5. Father and Daughter

I cringe. Oh God... He does not sound happy, to put it nicely.

"Hi Dad..." This comes out more squeaky than I'd intended.

"Oh finally, oh thank God! I've been trying to reach you for hours! You went there, didn't you? Didn't you?!"

I sigh. He knows me way too well. "Dad, listen-"

"No you listen young lady! I thought I made myself very clear-"

'Young lady', really Dad? "Yeah, that you didn't want to come back here. You never said anything about me not going."

"Well that was clearly implied!" He's shouting so loud now I'm sure those in the room can hear him. Seeing as I just embarrassed myself enough in front of them, I step further down the hall to try and avoid any further embarrassment in front of the kind park owner, the stern operations manager, a cool raptor trainer, and a very cute technician.

"And you didn't even think to tell anyone?!"

"Well I told Danny-"

"Danny? Danny who? Is he a boyfriend?"

"No!" Of course, Dad. Of course he would assume that. Again with the over-protectiveness. Honestly, it's a little ridiculous sometimes. Like right now. "He's my assistant."

He sighs, probably from relief. God forbid I have a boyfriend and run off to an off-limits island populated by dinosaurs. Yikes, how old does he think I am? I know to him I'll always be his 'little girl', but honestly.

My sister Kelly once accused him of liking having kids but not wanting to be with them. This must have hit him really hard, that and almost losing her and Mom on Isla Sorna, so by the time I came along he'd taken to the other extreme: extreme over-protectiveness. It also didn't help that I was the youngest, the baby of the family, hence always being his 'little girl', and therefore was considered to need all the more care and protection, at least in his eyes.

"Well you didn't think to tell anyone in your family?!"

"No because I knew you'd have this reaction!" I shot back.

"And for good reason!"

"There's no need to yell!" I couldn't even hold the phone up to my ear he was shouting so loud. "Dad, in case you forgot, I'm a grown woman now, capable of making my own decisions-"

"There's every need to yell! Do you realize what you've done?! You've sealed your fate!"

Well to be perfectly honest the way I was feeling right now I'd rather face a pack of dinosaurs than my own father.

"Dad-" I cut him off mid-rant. "Please, stop yelling, I'm fine. I'm here now, so there's nothing that can change that." I pause, waiting for a much expected retort, and am surprised when none comes. I sigh, not knowing what to make of that. You know you've done something extreme when you shock Dr. Ian Malcolm into silence. "Look, could you do something for me while I'm gone, please?" I knew I was in no position to be asking favours of him, but hey, I was doing this for him.

No, that was a lie. Let's be honest, I was doing this for me. It struck me then just how crazy and selfish this escapade actually was. Yikes...

But I wasn't about to back out now. Like I'd said, I was here, here in the place I had dreamed of seeing all my life. And if I could do this, then I could prove to Dad that he was just overreacting.

"Could you talk to Mom, try and sort things out, please?" I asked. "At least try." No response. Maybe, with a little luck, I would arrive home and find everything okay again between my parents. Wishful thinking though, I knew.

Still no response. "I've got to go Dad, I'm in the middle of a meeting with the park owner and operator-" I feel that leaving out raptor trainer and cute technician is best right now. "-I'll call you back as soon as I can. Love you."

I hear him sigh heavily and grumble something, but then he says, "love you too." We always say it, no matter what the situation. I do catch the deep disappointment in his voice though.

I'm not sure which one of us hangs up first.

"Sorry about that," I say as I step back into the room, forcing a wide smile. I'd spent a quiet moment to myself out in the hall post-call reflecting on the conversation. "Thanks for understanding. That was my dad."

"Ian Malcolm!" Lowery says, still utterly amazed by the fact. "Dr. Ian Malcolm!"

"Everything is well, I hope," says Mr. Masrani. Yup, they could definitely hear, at least some of my end of the conversation.

"Oh yeah," I lie. "He's just a little nervous about me coming here, that's all. Understandably." Not completely a lie...

"Yes, understandably." He nods, his smile faltering a little though. Then he straightens up again and claps his hands together, smiling broadly once again. "Alright then. Claire is going to arrange a hotel room for you and then if you're still feeling up to it, we will give you a tour."

"Oh God yes!" I exclaim. I'm back to giddy with excitement. Time to finally see some real live dinosaurs, baby!

He chuckles. "Excellent." Then he turns to the other redhead. "Claire?"

"Yes. Right this way, please, Dr. Malcolm."

"Jane, please," I request.

"See you soon!" calls Lowery. I chuckle and wave to him.

"We will meet you by the front gates in half an hour?" says Mr. Masrani.

"Sounds great! Can't wait!" Although I'm practically bursting with excitement, I still feel a slight twinge of guilt from my phone call with Dad.

I think we all knew that Ian wasn't going to be very happy about her trip to the island, haha! ;) I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks so much for reading! Also, I'm thinking I might add a prologue to the beginning of young Jane and her dad so stay tuned for that! :) Thanks!