Ch. 3 Argentina
Bridget got off the plane, her bag slung over her shoulder. The sun was sweltering hot; the small number of people there looked as excited as she was. Eric was smirking, looking around.
"Wow. Wonder where we are?" he joked. Bridget punched him playfully in the arm.
"In Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina, silly," Bridget sighed, "Get with the program."
"Fine, Fine," Eric gently kissed her neck. Bridget blushed and giggled. He gently massaged her arm, his hot breath on her shoulder.
"Seriously, Eric, even though you're here on vacation, I'm here for my career, and believe it or not some seriously important paleontologists are going to be on this dig," Bridget smirked.
"Well, I'll be the one embarrassing you, so you have nothing to be worried about," Eric mumbled.
"Dude, that made no sense," Bridget laughed. Just then, a man in his late forties/ early fifties walked up, along with another man in his late thirties.
"Hello, you must be Bridget Vreeland," the older of the two stuck out his hand, "I'm Paul Sereno, and you know this one," the man smirked at the other man, Bridget's paleontology professor, Professor Warwick. He was a bumbling, fearful young man, and he nodded at Bridget.
"H-hi," Bridget smiled uncontrollably, Paul Sereno was like a paleontology rock star.
"And who is this?" he moved on to Eric.
"That's my boyfriend, Eric Richman," Bridget nodded, "He's coming with me, if that's okay…"
"Sure," Sereno nodded. A few more people walked up, all looking as in awe of Paul as she was. One wasn't, however. She was a girl, about Bridget's age, with long thick brown hair, hazel eyes and a smirk on her face. She rolled her eyes.
"Ah yes, this is Meg," Paul nodded at the girl, "She's studying paleontology at the University I work at, and therefore we consult each other often. I invited her on this trip to help her with her coursework."
"Hey," Meg laughed, holding out her hand for Bridget to shake. She did, startled by the fact that Meg's eyes turned from a delicate hazel to a light brown, "Eventually the shock of meeting him wears off."
Bridget laughed in turn. She knew she was going to like it here immediately.
SOTTP
The next day they all set out in jeeps across the steppes. Paul was talking to everyone, either in his car or on a radio with the other car. On the dig there was Paul, Professor Warwick, another professor from University of California Professor Sincerest, Bridget, Eric, Meg, two other college students and two graduate students. In Bridget's car was Bridget, Eric, Meg, Paul Sereno and a graduate student named Scott. The car bumbled along over rocky terrain, causing Bridget to feel very, very ill. But she was the least of it. Eric looked twice as ill as she did. Meg, Paul and Scot on the other hand just looked annoyed.
Was this how all terrain felt? Bridget asked herself painfully. The jeep continued on through the desert, and Paul began to talk as he drove.
"So we're going to a spot near Bariloche, where a local has reported seeing bones. Now, no one get their hopes up, a lot of calls we get from locals turn out to be nothing, but we'll see," Paul nodded.
Bridget nodded eagerly. She was ready to do this. Sure, it wouldn't be going across a dirt floor, but it was as near to it as possible- she was coming the dirt ground for bones. She probably wouldn't be able to do it the same way that she had done in Turkey, but she would be the most observant girl on the team- she just knew it.
Meg would definitely be the most scientific; she knew that immediately as well. Eric would probably be the person running around and doing various errands, he had no clue what was going on. But Bridget loved him for his ignorance.
The jeep finally pulled up to an empty patch of steppe next to a small house and farm. Bridget shakily got out of the jeep, and Eric held onto her arm for support as he too got out. Bridget smirked at him, and Eric rolled his eyes back at her.
Meg laughed at them both as they walked over to the small hut, Paul leading the way. They continued walking even as the other jeep pulled up, their sneakers stomping against the hard, caked earth. Briefly, Bridget wondered how they were going to find anything in all this.
Paul walked up to the hut and knocked. Bridget looked back at Eric and saw that he was napping on her shoulder. Bridget smirked and rolled her eyes at Meg.
"Not into paleontology, huh?" Meg laughed, indicating Eric's lack of enthusiasm.
Bridget shook her head, "He came along because I was on an archaeology dig to Turkey last summer, so he wanted to be with me this summer."
"Aww," Meg laughed, "So cute."
Bridget smirked and smiled. She looked back to the napping boy on her shoulder, and rolled her eyes.
"Eric! Eric! Wake up, muchacho!" Bridget laughed. Eric stirred and stood up, looking over at her in dismay.
"I was having a good nap!" he whined. Bridget shoved him playfully. Eric glared at her.
"Okay you two calm yourselves before Paul gets back," Meg hissed. Both nodded and stood at attention, like in a Military School, making Meg laugh.
"You goofs," and then Paul came back.
"Well, he'll show us tomorrow, it's getting too late. We'll need to set up the tents and such," Paul nodded. Everyone got to work, unpacking boxes and putting up tents. Bridget, soon exhausted, ate a bit of soup and crawled into the tent she was sharing with Eric (she had brought along her own especially for this purpose.) Before Eric even came in, she was asleep.
SOTTP
Bridget woke up the next morning to sweltering hot sun and Eric gently trailing kisses up her arm. Bridget at first didn't stir, wondering vaguely why he was kissing her so nicely, trying to fall back to sleep.
"Come on, sleepyhead," Eric murmured softly, "I think we have to get up now."
Bridget groaned and rolled over, but right on top of Eric. She smirked at him, kissed the tip of his nose, and continued rolling until she was off him.
"Fine," she sighed, "I'll get up. But you'll be sorry!" Bridget laughed. Eric rolled his eyes and pulled her into his arms.
"Let's just wait until they call us," he murmured softly. Bridget rolled her eyes, but allowed him to continue kissing her, not really caring what was going on in the outside world as she seemingly lost all of her senses.
