Chapter 16

Summary:

Kira can't keep her mouth shut about what she walked in on in the kitchen and it's only a matter of time before Lowery finds out and he doesn't like it one bit. Owen and Claire have been working closely together as of late and Owen says it's about work, but Alise can't help but think otherwise.

It's been 2 weeks since the… kitchen incident. Which is now what I refer to it as. Kira has obviously mentioned it since then, poking fun at it, but I've deflected it as much as I can. I've started to just roll my eyes and let it go at this point. I can't tell whether or not Owen is as embarrassed by it as I am. He kind of just sat there with a smug look the one time Kira poked fun at it in front of him. Almost like he was proud of himself? Of course, he was, he's a guy with an ego the size of his head.

I invited Lowery over for dinner one night because we haven't seen each other in about a week because we've both been so busy. We tried to get coffee in the morning a couple of days but I got called in earlier than expected both times.

"Please tell me you made brownies… or cookies because I could really use one today." Lowery said the second he walked into the apartment and kicked his shoes off.

"I understand that brownies and cookies are like your alcohol, but that doesn't mean I have them every time you come over. I have tequila, does that help?" I laughed, knowing it wouldn't.

"God no, I don't know how you drink that crap," he pulled a disgusted face. I just laughed and shook my head. I honestly have no idea how I drink that like it's candy while most people can't stand it. At this point, after all, I've drunk with Owen, I don't even need a chaser. Don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Oh well. I drained the pasta I was making for dinner. "Oooo, mom's fettuccine alfredo recipe?" he asked, looking over my shoulder.

"Yes, it is," I hummed, smiling as I mixed in the sauce, glancing over my shoulder at him. His mouth was basically watering as he was watching the sauce mix in with the pasta. "Don't have an orgasm."

"What? Ew, no." he shook his head.

"That's what it looks like. I'm waiting for the moan." Not that I wanted it, of course. I was just saying that to see his reaction.

"You're disgusting." he shook his head, opening the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

"Love you too, dickhead." I smiled as I mixed the chicken and broccoli in and put everything in two bowls. "Have a rough day?" I asked, sitting at the kitchen table and placing a bowl in front of him.

"Claire is up my ass again, but what's new," he said, sticking his fork into the chicken aggressively.

"What happened this time?" I asked.

"Just that I can't ever do my job right apparently. I always do something wrong. She always says I need to "focus on the task at hand"," he said in a mocking tone with air quotes.

"Well, you do get distracted easily." I shrugged.

Lowery shot me a glare. "So you're siding with her?"

"I never said that. You just have ADHD is all." I laughed, taking a sip of water. He didn't say anything for a couple of minutes because he knew I was right.

"So, you know what was weird…" he said, trailing off as he made his weird 'thinking face'. "I saw Owen in the control room today."

"Really? What was he doing?" I asked, confused. Not once have I ever seen him in the control room before. Well, given I'm not usually there, but it's the first time Lowery has mentioned anything about Owen being in the control room and he basically lives there.

"He was talking to Claire about something. I asked her what it was about when she walked over but she just told me to mind my own business." he shrugged.

"Well, I did see her at the enclosure a couple of weeks ago and Owen said it was about meetings and paperwork. It's probably because it's June and heading into summertime and it's going to be much busier than usual." I said, trying to come up with any good excuse as to why Owen would be there talking to Claire. Lowery just shrugged and nodded his head as the front door burst open. It could only be one person. "Always graceful," I said under my breath as Kira appeared in the kitchen.

"Ooo, what smells so yummy?" she asked with a bright smile.

"Fettuccine Alfredo. There's some in the pot if you want some." I offered.

"Great, I'd love to have dinner with you guys!" she said, making her own invitation. It's what she tended to do. I glanced at my brother, whose eyes were wide as she cleared herself a spot at the table and sat down.

"So how were each of your days?" Kira asked, smiling brightly.

"Mine was good, what about you Lowery?" I said, looking over at him. He shot me a look and I smirked. I don't know what it was but Kira always made him nervous.

"Pretty good," he said quietly, shoving his mouth with food to avoid talking anymore.

"Well, mine was lovely." she sighed, eating. "So, did you tell him about yours and Owen's sexscapade in the kitchen?" Kira smirked.

"Ya know, I haven't gotten the chance to tell him yet," I said sarcastically, looking at Lowery with a smirk.

I wasn't planning on telling him anything about it because I was still a little embarrassed and I'm sure it would freak him out. Although his reaction would have been worth it, how do I even bring that up? 'Owen and I were really drunk one night and we fucked in the kitchen and Kira walked in' doesn't exactly sound like a good conversation starter.

"Well, it was a sight I tell ya. I never thought I'd see my cousins ass, but there's a first time for everything, ey." she shrugged, taking another bite of food. "It happened right on this very table I might add."

Lowery mumbled something inaudible as he looked up at the ceiling and shook his head, obviously pissed off. I couldn't help but laugh a little.

Oh, Kira, as blunt as ever.

x x x

The next day I had just finished up in a meeting with the research team about cures for common illnesses in the dinosaurs. We usually consult with the research team and have meetings with them once or twice a week, depending on the illnesses that are presenting themselves and if they have a cure or vaccine for them. Today they came to us with a possible cure for hookworms. Of course, we have to test it on the dinosaurs and I was there to arrange when that would start.

Normally, Dr. Collier or Dr. Sanchez would take part in these meetings, but Dr. Collier has been giving me a lot more responsibility recently, which I didn't mind. Lowery told me they were looking for another doctor position, so I hoped that was why. He was testing me to see if I'd be a good fit. I definitely wouldn't mind getting out of the assistant position, I am a doctor after all.

I walked back into mine and Dr. Collier's office, thinking about things I wanted to write in the report that I'm going to write for Dr. Collier and Dr. Sanchez. I was so in my head, I jumped when I saw someone turn around in my chair to face me, and that someone just so happened to be Kira. She was on my computer, looking at something she shouldn't have been looking at.

"Kira? What are you doing?" I asked. She knew where I worked because I had told her, but never has she once visited me in the office, so of course, I was skeptical.

"Just wanted to see what you get into everyday… nice office. Could be more homey though."

"I share the office with my boss so it can't. Also, if my boss found you here on my computer, he would not be too happy."

"Oh, you mean Eric? Nice guy. He told me to make myself right at home while I waited for you." she smiled.

"Okay… right," I said, that's really weird. She called him by his first name and he welcomed him into our office? I didn't buy it. "Did you need something?"

"I was just bored and figured I'd come to watch you poke dinosaurs or whatever you do." she shrugged, turning back and forth in the office chair.

"Help them," I corrected her. "I help them, not poke them. Only when they need shots."

"All of that is really fascinating…" she said, but I could tell she was being sarcastic.

She stood up and I raised my brows. "I have a really fascinating job."

"Sounds like it." she shrugged.

"Okay, well, I really have to get back to work, so…" I trailed off, but I really wanted to say: could you please leave? Get out of my office? Not be so weird?

"Right," she said walking past me. "But before I go…" she stopped, turning around to face me. "Anyway you could spot me some money just to grab some lunch? I'm really low on funds right now…"

"Uhm, don't you have a job?" I asked.

"Right, well I don't get paid until Friday, so I'm in a bit of a pickle…" she trailed off, giving me a smile.

I sighed, taking my wallet out of my pocket. "How much do you need?"

"Maybe $40? I'm really hungry…" she said, batting her eyes, putting emphasis on 'really'.

I raised my brows and pulled out some money. "Here's $15." I handed it to her.

"Perfect, thanks puddin' pop!" she said, patting my head before leaving.

It's all starting to make sense now… Lowery acting weird around her, how she's always so chipper, how she basically manipulates me into giving her everything she wants and why Owen has his reservations about her. There is something wrong with her. I'm definitely going to be keeping my eyes open now, I don't know why I didn't see it before.

"Oh my god… Owen was right…" I said to myself.

x x x

I saw Owen later that day when we met for a drink after work. I wondered if I should tell him what happened earlier with Kira because I knew he'd only get mad at me for actually spotting her the money. The more I thought about it, the more I wish I never gave in. She could have gone home and made lunch for herself… we have sandwich ingredients at home and leftovers from last night.

That's exactly what Owen told me when slipped and told him. I couldn't help it. I couldn't lie to him or withhold information from him, I've tried that before and it only ended badly.

"This was part of the rules, she has to figure out her own food situation." Owen snapped at me.

I sighed and nodded, "I know but she just makes me feel bad, Owen. I can't help it."

"You're too much of a pushover," he said, drinking a sip of his beer, his eyes scanning the bar. I sighed and nodded, agreeing with him and looking down at my beer, gliding it on the countertop slowly. "Hey," he said softly, I looked up at him. "It's not your fault. She's manipulative," he said, looking over at where she was, cleaning up a table in front of us. "Kira!" he called her over and my eyes widened.

"Owen, what are you doing?" I asked. There was no telling what he'd do, he was annoyed at her for manipulating me to give her money and he had a little bit of a temper when it came to her. The last thing I wanted was for him to embarrass her at her job.

"What can I do for ya?" Kira asked, approaching with a smile.

"We seemed to of forgotten our money at home, but you can use the tip money you just got to pay for us. And we'll take another round. Since you think it's okay to ask Alise for money for lunch, you won't mind spotting for a few drinks, right?" he asked. He said it all rather nicely too, which surprised me.

Kira stood there for a moment with her eyes widened. "Uh, yeah, totally. I got you!" she stammered at first, finding the words but then played it off once she did. "I was totally going to pay for those anyway. To pay you back. It was going to be a surprise..." she trailed off. "I'll grab some more drinks for you!" she smiled before walking away.

She came back just a few minutes later with two beers and two shots of what looked like tequila. "Shots are on me too." she smiled and Owen nodded at her. "Alright, well, my shift is over so Jesse is going to be taking care of all of your needs. You two have a good night!" she smiled before walking away.

"Wow, free beer and tequila. She really knows the way to your heart" I laughed, watching as Owen took the shot.

"She's really good at covering her ass is what she is." he said, placing it back on the table with an 'ah' as he watched Kira go into the back room.

x x x

I had off work the next day and Kira had a 9 to 5 at Three Horns so I was free to spend the day however I wanted. And that meant situating my ass on the couch with coffee, a bag of Doritos and ice cream to binge watch Agents of Shield because I was just finishing up on the third season and it was intense as hell.

It was going great, until my phone went off at 1 pm and it was Dr. Collier calling me to tell me he needed me to come to the office and sign the updated version of the safety regulation contract and they needed all the staff to sign by the end of the day, so it couldn't wait.

It took me a good 30 minutes to make myself presentable enough before going in. He had me meet him in our office and we went over the contract before I signed it. It was all painless really and I was out the door by 2:30.

"Bye, see you tomorrow!" I said to Dr. Collier as I walked out of the office. I headed down the hall and was surprised to see that Owen was standing at the end of one of that halls, leaning against the wall. He looked like he was talking to someone, but I couldn't see who because another wall was obstructing the view. I curiously walked over, then stopped when I saw he had been talking to Claire.

Claire's eyes met mine for a moment and she looked like she was caught off guard. She straightened her body, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Grady. I'll be looking forward to seeing your report." she said, sticking her hand out.

"What?" Owen asked, standing up straight, no longer leaning on the wall. He actually sounded confused for a moment.

"Your report. I expect it on my desk in the morning." she sighed, giving him a look before glancing over to me again. There was something odd about the look she gave him, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Right, Ms. Dearing. I'll try to get it to you by then." Owen said, shaking her hand. She smiled, giving me a small smile before turning on her heel and walking away confidently. Owen turned around and I caught a glimpse of a small smile on his face. His lips straightened when he saw me.

"Hey…" was all I could manage to say after seeing that little exchange that was oddly suspicious.

"Alise," he said. I could tell he was caught off-guard. "I thought you were off today."

'Is that why you were meeting with Claire secretly for the third time that I even know of' is what I really wanted to say, but I didn't want to sound like an overprotective girlfriend. They're probably just talking more than usual because of work. Maybe they've been talking this much before and I just didn't realize until now. There were so many possibilities.

"Dr. Collier called me in to sign something… what were you talking to Claire about? Are you in trouble?" I asked, pretending like I didn't hear what was said. I wondered if his story would actually match up to what I overheard.

He scoffed, "No, just work stuff."

I nodded slowly, thinking about how vague "work stuff" was… like was it just paperwork and what was the report about? I had so many questions that I wanted answered. But now wasn't the time.

"Hey, listen, it's nice to see ya, but I gotta run back to the enclosure…" he said, kissing the side of my head. "I'll see you later. 5 o'clock, right?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yeah." I said. We were going on the mainland to go out to eat with Lucy for her birthday.

"Okay, good. Bye." he said before rushing off.

I bit my lip and sighed. I did not like what I just saw or how quickly he walked off. This whole situation just felt weird. What could this even mean? I just shook my head. I'm probably overthinking it. We all work for the same company, I've crossed paths with Claire before and obviously Owen. It's probably just work stuff… like Owen said and I trust him. He's never given me any reason not to.