Chapter Seventeen

Just a Day

Part One

Grant had been sharing his trailer with the parrot for the fourth consecutive month and the squawking bird was beginning to grate on his thinning nerves.  Why on earth had he bought the damn thing in the first place?  He glared at the animal and muttered: "Don't you ever shut up?"

"Shut up.  Shut up.  Shut up."

Releasing an irritable sigh, Grant turned his attention back to the newspaper, sipping at his bitter coffee.  From across the table, Ellie giggled and shook her head.  "You know, Alan, it's your own fault for buying that particular parrot.  He is the most outgoing of the Amazon birds."

He peered up at her through hooded eyes, noisily turning the page.

"Damn.  Damn.  Damn.  Elvis has left the building."

Grant slammed the paper down and scowled at the parrot.  "You want to go back to the store?"  He glanced wearily at Ellie.  "He's like having a kid around.  Except we missed the terrible stages of diaper changing and three in the morning feedings."

"I don't know, Alan.  I don't think diaper changing would be all that bad."

Grant eyed her strangely before rising from his chair, tossing the newspaper under his arm.  "I'm going to check on things."

"Alan, it's Spring Break.  What's there to check on?  Most of the students are off partying in California."  Ellie finished her toast, peering up at him with amusement.  "What's the real reason you're sneaking out?  Is our baby giving you a headache?" she teased, glancing over at the parrot.  "You know, we can always cover the cage."

Grant shook his head, rolling his eyes.  "No, no, no…it's fine; and I'm not sneaking out.  That would be kind of hard to do since you know about my great escape."  He leaned down, pecking her on the lips.  "I'm just going to check with Gregory.  Then I'm thinking I'll head into town and stock up on supplies.  I'll be back later this evening."

"Do you want me to make dinner or will you eat in town?"

"I'll be back for dinner.  I don't expect to be out passed five."

Part Two

It was ten o'clock and Ellie was tapping her foot against the tiled floor, tossing pieces of crackers into the birdcage.  She had packed the dinner away, storing it in the fridge where it could wait to be eaten.  She had paged him, but the phone remained silent.  Irritation melting into exhaustion, she got up and used the bathroom.

Flushing the toilet, she heard the sound of the door closing.  Sighing, she quickly washed her hands and strolled out, headed towards the living room.  "You're passed your curfew mister," she joked, entering the room and stopping dead in her tracks.  "Alan?  What the hell happened to you?"

Standing at the doorway, he was shedding off his muddy clothes.  "Ellie, get me something to put these in."

She retrieved a hamper and handed it to him.  "Why do I have a feeling this'll be good?"

He grunted, tossing his soggy clothes into the hamper.  His hair was standing up, twisted in all directions; and his face was covered in grime.  "You don't know what I went through to get home.  Did you know it rained?"

"Yes, but that doesn't explain your attire."  She grinned with appreciation as he removed the remainder of his clothes except for his boxers.

He grumbled, trekking into the bathroom where he stripped the rest of the way and hopped into the shower.  Laughing, Ellie followed and sat on the lid of the toilet.  "Come on," she called out over the roar of the water.  "You have to tell me what happened."

"My truck broke down."

Ellie rolled her eyes and patted the shower curtain.  "You're going to have to do better than that."

"Before my truck broke down I helped a woman change her flat tire.  Then I had to jimmy inside the hood because her vehicle wouldn't start: hence the grime and oil.  After getting it started, I continued home when my truck stalled out.  Not able to get it working, I walked.  It rained.  I fell into a large mud hole on the east side of Site C.  Happy?"

Ellie laughed, peering her head around the edge of the curtain.  "It could only happen to you, Alan."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he swatted the washcloth at her.  "Now get out of here and let me wash in peace."

Still giggling she withdrew.  "Do you want me to heat you up something to eat?"

"No, I think I'll let myself slowly starve to extinction."

Ellie left for the kitchen, still chuckling to her self.

End Chapter Seventeen

Princess_diva06:  In regards to your review of my other story, Jurassic Park Revised: you had said that you didn't want me to discontinue this story.  So…I guess I'll keep it going.  It's almost finished, though.  Just a couple more chapters and I'll be wrapping it up.  Thanks for reading it!