We're In This Together
Chapter Two
She was very uncomfortable. Her bed felt softer than usual for some reason, and the sheets a different material. Plus the room was warm, when usually it was cold due to her AC unit being on 24/7. She thought maybe the unit had broken down, but she had checked it over just last week. Could the power be out to the entire building? Sometimes that happened when a transformer blew.
"Why is it so hot in here?" She groaned, throwing off the covers as she turned on her side, trying to find a bit of cool fabric. When she found it she sighed in relief, until realizing her sheets were flannel and did not have cool spots.
She almost screamed when her eyes opened to see a very unfamiliar ceiling. She threw back the covers and was relieved to see she was still dressed, the only thing missing being her shoes. She could feel her hair sticking in every direction, and hoped that it wasn't looking as horrible as she thought it was. After a few seconds of looking around dazedly, she noticed a piece of paper lying on the nightstand with her name at the top.
Claire,
I left some clothes for you to change into when you wake up, if you want to. There's a glass of water and some ibuprofen sitting beside this note if you need them. I'll be outside if you need anything.
Owen
Owen's handwriting was much neater than she had expected it to be. Eventually Claire managed to take the pills, down the water, slide off the bed, and search for the aforementioned clothing. She started to ignore the offer, but once she glanced down to see her white skirt stained with dirt as well as her hands and legs a shower was officially in order.
A hot shower, a blue shirt with NAVY printed across the chest, and a pair of sweatpants later, Claire finally wandered in the direction she believed the living room to be. As she took in her surroundings, Claire was pleasantly surprised to find his home was actually fairly organized. It looked homey, a stark contrast to her own apartment. She felt a pang of guilt after noticing the pillow and rumpled blanket lying on the couch. He couldn't have been comfortable on that thing last night, and there had been more than enough room on his bed. But then again he may have been worried she would hit him first upon waking, and ask questions later. It was a valid concern.
"You're more of a gentleman than you let on." She murmured, running her hand over a picture of Owen wearing his Navy things. He really did look handsome in his uniform. She was almost tempted to ask if he would put it on for her sometime.
"You're up. How do you feel?" Claire jumped, almost knocking over the picture. She shot a glare at Owen as he tried to stifle his amusement from surprising Claire. Once her irritation faded, she took in his clothing curiously. White shirt and jeans covered in oil and grease again, similar to the first time she had met Owen.
Since InGen hired him, she didn't interview him, and thus had no idea who the man was handling the smartest animals they had on the island. She'd asked where he had been housed, and driven to meet with him. He had been working on his bike then too, which made Claire wonder if he just enjoyed tinkering with it or if it had reoccurring issues.
"I feel much better, thank you." They stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes before he cleared his throat, moving to the kitchen. She followed, not sure what else she could do at the moment.
"You're probably hungry since you didn't eat yesterday. Is there anything I can make you for breakfast?" He smiled at her as he spoke, causing a pale pink flush to rise up her neck.
"What do you usually eat?" She had already taken his bed and his clothes, she didn't want him to make anything he didn't like.
"Fried eggs, potatoes, bacon, and toast."
"That's sounds perfect." She watched in fascination as the raptor handler cooked. She had him pegged as a man who survived on microwave meals and take out, but he seemed pretty confident in his skills.
"How did you know I hadn't ate yesterday?" To his credit, Owen didn't falter as she asked.
"When you got sick yesterday hardly anything came up, so I figured you hadn't eaten all day. Add that on top of how stressful your job probably is, you must have had the mother of all migraines. You were unsteady on feet as well as sitting and your eyes were dilated when you came to the raptor pen yesterday, which is usually a sign of a concussion, migraine, or attraction to someone." He shot her another grin as he finished listing the signs, causing her to blush again.
She frowned, crossing her arms to let him know she wasn't amused. He simply chuckled and turned back to the stove to flip the bacon. She let her thoughts drift to how embarrassing she must have looked last night. It would explain the dirt on her skirt and body. Vaguely she remember asking him to stop the car and then tumbling out to attempt to get sick. She would have to ask Zara to take it to the dry cleaners after she finished organizing for the meeting. Panic flooded her when she thought of the meeting. She had to be at work.
"What time is it?"
"It's seven in the morning, why?" Claire jumped up, ready to bolt to the bedroom and grab her clothing. She was going to be late to work for the first time ever, and she had a meeting at one that absolutely could not be moved. Unfortunately her body was still feeling the effects of no food, and she almost fell over from the dizziness.
"Whoa! Calm down, I called your assistant this morning and told her what happened. She told me to tell you that she could take care of everything today, including the meeting. All you'd need to do to catch up is read some papers and sign them." Bless her wonderful assistant. She really, really needed to give her a raise after this. Probably a larger than necessary one, but Zara deserved it.
"Thank you, I guess. How did you get her number?" He gave her a sheepish grin and pointed to the phone plugged in by the bookshelf. Careful not to stand too fast, she went to the phone and saw it was hers.
"How did you get into it?" Owen held up one hand and wiggled his fingers before pointing back to her, all while not looking from the stove. It took a moment before she realized he was talking about the fingerprint scanner. She wanted to get mad at him, she really did, but she couldn't find it in her yell at the man who had probably kept her from wrecking and killing herself last night.
It had been a long time since anyone had taken care of her. Claire had been on her own since her mother died when she was fifteen. Of course she had Karen, who fortunately fought for custody to keep Claire away from their father, but she felt her poor older sister had enough to deal with, and didn't need a teenager to take care of when Karen had still been one herself. Owen taking the initiative to help her, despite her attempts to deny she needed help, struck something in her that made her feel warm.
"Why did you help me? I've been nothing but rude since that date." Owen sighed before placing a plate of steaming food in front of her. She would be lying if she denied how good it looked, and the fact her stomach growled loudly in anticipation.
"I will concede that half of that was my fault. I shouldn't have worn board shorts or drank on a first date, but you have to admit it was kinda your fault too. Who makes up an itinerary for a date? Discuss jobs at 9:00pm, I almost lost it in the middle of the restaurant."
"Fine, I shouldn't have made an itinerary. Anything else while we're discussing the worst date in the history of Jurassic World?"
"Aw, you only said the park instead of ever this time. I guess I'm growing on you." She wanted to smack him. He was a master as twisting her words, and it was seriously irritating. Claire was usually precise with her wording, especially when it came to nailing down difficult negotiations and meetings with the Park's lawyers. Yet this smug man in front of her could twist anything she said to benefit himself.
"Seriously though, I couldn't let you drive off when I could see you weren't feeling good. Just because we had one bad date doesn't mean I don't like you anymore." She had to grab her glass of orange juice to cover the small smile she couldn't hold back.
They ate the rest of their breakfast while making small talk. Owen told Claire all about his raptors, and how their progress was going. Claire told him about the new deal they were trying to nail down to begin construction for the new paddock. They mostly talked about the raptors, because Claire loved how excited he got while talking about them.
It was refreshing to see someone who loved their job. Usually she was stuck in an office all day with people who did what they were paid to do and then leave. It didn't matter if the work had actually been completed for the day or not. They came, worked for eight hours, and then left. Owen was something different. He probably would stay with the raptors without pay or health insurance, just because he loved his job so much.
After they finished eating, Claire offered to do the dishes. He tried to tell her no, but once she shot him the notorious Claire Dearing glare he surrendered and settled for drying duty. Their arms brushed occasionally, sending jolts up her arm. It was amazing how within twenty-four hours she went from hating the man to actually enjoying his company.
"So, uh, do you usually work on Saturday?"
"Sometimes if I need to, but not usually. Why?" Owen finished the last plate, and put it back in the cabinet. He turned on her, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms.
"How would you like to come to the raptor pen tomorrow? You can actually get the full tour and not be on the verge of collapsing this time. I'm sure the girls would love you."
"Carnivorous dinosaurs would love to see any human, Owen."
"You know what I mean. So how about it?"
"Owen, I don't know. I mean—" He strode forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. He seemed to be searching for something, until she let a small smile slip through. His own grin appeared as he stepped back and clapped his hands together once in victory.
"You can't think of a good excuse, so that means you're in. We feed them breakfast at 8, so be there before then if you want to see them on their best behavior." She couldn't help the full-blown grin that appeared as she watched him get excited. He was like a kid showing off his new toys he got for Christmas.
"Please, do not wear your heels. While I don't doubt you could walk on the catwalk with them, we could move a lot faster if you didn't." Claire scoffed and walked over to the couch, folding the blanket he had used the night before. It was a habit she had. If she was nervous she began straightening and cleaning up whatever was around her. Once the blanket and pillow were sitting neatly on the arm, she sat down and crossed her legs.
"Believe it or not, I don't wear business attire every minute I'm awake. I own regular clothing too." Owen joined her on the couch, angling himself to face her. His arm laid across the back of the sofa, the other resting on his leg.
"I'll believe it when I see it, Miss Dearing."
"Well then I'll just have to prove myself, Mr. Grady." He grinned and surprisingly she let herself smile back. Maybe being friends with a guy like Owen Grady wouldn't be all that bad.
