Monday came along and the Jurassic World personnel was basically divided in two parts. There was this one large group who knew about the bet and were very excited for Claire's first date with Owen; the reason behind their thrill was that their soccer team was playing that afternoon and if everything went according to plan, their guy would be meeting the boss outside the Innovation Center to take her far away from every television screen on Main Street and keep her distracted for the next couple of hours.
The other part was the small group in the control center where Claire was standing at the moment. She was instructing them to keep an eye on her and follow their every move through the security cameras. "If I look like I need you to get me out of this, you do it." She pointed out at Lowery, "understood?"
They were laughing at how paranoid she sounded, "You need to chill." He laid back on his chair and brought his feet up onto his desk which Claire immediately pushed back. He offered an apologetic smirk and shook his head, "I doubt he will kidnap you or kill you."
Claire rolled her eyes, "it's not that, dummy." She sighed and nibbled on her lower lip. She was nervous, but didn't want to admit it. "It's in case... you know—" she motioned.
He nodded waiting for her to continue since he had no idea what she wanted.
"Ugh. Just don't lose trace and you get me out of there in three hours, or as soon as you feel I've had enough."
"Yes, boss." He agreed condescendingly. He went back to his computer and the live footage of the security camera outside the volcano-shaped building was displayed on it, Owen already waiting by one of the park's Jeeps.
The redhead sighed and turning around on her heel she walked out of the room. She was wearing a crew neck peplum knee length black dress and matching high heels that day.
She hadn't seen Owen since Friday, he apparently had weekends off, but he had kept the pretend interest through the weekend and would occasionally text her. She had tried to have him tell her what he had in mind for their date; so she could be dressed properly but he had insisted that it was a surprise and whatever she wanted to wear was fine. Well, he was wrong.
Claire made it to the front of the building, she fixed her long wavy red hair over her shoulders before walking towards Owen who was leaning against the Jeep.
His hazel eyes immediately took in how beautiful she looked, the contrast between her outfit and his made him chuckle. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, combat boots, and an olive shirt. The latter highlighted the green in his hazel eyes which was the first thing Claire noticed upon meeting him.
"It's happening!" Lowery called out and after punching a few digits on his computer, the live footage from the security camera was displayed on a corner of the main screen at the front of the security room; the people in there grateful Claire had enabled them to spy on her. It was a sweet detail that she had asked one of them to keep an eye on her, this made them feel less guilty for doing something that they would have done regardless. Not to keep an eye on her, but just because it was something they were curious about. It wasn't every day that Claire Dearing went on a date, after all.
It was the middle of a work day and so Claire didn't pay much attention to what he was wearing. It was the style she had always seen him in and it didn't bother her; at least he hadn't shown up wearing board short or worse.
"You look beautiful." He genuinely offered.
The compliment made her smile, "I like that color on you." She offered a little nervous, biting on her lower lip.
Owen opened the Jeep passenger's door for her and once she was inside, he closed the door. He then walked around and slid into the driver's seat, "so beautiful...I almost feel sorry you are about to ruin your dress and shoes." He teased while turning the car on, "and most likely mess your hair, too."
The redhead quickly turned to look at him with a concerned look, watching him chuckle as he drove off. Hector and Miguel standing near by, holding a broom pretending to clean around. Once the Jeep was out of sight, they immediately let the rest know through their radios that the eagle had left the nest.
Lowery and company had done as asked and kept switching security cameras following that Jeep around, "Noooooo." The brunette man started laughing incredulously while eating some chips. "Does this dude even know her?"
"Should we get her out of this?" Vivan was the only one who sounded concern.
"No! Come on! It would do her some good!" Lowery insisted while chewing on his chips.
"Ugh. She's going to kill us when she comes back." She sighed, her eyes on the screen.
"If she comes back out of this one." He chuckled.
The live footage on their screen was the biggest red flag control center could have regarding their boss's request to get her out of the situation if needed. This is exactly what she had meant when demanding they save her, she just didn't know what it was and how to explain it because she didn't have it in front of her, until now.
Claire was standing there, not moving trying to figure out if he was joking, if she was getting punk'd, or if Owen was serious, "I'm not getting on that." She scoffed.
He had driven the Jeep far into the east side of the park, and stopped where the jungle got thicker and the park's premises officially ended. Claire had said she wouldn't leave the island, and they technically were still on it, just not in the park anymore.
"Yes you are~" He insisted before gently setting up a hand's free walkie talkie on her left ear and then securing a helmet on her head, "Do you want the red one or the yellow one?" He asked with a smirk.
"I want you to take me back to my office, please." She turned around and started walking back to the Jeep.
"Hold up, hold up." He chuckled and stood in front of her blocking the door.
"I promise it'll be fun." He had his hands grabbing her arms and his hazel eyes on hers.
Claire sighed and looked over to the gas powered go karts waiting for them. She nibbled on her lower lip and smiled at him.
It had taken the redhead a few minutes to learn control the go cart's wheel and speed. She was screaming through the walkie talkie while feeling the vehicle bumping under her.
"Are you alright back there?" Owen asked her through his own walkie talkie, he was leading the way through the thick jungle to make sure it was clear and safe for them to ride through it.
He had made her a map, which she kept between her thumb and the wheel as she rode her go kart behind his, "Yes, I'm okay!" She said loudly over the sound of the engine as she kept following him.
Owen raised a thumb up so she could see it and speeded up a bit, "careful with that tree." He announced while turning to his left.
"Shit—" It's all he heard through the walkie talkie. Claire had tried to be careful, but she still ended up getting stuck between the roots. "Hold on..." she pressed the gas pedal the deepest she could without any outcome. She started jiggling everything and the smell of gas eventually announced she had drown the kart which immediately shut down.
"I'm on my way back." Owen turned around and started looking for her.
At the site of his cart, Claire fixed her dress and pulled it down a bit. He parked his across from the roots and walked over.
"I think I killed it." She grinned through her helmet.
Owen rested his arm against the kart and tried really hard to keep his eyes on hers, but that dress was inviting him to stare at her firm long legs, specially because of the way the go cart demanded for her to be sitting. He rubbed his forehead with his thumb, "it smells like you drown it." He looked away.
"Should I get out?" She tilted her head.
"Um, yeah." He nodded, it would be best, so he could think of something else besides the freckles on the inside of her thighs.
Claire slowly set on foot out of the cart and taking his hand she let him pull her out. She fixed her dress and stepped aside so he could try start the go cart back up.
He walked behind her, just to have the opportunity to check out her ass and tried start the engine back on. He had to pull out of the cord on the back a few times before it finally started up.
It was one thirty in the afternoon and soccer time back at the park. They had installed a TV in the employees cafeteria. It was the only place big enough for all of them to enjoy the game comfortably and away from the guest.
The cooking staff had made sure to have all sorts of snacks and drinks for everybody. Some of the employees had even worn a jersey on top of their uniform. They were celebrating and high fiving each other not believing they had been able to pull this off.
It brought them great satisfaction that they were about to watch their soccer game without any interruption.
Back at the control center, everybody was distracted watching Claire drive that go kart through the jungle. They couldn't hear the conversation she had going on with Owen through the walkie talkies but they could tell that after riding for about an hour now she was doing pretty good. She was starting to go faster and tailing him just a couple of feet a far, the precaution distance so she could break behind him without crashing.
They had set the screen so they could have two security cameras simultaneously, one ahead of Owen and Claire so they could see what was to come for her.
"Oh, she's going to love this!" They all chuckled noticing what was just a couple of yards ahead.
The redhead screamed feeling the go kart splashing water and her heels and legs getting wet as they rode across a small river, over the big rocks along its weight, "you owe me a pair of shoes, Grady." She demanded not sounding as upset as he thought she'd be, he had been chuckling with his mic off so she wouldn't hear him in anticipation of this.
"Copy that." He turned the mic back on.
Owen stopped his go cart once he had a large body of water ahead of him. They had made it to the beach where he had spent his weekend putting something together for their date.
Claire stopped behind him and got out of her cart once she watched him do the same. Owen swept her off her feet and carried her bridal style over to the little tent he had installed for them.
He gently set her down and smiled at her, "now take those ridiculous shoes off."
Claire pursed her lips and holding her balance from his shoulders, she did as told.
He then fetched for a towel and kneeled down, "c'mon." He pat his lap so she could rest her foot there.
"Give me that." She refused to let him dry her legs, she'd do it herself, same went with the mandatory sun lotion required to avoid end up looking like a lobster by the end of the afternoon.
The cafeteria was packed. Almost every single local employee was sitting there with a can of soda in their hands. Every single pair of eyes glued to the tv screen while they watched their team build up a play trying to score their second goal of the match. It was already the second half, and even if they were winning by one... every soccer fan knew that didn't mean anything until the match was over.
"She's asking for a second date!" Lowery started predicting. "There's no way she's not going out with this guy again." He insisted. "Hell, I want to go out with me now." He laughed.
"Are you kidding? That guy ruined her shoes!" One of the guys at the front reminded them.
"Wanna bet!? Lets bet..." They all agreed it wold be fun to keep track of Claire's love life. Some of the guys went bring an old white board out of the back and they started listing everybody who wanted in.
"One rule though, none of us can intervene." They agreed. Unlike the people in the cafeteria, they wouldn't be directly playing with her feelings but just having some fun in tracking how her attraction for Owen would grow through time.
It took them just a few minutes to list the odds for Claire to hint or ask for a second date like Lowery was thinking she would, then there were those who thought Owen would be the one asking like it usually happened, and those who thought that ruining her shoes was a deal breaker.
Owen had used his Navy knowledge to build up a grill with rocks and other things he could find around. He had brought their food with him on his go kart and had spent the past half an hour grilling chicken for her.
In the ten months or so that he had been living there, he had picked into some cultural tendencies when it came to food. Things he watched the locals do at the food court and mostly the cafeteria. Things that had caught his attention and he had to try for himself; like the snacks with lemon and tajín he had prepared for her a few days back.
He had brought some tortillas and avocado sauce with him, as well as some chopped tomato, onion, coriander, and lemon. Once their chicken was grilled, he had taught her how to build her own tacos.
Those tacos had been so good that Claire had had like five which had left her full and asking him to wait a few before dessert.
She was sitting next to him on a blanket he had lied under the beach tent. Her legs stretched, her weight on her arms. He was sitting next to her watching the waves hit hard just a few yards away from them.
The redhead was looking away, watching a cute little crab make its way to his hole just at the end of their blanket. She slowly slid her one hand down and brushed his fingers with hers.
He looked up, noticing how she was blushing even if pretending to be distracted with the crab. She could feel her heart beating fast and loud against her chest when he reached out and let their fingers lace.
He tilted his head trying to find her eyes, he was wondering what was on her mind. She looked like she had something to say, but either didn't know how to or wasn't ready to do so.
Claire smiled and nibbled on her lower lip, she slowly looked his way before looking back down to their fingers, "Do you think—" She giggled feeling her cheeks warm, "we can do this again?"
Owen smiled and nodded, "I would like that." He agreed before he reached out and tucked some of her red hair behind her ear with his free hand. He had to check the date and time for the next match for this second date, but he was glad it seemed like a done deal.
Claire smiled softly and shyly tilted her head against his touch.
"Does that mean I'm worth it?" He teased her.
"Yeah~" She gulped admitting that.
Owen brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently, "You are adorable."
Claire giggled and adjusted on the blanket shifting closer to him and slowly rested her head on his shoulder.
He smiled down and brushed her bangs softly to the side before pressing his lips against the top of her head. He checked the time on his wrist watch, the soccer game should be over by then which meant he had accomplished every task; he had managed to keep her away from the park like he had been hired to do and also secured a date for the next match.