June 2nd, 2014
Kate bounded up the concrete steps of the innovation center along with the rest of the group. She was trying to keep pace with Callum but, all the while she left Sam behind. He had been used to it.
The group was small compared to the groups of families that were freely roaming in and around the center and the Main Street. They had to stick close together or else who knows what would happen if they had gotten lost.
Termination, probably. Her jaw dropped as they entered the center. Everything seemed to be way before their actual time. Holographs of flying dinosaurs littered the air above them, swooping down occasionally to unintentionally scare a little kid.
A large globe that showed what had happened with Earth throughout time with an instructor right by it looking bored. There was a small fossil pit where you could dig up bones.
And then across the way was a bronze statue of a man named John Hammond who had founded the first park. Kate was confused as to why they would put up a statue of him here.
Mila stopped the group in the middle of the center where a few others park members were waiting for them in their uniforms. They looked professional. It was almost like a cheesy stock photo when Mila joined their side. "May I have everyone's attention?" She announced trying to rally down her small group of newcomers.
Kate couldn't help but have a confused looked on her face. Sure Jurassic World was only her second job (Her first being at a roller skating rink. Don't ask.) but this was definitely one of the most weirdest orientations she's ever been to.
"Here at Jurassic World we strive to be the best in everything. From our animal handlers-" She pointed towards a large man with a gruff beard, and the small woman by his side. They both waved towards the group unenthusiastically. You could tell they'd rather be somewhere else. "-All the way to our custodians." She pointed towards a man towards the other end wearing a grey jumpsuit. He was older but, had kinder eyes than the animal handlers.
"We ask of our employees to take pride in their jobs, no matter the task. To maintain a professional stance while working. There are several working branches, if you'll call them that, here at Jurassic World. We have the I.T.'s who sit in the control room, run the park, make sure nothing goes wrong. We have the lab technicians, whose job is to discover new strands of D.N.A. to create more animals. Our fabulous animal handlers who take care of the animals, and study their behavior. Our amusement group, which are our tour guides, ride operators, merchandisers, anything involving the tourists first hand that doesn't involve animals basically." Mila droned on to the other groups of the park while Kate swayed back and forth bored.
She didn't really care for all of the jobs details at this moment. She just wanted to know what she was doing. Mila informed the group that there was the asset containment unit, the maintenance group, and the chain which were a bunch of outsourced restaurants that somehow paid their way to be included on the island. It must've cost a million dollars to have a place be displayed out here.
"Now, since you'll be working here, it'd only be fair to assign you to your jobs and your trainer. When I call you up, please finder your partner. They will then guide you through the rest of the day. Make you do paperwork. All that jazz." A small round of laughter came from the workers behind Mila.
Kate was confused once again. They either were laughing at her or someone had said something to make them laugh. Either way it caused Mila to clench her jaw and hold her clipboard tighter. The first two names she rattled off went straight to a man in black pants and a black t-shirt that read "A.C.U.". Must've been asset containment, Kate supposed. The two men did seem like meatheads, their broad muscular bodies making them look like over powered superheroes.
"Callum you'll be with Owen and Ari." Kate pressed her lips together as she watched Callum excitedly make his way towards the animal handlers. The man Kate presumed was Owen, who was the large man who waved from earlier, whooped and high fived Callum as he approached them. She noticed that Mila held an intimate eye on Owen before returning to her clipboard.
Kate couldn't lie, she was a little jealous of Callum working with the animals. It would be amazing if she got to work with animals as well. But, she remembered back to her conversation with Callum. When he started he was just the Jungle Cruise operator, nothing too big. Her heart deflated a little.
Just before Mila could open her mouth again someone cleared their throat, gaining her attention towards the staircase. Kate could hear the clicking of heels come down on them. Someone important was making their way towards them. She didn't know of any sane tourist who would dare wear heels around an amusement park.
"Good Morning everyone." A readhead greeted as she waltzed down the spiral staircase of the innovation center. She dressed in a beige pencil skirt, with matching heels, and a white sleeveless blouse that tucked in seamlessly to the skirt. Kate noticed how the man named Owen blatantly rolled his eyes in the opposite direction of the red head.
"Wow, wow!" Mila yipped excitedly making the woman blush furiously at the attention. "Miss Dearing you look exquisite today." Mila complimented her as she reached the bottom of the staircase.
Kate froze, her body becoming numb. It was Claire Dearing. The girl who had somehow chosen her application over thousands of others. Kate almost didn't deem herself worthy to be in her presence.
"Miss Dearing, meet all the round one new hires for the season." Mila waved her hand over the crowd of new faces. Claire plastered a fake smile on her face and waved to all of them quirkily. "How's island life treating you all so far?" Claire asked with a false happy tone.
There was a round of goods in the crowd. Kate just smiled awkwardly along side Sam and Callum. Claire's eyes settled on the vet tech near his mentor, her expression turning relaxed yet somewhat guarded. "Good to see you Mister Reeves. How's school?" Claire engaged, drawing all attention to Callum.
He shrugged his shoulders. "It's pretty okay." He admitted. Claire hummed. "Pretty okay?" She snorted. Callum realized his mistake, jumping a bit at her response. "I mean it's great, I appreciate you guys paying for it." Callum reworded, earning a pleased gaze from Claire.
"Good. I don't want the thousands of dollars we're spending to go to waste." She teased. Callum chuckled nervously along with the group. Owen patted his back in reassurance. That was a lot of money.
"Miss Dearing, was there anything that you needed?" Mila asked with a concerned brow furrowing. Claire's facial expression turned surprised like she had just remembered something. "Ah, yes, I'm actually here looking for someone. Miss Nealy?"
Kate's face drained from color. She had only been on the island for thirty minutes and she was already in trouble. Anxiety washed over her. "Y-yes?" She stammered out, speaking above the crowd and walking towards her. Claire smiled at her then looked towards Mila. "A moment, please. I'll return her when we're done."
Fuck.
That was the only word on Kate's mind at the moment. How could she have messed up already? She couldn't have. No one was supposed to really engage with her yet, her she was with Claire's arm wrapped around her shoulder as she guided her up the stairs. She looked back down towards Callum as she passed him on the staircase. He shrugged his shoulders. Owen looked up at her with an almost stern look and shook his head. That was reassuring.
What could her boss possibly want to talk about? Oh dear god. She's going to confront her about the selfie on the ferry.
"Miss Dearing if this is about the selfie I took on the boat over I'm sorry. I can take it down." Kate blurted out. Claire pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side. She could tell Kate was nervous. "I don't think that'll be necessary, Kathryn." Claire informed the new girl.
"Kate." She corrected Claire. Claire frowned a small bit. "Kate." Claire repeated. She couldn't guarantee that she wasn't going to make that mistake again.
She looked over to see Kate stiff, her nerves were racked. She couldn't blame Kate though. If she were in her situation she too, would be shaking where she stood. "We want everyone to work here to have the best experience. We like to maintain a fun work environment as well as safe." She added in the last part quickly as she opened up her office door leading Kate inside.
Kate was hesitant to step in but, she couldn't help but look at the view of the office. It was organized, from the books on the book shelves to the coffee placed beside Claire's computer monitor.
She took a seat in the plush white chair in front of the glass desk as Claire rounded to the other side. Kate started to chip away the pink nail polish on fingers as Claire started typing on the computer.
Claire let out a displeased sigh. She leaned over to look at the new girl sitting in front of her. "It'll just be a short moment. I'm sorry. Something came up." Claire apologized as she squinted her eyes at the computer screen, beginning to type again.
"You're fine." Kate shrugged off, chipping away at her nails. She watched as a pink flake of her Polish brushed off on to the white rug underneath her. Perhaps that wasn't a good idea.
Kate refrained herself from chipping her polish off and instead let her eyes wonder to the large glass wall behind Claire. It overlooked most of the park.
Not main street but, the actual animal of the park. She watched as a few apatosaurus's grazed among the tall trees in the distance. This had been her first sight of the dinosaurs. Her mouth involuntarily became ajar. She was now fully jealous of Callum.
Claire's lips twitched up into a small smirk as she watched Kate stare at the dinosaurs behind her in amazement. "Beautiful, isn't it?" She said, startling Kate from her dinosaur induced trance.
She jumped a bit as she came to making Claire silently chuckle. "I'm sorry," Her boss apologized while leaning on her elbow. "I didn't mean to scare you." Kate's face flushed pink with embarrassment. She didn't mean to daydream in front of her boss.
Claire cleared her throat once again while organizing some papers on her desk. "Miss Nealy, I'm guessing you're probably wondering why you're here."
She heard Kate snort a little before meeting her gaze. Claire's jaw tenses up at the small outburst. Unprofessional. However, she was just a kid, she didn't want to handle this like she would a thirty year old woman. Kate didn't know any better.
"Do you know how many applicants apply here yearly?" Claire quizzed the young girl. Kate's face flushed with panic. Was there a packet she was supposed to look at with the answer that she didn't receive? "Uh. N-no?" Kate stammered like a fish out of water.
Claire smirked at the answer. "Around fifty thousand." She replied, her tone of voice seeped with fake excitement. Kate made an "Oh" before staring at the ground in embarrassment.
"So Miss Nealy, do you know why we, no I, do you know why I chose you out of fifty thousand other applicants to come and work for us?" Kate fidgeted in Claire's gaze. Though Claire was small, beautiful, and elegant she was intimidating.
Kate felt as if she said the wrong answer Claire would have her back on the ferry to the mainland. Her mind wanted to say, "Is it because I impressed you somehow?" however when she opened her mouth the complete opposite came out.
"I...I don't know Miss Dearing." Kate wanted to slap her forehead as she cringed at the answer. Claire clasped her hands together and then pointed at the girl sitting across from her. "Potential." She stated.
She watched as Kate relaxed in her spot. "Potential?" Kate questioned, watching Claire stand up. She made her way over towards the glass wall behind her, looking out towards the plains where the herbivores were grazing.
"Yes, potential. Out of all the candidates interviews I had to watch for this job I found yours the most compelling I've seen in such a long time. It was...refreshing." Claire turned to see Kate blushing at her statement. "Th-thank you, Miss Dearing-"
"Call me, Claire." She snorted as she sat back down across from Kate.
"Thank you, Claire." Kate quickly said. Claire pulled out a manila folder with Kate's name on the tab.
Inside it, were a bunch of yellow legal pad papers with notes scribbled all over them.
"You managed to get through school with average grades, nothing so impressive that we had to hire you on the spot, your extracurricular being in volleyball. You said you made it to the tournament. How was that?"
"Oh. It was a blast." Kate answered. She was now getting used to being in Claire's presence. She felt as if there was nothing wrong.
"It looks like in Zara's notes, you were trying to get into college for business marketing. Have you been accepted anywhere?" Kate froze up again, she didn't really like to think about college.
She squirmed uneasily in her seat. "Well, I got accepted into the community college. I was going to try to start there. It's cheaper than going to a university right away-"
Claire looked up at her with questioning eyes that held disbelief. Kate's sentence trailed off as she looked at Claire. She was floundering. "You know, we do provide tuition to anyone who's looking to go to college in a field that we provide jobs in, right?" Claire stated with a small smile at the end of the sentence.
Kate recalled Callum saying something about it on the ride to the Innovation Center, and then again when Claire had interrupted the orientation. "I was somewhat aware of that. Yes. Do you, uh, provide that for someone going to college for business marketing?" Kate asked.
Claire lowly chuckled a bit at her question, disheartening Kate for a moment. "That's my job. Of course we provide for that." Claire smiled at the girl, who eagerly yet nervously returned it.
Claire went through Kate's file again, humming in the process. "You're actually the first person to want to go to college for business from the island." Claire remarked. Kate's lips twitched up into a crooked smile.
This must've been a compliment coming from Claire.
"Really?" Kate asked in disbelief. Claire nodded her head, closing her file. "You wouldn't believe how many people come here to go through our college programming for zoology, genealogy, animal behavior. It's just really refreshing to see someone here who wants to be anything but, a zoologist." Claire commented, standing up and grabbing a blue and green packet from her desk drawer.
She rounded her glass desk towards Kate and handed her the packet. "As long as you stay working with us, we will pay for your college-"
"To any college?" Kate absentmindedly asked, while flipping through the pages of the packet. Claire nodded her head. "Mhm." She hummed out.
Kate closed the packet to see Claire leaning on her desk with her arms crossed, a small smile on her face. "This is great. Thank you, Claire." Kate's voice was filled with excitement.
She wanted to stand up and hug her, but then again it was her boss and she wasn't the most touchy person either.
"So do you know what everyone is going to college for? Or went to college for?" Kate asked as she stood up next to Claire. "Everyone in the park. In your group I believe there were a few people who had gone to the military after high school, an engineer, quite a few zoologists. Then there was one who didn't really have plans for school." Claire chatted as she walked alongside Kate through the Innovation center. Kate raised her brows up at this. "Who was that-"
"I can't tell you that unfortunately. It's classified." Claire cut her off. She noted that Kate seemed to be a little nosy.
She returned to the spiral staircase where Mila still stood with her clipboard in hand. She was chatting with a park member beside her cordially.
The group Kate had been with was now gone. She didn't realize she was gone for that long. Mila and the girl she stood with smiled up at her and Claire, greeting them as they moved towards the bottom of the staircase. "She's all yours." Claire quipped as she pushed Kate slightly towards Mila.
"We just had to chat about future plans." She forced a giggle out at the two employees, only Mila returned the laugh.
Claire cleared her throat as she turned towards Kate. "Remember what I said." She stated, pointing at the packet in Kate's hands.
"Seriously think about it. It'd be exciting to see you grow in that field. You could be my intern, if you proved yourself well. I'd also seriously think about hiring you full time out of college to be my second half-"
Kate held a questionable brow up and a smile. She looked like she was going to burst into hysterics.
"Not what I meant. Second park manager." Claire finished with an eye roll. She whipped back around to Mila and the other employee. "Have at it." Claire bid a parting wave goodbye, winding her way up the staircase towards her office.
"Great." Mila breathed out, looking at her clipboard and then back towards Kate with a bored expression. "Kate you will be with Lydia." The girl with silky brown hair pulled back in a ponytail shot her hand up to the sky in greeting towards her.
Kate's lips pressed into a thin line. She took notice that Lydia's uniform was different than the animal handlers uniforms. She wore tan pants with a dark blue shirt that had the Jurassic World logo near the collar of the shirt. Underneath the logo was the dreaded job title she didn't want. Tour Guide.
"Hello." Lydia exclaimed with an almost sing-song tone as Kate approached her with a timid smile. Lydia stuck out her hand which Kate immediately took, softly shaking it. "So you're my new recruit." Kate smiled a toothy grin towards her trainer, wanting to impress her. "I guess I am." She shrugged her shoulders.
Mila cleared her throat demanding their attention. They both peered over at her with confused looks. "Lydia will be showing you the ropes for the rest of the day. Lydia, remember to make her fill out the paperwork for the job. Don't make this like last time." Mila warned with an eye roll. Kate became inquisitive to what had happened before. It sounded intriguing.
Lydia winked at Mila with a smirk. "You got it, boss." She grinned, her British accent sticking out. Mila once again rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw before walking away.
Lydia scoffed at her as she walked away. "Jesus, she can be a bitch at times." Lydia frowned, narrowing her eyes at Mila. Kate's eyes widened at her trainer. She was thrown off completely. Weren't all trainers supposed to be professional?
Lydia looked towards Kate and covered her mouth with both hands, a panicked expression falling upon her face. "I am so sorry. You weren't supposed to hear that!" Lydia apologized frantically.
Kate couldn't help when her mouth twitched up into a smile, or when she bursted out with laughter at Lydia. "No, no. It's fine. She's been acting pretty prissy this whole time." Kate noted. She watched as Lydia relaxed her shoulders and smile at her.
"She's probably antsy to get home and change into something a little skimpy. Lord knows she has to remind Owen that she's his every time a new batch of people get hired." Lydia rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.
Kate recalled to Owen. He was the man that Callum was assigned to meet up with. She remembered him being broad and tall but, not too appealing to her.
She paused to think who Sam could've gone with. She hadn't thought about Sam all day up until now. She wondered if he was going to college for zoology like every other person. She snapped out of her haze and smirked up towards Lydia.
"I hate people like that." She noted as she began walking alongside Lydia towards the entrance of the Innovation Center. Lydia lowly chuckled. "Oh we're going to be such good friends, I can already tell." She yipped as she brought her arm around Kate and tugged at her tightly.
"This is where you'll be staying." Lydia guided her towards the end of a long hallway. Kate had spent most of the day figuring out where everything was on the island that she'd need to know, like where the bathrooms were and where the cafeteria was for employees. Tomorrow was her first official day of training.
Their last stop together was a hotel looking building which were apparently the dorms for the employees. Lydia jingled Kate's keys in her hand to grab her attention.
The keys had a small brown surfboard keychain with intricate dinosaur fossils decorating the board, on the back of the board was her room number. 234.
Kate found this to be extremely flawed. Why would they have a keychain with keys attached with the number of the dorm the key went to? It was like asking for someone to get robbed.
Kate took note that she was the second door from the end of the hallway. At the end was a large window that had the view of the aviary and a glimpse of Main Street which was brightly lit up at night. Lydia opened Kate's dorm room and whistled. Kate peered inside of it.
It was about the size of a hotel suite. Her suitcases were on top of a queen sized bed with plush cream colored linens. Across from the bed was a small cream couch that was facing a television that was plastered to the wall. "Claire, really, hooked you up." Lydia awed at the suite, plopping herself down on the arm of the couch.
Kate's breath hitched. She must've been upgraded since she had plans to be a business marketing major. Jurassic World was really trying to win her over.
"I'm going to have to come over and crash with you a couple night a week...ah!" Lydia yelped, quickly making her way over towards a small black fridge hiding in a corner of the room. Kate held a questioning brow while looking at Lydia kneeling down before the fridge.
She turned around displaying a tiny Diet Coke in her hand. "A mini fridge!" Lydia was drooling over Kate's suite. She obviously needed to get on Claire's good side. She couldn't help but, be a little jealous. "I'm taking this." She stated, caressing the tiny can in her hands.
She made her way towards the nightstand next to Kate's bed. She held up a tiny index card for Kate to see.
"Here's the wifi password. It's free, relax. My number is on here, so is Claire's but only call her if it's a true emergency. The Control Center's number is on here, so is the maintenance staff's number. And-"
Lydia took the pen that was beside the index card and started to scribble something on it. She held up the card for Kate to see again.
"Domino's number is on here." Kate's stomach growled hungrily, even though she had just ate in the cafeteria with Lydia something about Domino's sounded good to her. "We have one of those?" Kate's voice was filled with awe as she plucked the sheet of paper out of Lydia's hand.
Lydia nodded her head. "It's in one of the hotel's. Be sure to tell them you're an employee though. You'll get a discount but, you'll probably be on the back burner if other guests decide to call and order from them." Lydia informed her while stepping towards Kate's door.
It was around eight thirty and she needed to give her some time of her own. "Before I go do you remember where the cafeteria is from here?" Lydia called back for Kate. Kate had opened her suitcase and had begun putting away her clothes, leaving her uniforms that Lydia had given to her placed on the back of the couch.
Kate pursed her lips as she pried back in her memory. "I think so." Kate's voice didn't sound too reassuring. Lydia smiled at her trainee. "It's okay, I'll stop by here and grab you before we start. It'll be easier and that way I can steal another Coke." She chuckled before clapping her hands together.
"The park opens at ten in the morning, which means we have to be there at eight, which means I'll be here at seven thirty. So...be ready by then." Lydia instructed Kate who nodded firmly. She'd have to up by six in the morning to get ready.
Lydia turned to open the door, she abruptly stuck her head in for a moment. "Also, Friday's are usually party days. I don't mean like holiday parties. I mean like actual parties the staff throws for each other. They're not mandatory. Some people don't even get invited to some. They're usually held at Owen's place since he's more special than you are Miss Suite. He's got his own stupid, little, bungalow." Lydia rolled her eyes as she thought of Owen's house.
Kate looked at her with confused yet focused eyes. "Anyways, you should come. I'm inviting you. So. Be there. Or be square." Lydia babbled on with a confused look on her face. This only made Kate feel awkward and confused. "Yeah...I'll be there." Kate replied awkwardly with a laugh.
Lydia awkwardly laughed at this as well. "Great, see you there." She bid her trainee goodbye, slowly shutting the door. Kate shook her head and tallied that up to the most awkward encounter she's ever had.
As Kate finished unpacking, she plopped herself down on the cozy cream colored couch, nestling herself in the fuzzy beige blanket that was provided. She turned on the television flicking through the first five channels that were all about the park until finding a movie that she held dear to her heart and reminded her of home.
Home. Kate fished around the couch for her phone. She punched in her passcode and immediately went to Skype where she clicked on someone's name forcing it to ring. After a few rings or so the person picked up with a hello. Kate waved at the screen of her phone. "Hi mommy."