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Are you excited for our date, Honey Bear?
She ignored his text for as long as her frazzled mind would allow. Honey Bear? Absolutely not.
Don't call me that. And define "excited."
Excited: from the Latin excelsior, meaning you can hardly contain yourself as you sit in your office; you're jittery, counting down the seconds until you see me again.
She snorted and was extremely happy no one was in the car with her as she was parked outside the control room.
Excelsior? Really? You're an idiot. And I'm not in my office. I'm in my car.
So excited you're already in your car? Damn, Claire. Try to control yourself.
I'll try. I just can't seem to get enough of your manly, knee-weakening scent, though. I'm so impatient to see you.
She bit her lip, smiling as she pressed send. Now that they shared this secret of a fake relationship, she was starting to enjoy their banter. She was more willing to accept his teasing because it seemed like he enjoyed when she returned it.
Baby, you say the word, and I'll be there in a flash.
She hid her smile as she exited her car and walked up the steps leading into the building. After twenty minutes or so of dealing with Lowery's rants on the ridiculousness of all the product placement, she felt her phone go off again in her hand.
But in all seriousness, you're still planning on going tonight?
Yes. Nine o'clock. Building D. I'll be there.
Good. Me too. Eat beforehand. I doubt they'll have anything more than some chips out.
She had assumed as much.
Will do. Just have to figure out what I should wear.
Well it'll be about 100 of twenty- and thirty- somethings getting wasted on cheap beer, outside, in Costa Rica. So I'll be in a tux. I'd say you should go with a ball gown and pearls.
You don't think pearls would be too much?
Nah, just don't wear the strand that has the diamonds between the pearls. THAT would be too much.
She noticed Lowery looking at her funny and realized she had a massive grin on her face.
I have work to do. I'll see you at 9. And also...shouldn't YOU be working?
It was a few minutes before he responded.
I make time for the special lady in my life. At the moment that happens to be you. Enjoy it while it lasts, sweetheart.
"Sweetheart" isn't so bad...
Yes, it is. See you later, honey bun.
She rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to the screens before her.
"How's everything going, Lowery?"
"Good," he said with a shrug. "I was feeling like I was getting a cold earlier but now I'm thinking it's probably just allergies..."
"I meant with the park."
"Yeah, right. I knew that," he said, turning around to his desk and began looking over the data he was responsible for.
...
She groaned as she pulled up to Building D. Board shorts? Really?
Thank God she wasn't actually dating him.
He pushed off his motorcycle as she opened the car door and stepped out. He looked her up and down, taking in her skinny jeans and blouse.
"Okay, the jeans are nice, but the top?" he said critically. "Come on, Claire."
"What?" she asked defensively. She liked her blue satin top. The collar was a bit wide on her shoulders and the sleeves fell onto her arms.
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "I just hate to think of how much money you've spent on your wardrobe. If beer gets spilled on you tonight, I'm not paying for your dry cleaning, just so you know."
"At least I put some effort into my appearance," she said, eyeing his board shorts in disapproval.
"It's hot!" he exclaimed. "Come on, let's just...go."
He waved his hand, indicating he wanted her to follow him. She did so as he walked around Building D into the courtyard area of the employee residential compound. Neither Owen nor Claire lived on this part of the island, though. Owen had a small piece of land on the east side of the island. She hadn't ever been there, but knew of it as part of his deal collaborating with InGen on the raptors. Claire, along with many of the other higher level personnel, lived in a building in the resort area of the island. It was much better kept than the state of this building which, even though the oldest one had only been built seven years ago, were starting to look dingy and unkept. Claire shuddered at the thought of the tourists seeing this part of the island.
The party, just as Owen's friend Matt said, was held mostly out in the courtyard, but Claire could see people milling about at the entrance of Building E. Owen began weaving in and out of the party goers, and Claire tried her best to keep up with him but the uneven ground of the cracked sidewalks was difficult to navigate with so many people around. She managed to catch up to him during a break in the crowd and reached her hand out, grabbing hold of his right arm just below the elbow. He turned slightly and smiled at her before turning back around and continuing on his way, his destination unknown to her. He had held his hand back for her, which she begrudgingly took.
A lot of different people they walked past greeted him enthusiastically. He was clearly a popular guy on the island. He was nice enough to smile and wave back at everyone, occasionally giving up a high five. Once everyone saw who was following him, they all sort of stood shocked, eyes glued to her or their joined hands.
"Everyone's staring at us," she muttered to him as loudly as she dared over the music.
"We're a pretty attractive couple," he explained grinning at her. "Come on, I see Barry."
"Who?"
"He works with me and the raptors. Shouldn't you know that?"
"I can't keep track of everyone that works at the park, Owen," she said petulantly.
"You should at least know your boyfriend's closest friend and partner," he argued.
"Fake boyfriend, remember?"
"Don't say that too loud," he warned.
He pulled her along behind him, wading through packed picnic tables and sporadic lawn chairs.
"Barry!" he called out.
The other man quickly noticed his friend and made room on the picnic bench he was sitting on. There was only space for one, really, so Owen offered the spot to Claire who happily agreed to take it.
"So you're Owen's new girl," Barry asked her, though it sounded more like a statement.
She nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you. Owen's told me a lot about you," she lied.
"Well you should know he's a lying fool."
"The fool part I've had figured out for a while now," she admitted quickly.
Barry smiled and looked up at his friend. "She's way too good for you, man."
"So I keep hearing," Owen said tightly.
Claire smirked but placed her hand on his that was resting on the table next to hear. He looked down, probably in surprise, and smiled at her.
"Where are they hiding the beers?" he asked Barry.
"Beers are in a couple coolers over there." He pointed to their right. "And they have liquor, sodas, and water in eighteen," he said with a nod of his head in the direction on E Building.
"What do you want?" Owen asked her. "Anything?"
She shrugged. "A water would be nice."
"Alright," he said, holding his hands out to her. She took them and he pulled her up and, to her surprise, into his arms. "We'll be back later," he said to Barry.
But he didn't move immediately, and Claire was trapped in his embrace. Her hands were on his chest, up towards his shoulders, and his were clasped together around her waist. He was smiling down at her suspicious look.
"Hey, there, sugar," he said softly.
She grimaced at the pet name. "Try again," she said. He laughed, nodding, then took her hand in his and lead the way into the building and over to apartment eighteen.
There were a lot of people milling about in the hallway, and the same music seemed to be blaring everywhere they went even though she had yet to see a speaker. Inside the apartment, couples were seated on the various couches and chairs set out, many of which were canoodling closely.
Owen pulled her around to be in front of him, his hands on her hips, as he guided her between the crowd of people mixing their own drinks. There was a small opening of counter space by the dishwasher and he lead her in that direction.
"Water?" he confirmed. She nodded, not wanting to speak and draw more attention to herself. She glanced around and noticed that thankfully the people in the room seemed to be too preoccupied to pay attention to her.
Owen walked towards the fridge, having to ask a few people to move out of the way, and grabbed a cold water bottle from within. He brought it back to her, asking her again if she didn't want anything stronger.
"Holy shit! It's true!" said a loud, booming male voice.
"Shit," Owen groaned.
"Owen fucking Grady fucking Claire fucking Dearing. Jesus Christ!" the voice said again. Claire finally saw who she suspected the voice belonged to as a man made his way over to them, craning his neck to see over the crowd as he did so.
Owen stepped closer to Claire and put both hands on the counter on either side of her. He leaned forward and she tried not to appear uncomfortable with his closeness.
"Maybe if we're very quiet and don't move, it'll go away," he suggested half-heartedly.
"Friend of yours?" she asked.
"Friend is a strong word," he mused.
The man's words seem to have brought the rooms' attention all to focus on the two of them.
"How the fuck did you manage this? How does this even happen?" the man said as he finally got up next to them. Claire noticed his small stature immediately and wondered if that was the cause of his over enthusiastic proclamations.
"Fuck off, Connor," Owen said through gritted teeth.
Connor...she knew that name. This must be the guy Owen had said he'd already had to deal with regarding their fake relationship the morning she attempted to fake break up with him.
"No, man, I'm serious," Connor said, smiling obnoxiously white teeth at the two of them. "I'm genuinely curious. How's a guy like you fuck a girl like Claire Dearing?" He laughed an even more obnoxious laugh, looking around to see if people agreed with him.
"Hey! Watch your mouth," Owen warned.
"Oh, no, you're right," Connor sobered up immediately and looked to Claire. "I'm sorry, Miss Dearing. You'll have to forgive me. I'm a little drunk. Plus," he added laughing, "seeing the two of you together makes me feel like I'm tripping balls."
"Well, Connor, as always, you've been a delight. We're going to head out," Owen said, grabbing Claire's hand and pulling her toward the exit.
"But really," Connor continued, not giving up easily, "what was it you saw in him?"
Claire looked ahead of her to see Owen's tensed shoulders and neck. Should she say something? What does a girlfriend even do in situations like this? Maybe she should show some affection? Would that calm Owen down?
She reached forward with her free hand and put it on his shoulder, squeezing a little to massage the muscle. His hand, still holding tight to hers, squeezed back.
"Hey, I just want to congratulate you," Connor called, still following them. "You guys seem really cute together. I bet the sex is amazing, right Owen? She's gotta be a freak, am I right?"
That made him stop short. They had made it to the hall now and the people around them were watching with a hushed curiosity.
Owen turned around, his eyes focused on what she was sure was Connor's face behind her. She turned around before he could act, ripping her hand out of his.
"You're right," Claire said confidently. "The sex is incredible. It's so nice to finally be with a man who can keep up with me. Maybe one day, when you get more confidence in your masculinity and manhood, you'll make a woman feel just as satisfied as he makes me." She turned back around to face Owen who was fighting a smile. "Shall we go? Barry's probably wondering where we are."
Owen turned back around and placed his arm around his shoulder. She took note of his smug smile.
As they exited the building, he leaned down to speak low into her ear. "You're amazing. I think I'm falling in fake love with you."
"Just remember I did that for you the next time I need your report on the raptors turned in, okay?"
Sassy Claire is the best Claire. =]
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