Chapter 14

Summary:

Owen isn't happy about how Kira is taking advantage of Alise, so he threatens to kick her out. He only agrees to let her stay if Alise and him can set some ground rules and boundaries for her if she's going to stay for another month and a half. Kira doesn't take it as seriously as she should.

I knew I had to tell Owen how long Kira was planning on staying as soon as possible, but I had a habit of putting things off until I was backed into a corner and that's exactly where I was.

Owen texted me the next morning to ask me if I talked to her, to which I replied: Of course I talked to her. It's all sorted now! He texted back, asking me the result. I was just on my way into work and was easily distracted by the schedule that Dr. Collier just sent me.

That, and I didn't exactly want to tell him what she said. Not yet and certainly not over text. I'd have to talk to him in person about this, knowing how big of a deal this was. Answering him back simply slipped my mind until later that evening when he texted me again saying: busy day? It was basically Owen's way of saying 'why the fuck didn't you text me back' - except less aggressively, of course.

I felt like an idiot for not responding yet, but every time I remembered I had to text him back, I kept pushing it off, figuring that dealing with it later would be better. Well, now it's later Alise, time to get your shit together.

Really busy. I'd go into it, but it's a lot over text.

So then, he called me. I should have expected it, I basically walked right into that one. The first thing he asked was how I was doing and what happened during the day, so the Kira thing was put on the backburner for now - thankfully. We had a long conversation about how each of our days went and I kept rambling on about things I normally wouldn't ramble on about, like about the surgery I had earlier today, or just going off on a tangent about the dinosaurs using vet talk that I knew he didn't really understand, until finally, Owen had enough.

"What's the deal? Why are you so talkative?" he asked.

"What do you mean why am I so talkative? I'd like to think of myself as a pretty talkative person…" I trailed off, clearly stalling. That wasn't exactly true, but compared to Owen I was talkative, that was for sure.

"You only ramble on about pointless stuff when you're deflecting and you're avoiding something…" he pointed out. I sighed, he was right. I should have known he'd catch on.

"Pointless stuff? Now that's offensive-" I said, ready to go on another rant, but Owen wasn't having it.

"Alise." he said sternly, which got me to shut up. The second he said my name like that, I knew he meant business.

"Owen, it's nothing. I'm just overtired. I've been up since 4 in the morning because I couldn't sleep and now my brain is fried. I have dust in my hair and dirt all over myself," I sighed. "I think I just I need a long, hot shower and to go to sleep."

"Okay, that's all you had to say," he said, seeming to understand and take that as my reasoning. "You go take a shower and get some rest, we'll talk in the morning. Love you."

I smiled, "I love you too."

He hung up after that and I let out a sigh of relief.

Of course, I was still nervous about the Kira thing and that's why I had been so talkative on the phone with Owen, but he didn't catch onto that, thank god. I just needed to buy myself time to figure out what to say exactly. I knew this was a sensitive topic for him, apparently anything Kira-related was a sensitive topic for some reason. I had no idea what his reaction would be. This was all uncharted territory for me. I mean, do I just come out and say it straight? Plead with him and tell him how sorry I am? Start to cry so he feels bad and doesn't yell at me?

I had to figure out quick because Owen was smart and caught onto things quickly, so it's only a matter of time before he found out and I want it to come from me.

The next morning I met up with Lucy for breakfast around 8 am. She had spent the night at the resort in a hotel room (which she did from time to time when she wasn't staying with a friend). She had a 9 am shift today, then was back on the 5 pm boat to stay at her apartment on the mainland in Costa Rica because she had classes tomorrow, starting at 8 am.

I don't know how she does it - balancing working here and going to university full-time. She said she loved working here. Her stepdad is an investor of the park, so she's been coming here since it opened 8 years ago. It was the reason why she wanted to go into Veterinary Pharmacology (even though she knew working with dinosaurs was different from working with other animals, but she hoped one day she'd be able to work with the dinosaurs).

She seemed to have everything under control and down to a system and I admired that. It was kind of how I was when I was in college.

"So wait a second, she really asked you to stay a month and a half? And didn't even ask? Basically just told you?" Lucy exclaimed in shock, her eyes wide.

"Well, she didn't really just tell me, she asked…"

"If she really asked you would you have said 'yes'?" she asked. I opened my mouth and thought for a minute, then closed it, embarrassed by what my answer would be. "Of course you would because you're too nice of a person." she said.

"I couldn't help it… I was just more shocked than anything." I defended.

"And she's taking advantage of you." she pointed out. She was completely right.

I sighed, "I know I'm being taken advantage of, but she said she was so grateful to have me helping her and lending a hand. What if she had no one else to help her like I can?"

"You're right. She might not have anyone else in her life that is helping her like you are, but there might be a reason for that. Owen has been trying to tell you something about her, hasn't he?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, he hasn't gotten the chance then it kind of just slipped my mind and I don't know if it's on his mind anymore, it kind of just blew over..."

"That might be the case with that, but knowing Owen, he's not gonna like this. Not just because she's staying longer, but because she's walking all over you. I know that's the last thing he'd want to see. And I take it you haven't told him yet, otherwise, we'd be having a completely different conversation."

"I know, you're right," I sighed. "I have to tell him soon. I can't keep avoiding it."

"You'll be fine. You can handle it. He won't get too mad." Lucy said, taking the last bite of her spinach, egg and cheese sandwich.

"Yeah, 'too mad', he'll still get mad though." I said, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Well, it's Owen, of course, he'll get mad," she laughed. "He'd probably give you that stern and silent glare." she said, trying to impersonate him with her lips pressed and eyes tight.

"Totally not helping!" I said, shaking my head. It was hard not to laugh because she got the look so spot-on.

"My shift starts in 15. Good luck talking to him and remember, you got this." she said, picking up her plate.

"I'll let you know how it goes." I smiled at her as she walked away. I took a large gulp of coffee as an attempt to push away the nervous butterflies in my stomach. This was not going to be fun, but I had to talk to him. Tonight.

I invited Owen over that night so we could talk. I also texted Kira and asked what she'd be up to and she said she'd be out with her friends for most of the night. That would be perfect, I could talk to Owen without any interruptions or being worried if she'd overhear.

Or at least it was perfect until I came home at 6 pm and she was in the living area with the TV blasting. Apparently, her friends bailed so she said she was staying home tonight. Of course, on the one night I actually need her out of the house.

I convinced her to go in her room for a couple of hours, just so Owen and I could talk. Of course, she had all of her questions, but I avoided them and steered the conversation in another direction. She didn't catch on surprisingly, I was kind of worried she'd be as in-tune with things as Owen is. He can always tell when someone is bullshitting him and he's not afraid to call someone out on it. But she was different, she wasn't as observant.

I told her we just wanted privacy and it took a lot of convincing (and mostly begging), but she finally agreed. I had a feeling she wouldn't stay in there for long though and as I guessed, she lasted about 20 minutes before she came out when she smelt the dinner I was making, which was salmon and herbs with couscous and mixed veggies.

Owen texted me and said he wasn't going to be here for another 20 minutes, so I let Kira eat in the living area while watching TV, but on the condition that when Owen got here, she'd make herself scarce.

He finally got here around 8 and she surprisingly went into the room without a fight, which I was grateful for. I let him in the apartment and greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"So… I made brownies." was the first thing I said when he walked into the kitchen. I held up the plate and smiled at him. I had just finished cutting them right when he got here.

Owen squinted at me, "What'd you do?"

"What? Why would you say that?!" I asked nervously. How could he see through this?! "Have a brownie!" was all I could think to say, I was clearly nervous and I knew he could tell. I should have known he'd see through it.

"Just tell me." He said.

"Not until you have a brownie…" I smiled, hopeful. Brownies make everything better. It'd soften the blow from the hammer I was about to swing. He raised his brows at me, waiting for an answer and clearly not up for a brownie. Bribes don't work on him I guess, noted.

"Fine," I sighed, putting the plate down on the counter. "Kira's staying here longer than expected…"

Owen tensed, "How long?"

"A month and a half…" I said quietly, looking down, waiting for his reaction. I was still worried about what he might do.

I slowly looked up at him when I noticed him just staring down at me. I couldn't gage him. He didn't look angry, upset, annoyed, or happy (which I doubt would be his reaction) but the point was, I couldn't read his face. It was a blank expression.

"Is she here?" He finally asked.

"Yeah… she's in her room…" I said quietly and confused. He just looked at me then quickly walked away to the hallway and towards Kira's room.

"Owen, what are you doing?" I asked, quickly following him to the guest room. When he got there, he knocked on the door hastily.

"Come in!" Kira said cheerfully before Owen barged in. "Oh, hey Owen!"

"Pack up your shit, let's go." was all Owen said, beckoning her over with his index and middle finger.

Kira's face fell, "W-what?"

"Owen…" I said calmly, grabbing onto his arm, but he quickly pulled it away.

"You can't stay here. Pack up your shit. I'm taking you to the airport right now." He said, looking around her room and grabbing clothes that were scattered all over the place and started to pack them up in her suitcase that was on the floor near the closet.

"What? No! I can't leave, what are you doing?" Kira said, standing up, pleading with him. "Please, Owen, I can't go back yet! You don't understand!" now she was crying and tears were streaming down her face.

Owen stopped what he was doing and looked at her, then back to me. He looked pissed and I was worried about what he might do next, but instead of putting up more of a fight, he sighed.

"If you're going to stay here there need to be boundaries." He finally said after a long silence.

"What do you mean?" Kira sniffled.

"Alise and I are going to come up with some ground rules and then we're all going to sit down tomorrow and talk about it, alright?"

Kira looked down and nodded, sniffling again, "Okay."

Owen nodded and walked out. I gave Kira a small smile and followed him out.

"Do you wanna talk about this now or do you wanna talk about this later?" I asked him.

"I need to take a walk." He still looked visibly angry, but not as pissed off as before.

"So later then," I said and he nodded and looked down. I could tell he was clearly upset, but he didn't move or leave, so I sighed and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. "We'll figure this out, Owen. Don't worry." I said, stroking the back of his head.

He sighed, "I know." He kissed my forehead.

"Ooo do I smell brownies?" Kira asked as chipper as ever. No one would have known she was crying just moments ago.

Owen tensed up and pulled away, giving me a look of frustration as Kira walked over to the brownies and popped one in her mouth.

"Walk?" I asked.

"I'll be back tomorrow." he nodded before leaving.

I bit my lip to hold in a laugh as how insanely screwed up this situation was, but I didn't want to encourage Kira, who was now sitting with her butt on my counter once again, eating another brownie.

Now I need a walk. And I don't even wanna come back tomorrow.

The next day I had work bright and early. Nothing too exciting happened. I was helping to train the new assistants, Sofia and Leo because Mark and Olivia's semester internship was up, so I was stuck inside most of the day. I was the only permanent assistant as Margo and Ed were done a couple of months ago as well. They usually took on college students that needed an internship for the assistants, I was the only exception because they wanted a full-time assistant that could handle and manage everything else.

Owen and I met at Three Horns around 5:30 pm to talk about the Kira situation. We came up with guidelines to talk to Kira about.

1: she had to get a job. I could easily get her one at Three Horns or if she didn't want to do that, she'd get one at a gift shop. There were always jobs available on the island, Owen or I will be able to find her one quickly.

2: she couldn't go out drinking every night and come home plastered at 3 in the morning knocking shit over for me to clean up in the morning.

3: she had to do her own dishes and keep her stuff in her room because I wasn't going to clean up after her anymore.

4: she couldn't rely on me for food every day, she had to be a big girl and get it herself sometimes.

5: she can't eat all of my food without replacing it, because that's been a big issue as of late. And with the job, she'd be able to afford to buy more food.

Those were the major ones Owen and I could come up with, if there were more than what we came up with, we'd sit down and talk to her about them. We thought that was pretty fair. I wasn't going to make her pay rent or anything, her buying her own food and cleaning up after herself would make it easier to live with her.

Owen no longer trusted me to have a sit down with her on my own, which I could take offense to, but I agreed with him. I was weak-willed and all she had to do was bat her eyes, give me a hug and a few compliments and she had me in the palm of her hand. At least I know it.

I had texted Kira earlier that day to make sure she'd be home by 8 for us to talk to her. We thought that'd be a reasonable time, but not surprisingly, she never showed up. My first reaction was to be annoyed, but then I thought something could have happened, but Owen said this was a normal thing for her according to his Aunt. I texted her to make sure she was okay around 8:45 with no response, then Owen decided to text her at 9:30 and 10:30 saying god-knows-what. Both of which she never answered to.

We gave up around 11 and decided to call it a night and Owen decided he'd just spend the night since it was already so late. We both had a really long day with work, so we were exhausted.

I was deep in slumber when I heard a noise come from outside of my room. I picked my head up and squinted, glancing at the time on the nightstand clock: 3:06 am. My eyes widened and burned when the door to my bedroom swung open and the lights flipped on.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Kira asked, standing in the doorway.

She was clearly drunk and this time it was not only evident by the way she was slurring, but how she couldn't stand up straight and was leaning against the doorframe. That's not even the first thing that caught my attention. She was wearing a long fur jacket, a black cocktail dress that looked oddly familiar and almost exactly like one I had, she had a tiara and a sash that said 'It's my 18th birthday'.

There were so many questions that I had, but the first one that came to mind was: "Is it your birthday?"

"No, not at all. It's not until November." she said casually, shrugging her shoulders.

I squinted, "Okay…" then why in the hell was she wearing a sash that said that? And why in the hell was she dressed like a hooker? I shook it off, given it was 3 am and I was in the middle of sleeping, all of those questions could wait.

"So you wanted to talk? Or am I interrupting something?" she asked, glancing over at Owen as if she were insinuating something may have been going on, even though Owen was clearly sleeping.

"Yes, our sleep." I groaned.

"So right now's not a good time?" she asked.

"Not really." I said.

"Okay, well later doesn't really work for me…"

"Why don't you just go get some sleep and we'll figure it out later?" I asked, clearly sleepy and irritated. I mean, what the hell?

"Okay, so I was interrupting something? You two crazy kids have fun!" she smirked before closing the door.

I groaned, throwing my head into the pillow, wishing my lights were clappers and I could shut them off without getting up. Since that wasn't the case, I reluctantly got up to turn them off, then got back into bed. I glanced at Owen, who looked like he was still peacefully sleeping. "Did you really just sleep through that?"

"And she calls us crazy."