto her bed and sat cross-legged before she reached for her tablet to catch up on world news. After scrolling for a few minutes, she found nothing worth reading, like usual, so she hit the app to play Candy Crush. She had promised herself that she would stop playing, but at least Candy Crush wasn't as depressing as the outside world.

Footsteps padded across the room. "Tia, you decent?" a voice asked.

She looked up to find the silhouette of her roommate on the other side of the divider. Before she could answer Owen poked his head around the corner and grinned at her. His grin was contagious—a smile that you couldn't help but return. So Tia grinned back at him.

Owen took a few steps closer toward her and folded his arms across his bare chest. He was only wearing athletic shorts and his hair was tousled from having just woken up. Tia looked away from him for a moment out of embarrassment. Instead, she looked out the window beside her bed when Owen commented, "You're up awful early."

"Couldn't sleep anymore," she responded with a shrug. Tia looked back at her Candy Crush game and used the chocolate sprinkle ball to get rid of all the red pieces of candy. "Yes," she celebrated quietly.

Clearly, Owen wasn't buying it. He took a few steps closer. "That wouldn't have anything to do with…"

Tia groaned. Not this conversation again. "No."

Owen cocked his head at her with a puppy-dog look on his face. "Hey! You didn't let me finish."

"Because you're trying to come up with a reason for something there isn't a reason for." Tia looked up at Owen who tried to peer at the game she was playing. So, she stuffed her tablet under her pillow before she stood up and walked closer to him. She straightened her shoulders and stood tall at her full height of 5'2'' but she still came a foot shy of Owen. He gave her a funny look before looked up at him with her arms folded across her chest. Tia changed the conversation from her to Owen. "We should probably clean today and by we, I mean you."

"You do realize that this is my place, right? Besides, it's not that bad."

Tia raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? You do realize that I've been tripping over your dirty underwear for a couple days now. I mean, why are your underwear even in the living room?"

A smirk played over Owen's face as his eyes twinkled. "Do you really want to know?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Tia crinkled her nose in disgust.

"No. Ew. Spare me the horrid details."

"Well, since you asked…" Tia's eyes widened as she tried to jump up and cover his mouth with her hands—not wanting to hear whatever he was about to say. But this time he used his height to his advantage and easily dodged her hand, but he grabbed her wrist with his hand and pinned it behind her back. He then smirked before continuing, "I was eating in my boxers and I spilled ketchup on them. You were at work so, I just slipped 'em off

Tia's mouth hung open for a moment. "Ketchup? Ketchup is the reason? I-I"

"Not what you were expecting?" Owen said with a smirk. He still held her wrist and looked her straight in the eyes.

For a moment she stopped breathing, unsure of how to proceed. The fact that she liked Owen wasn't a complete secret. Well, except maybe to him. But she would rather go to her grave harboring her feelings than tell him how she felt. She was too scared of rejection. So instead, she quickly switched the subject.

"I need to go shower. I work at nine." Tia slipped her wrist from Owen's hand before she walked toward the bathroom to get ready for another riveting day of work at the Jurassic World Gift Shop.

A look of confusion marred Owen's handsome face. "Wait, nine? It's like six something. I know you don't take that long to get ready. You going somewhere?"

Tia shrugged her shoulder. "I'm meeting for breakfast."

"Meeting whom?" he called after her.

Tia stopped walking for a moment and bit her bottom lip in contemplation. How to explain, without giving away too much. She looked at Owen over her shoulder and responded, "Uh—Dom?"

Owen's brow furrowed again. "Dom? Who's Dom?" Tia smirked and didn't say anything as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

After Tia had showered and gotten dressed in a pair of khaki capris, blue Jurassic World Gift Shop polo shirt, and sandals she hopped on the golf cart the park had provided her. She left without even saying goodbye to Owen like it was any other day in the neighborhood. Although, when she looked in the rearview mirror, she could see him waving goodbye to her. There were times when she couldn't help but wonder if he actually wanted to make a move...but she wouldn't let her thoughts dwell there long.

Tia drove down to Main Street to the closest coffee cart where her friend Brandon worked. She ordered a hot chocolate, some calorie-packed barely coffee drink, a cinnamon raisin bagel, and a jelly-filled donut. Then, just as quickly as she had gotten there, she was off on her cart again. She was so distracted that she didn't even notice that Brandon had written his phone number on the coffee drink.

She continued to drive further into the park, in places relatively unknown to most. Hell, she didn't even know if she was supposed to know about this place; but once she had gotten wind of it—she had to check it out. But, then she had been checking this secret place out every day for like the past month.

Tia stopped the golf cart a little off the path, to hide it from anyone who might be suspicious before she continued walking toward the large structure erected seemingly in the middle of nowhere. With the coffee drink in her hand, Tia did a quick dash when the construction workers turned their backs to her. It was a good thing that she had lettered in track in high school because she barely made it to the door when she pulled out a borrowed ID badge and scanned it before the construction workers turned her way again.

Once she was upstairs, she found the room completely covered with glass windows that looked out onto an enclosed forested area. She quietly tiptoed through the room, making sure that there were no big head honchos in the area. Thankfully, the only person on hand was a security guy who fed the creature locked up here. They called the thing the Indominus Rex; more affectionately known to Tia as Dom—well, at least, since this morning when she made the name up for Owen.

"Oh, it's just you," the security guy said with a yawn.

"Yup, just me," Tia said as she held out the bag with a donut and the sugary coffee drink out. The guy nodded his head and accepted them. He took a sip of his drink as Tia walked closer to the glass. The guard then glanced down at the writing on the cup and furrowed his brow. "Who is Brandon and why does he want me to call him?"

Tia stifled a chuckle and then looked over at the guard with a grin on her face. He motioned for her to keep doing what she was doing, for which she was thankful. This had become their thing. She would bring the guy his favorite coffee drink and he would look the other way when she came to observe the so-called dinosaur behind the glass.

She examined the terrain behind the glass, looking for the dinosaur. "Hey, Dom. You gonna come out?" Tia whispered.

The guard shook his head. "I don't get your fondness over this thing," he muttered before he took a bite out of his donut.

Tia shrugged her shoulders. "She's cute…on a terrifyingly, creepy, I'm-going-to-kill-you way."

"If you say so."

Tia took a small notebook out of her pocket and began to write down her observations of the dinosaur. She had already filled up two notebooks already with details here and there. From what she had been told, this wasn't just any old dinosaur. This one had been cooked up in the lab. The very place she hoped to work someday. She wasn't sure why she observed the thing—partially out of sheer awe of the creature, but another part of her hoped that maybe she could provide them with some valuable data that would push her career in the right direction, rather than just the gift shop.

"Ready?" the guy operating the crane asked. Tia responded by nodding her head as she sat cross-legged on the floor, with her notebook and mechanical pencil ready. She watched as the dead carcass was carried out into toward the middle of the encasement.

Now, the waiting game began. Tia started the timer on her watch:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Suddenly, Tia's eyes caught sight of the bushes and trees beginning to move when out of nowhere Dom practically attacked her dinner. 8 seconds. It took her 8 seconds to get her breakfast. A little slow this morning.

Tia watched as she savagely tore into the flesh. She had learned to eat before coming otherwise she lost her appetite, but she was usually better by lunch. But she couldn't help but watch Dom. For some reason, the genetically enhanced dinosaur fascinated her. She could sit there for hours watching the thing, but she probably shouldn't.

The gift shop employee checked her watch and cringed. By the time she actually drove back down to Main Street, she would be cutting things close to getting there on time. She quickly stuffed her notebook back into her pocket and thanked the guard before running back to the golf cart she had hidden in the woods. Back to the old nine to five.