Wow, thanks so much for the warm welcome back.

As always, I was neglectful when posting to put out a HUGE thank you to Nadin (Tiny-Spy) for all her help with this story.

Chapter 1

Standing at the bow of the ship, Owen gripped the railing, watching as the island grew bigger. Claire had been right (not that he would ever admit that to her) and they had both really needed that trip away together. But he would also fully admit that he was really excited to be heading back to work. He really was a workaholic.

He hadn't always been. And he knew a big reason why he was now, was because he really did love what he did. Really, was there anything cooler than working with dinosaurs? Eight year old him would explode at the thought.

As the boat pulled closer and closer, Owen found himself scanning the island. Whenever he looked out at the jungle now, he always thought about the wild raptors and wondered how they were doing. It was the one project he hadn't had any updates on over the past couple of weeks, and he was itching to find out what new things they'd learned. Even though it'd been a couple of months since they'd even found out about the wild raptors' existence, he still could barely believe it.

Thinking about everything he needed to catch up on, Owen found himself reaching for his phone, suddenly wanting to jot down notes so he didn't forget about anything. He stopped himself before he could. God, was he picking up Claire's habits now? She seemed to always be writing lists. No, he'd got this far just using his brain to remember things, he wasn't going to follow her lead on this. Although… she wouldn't know if he did make a list, he reasoned with himself. And then, before he could talk himself out of it, he opened up the notes app and quickly listed out the few thoughts he'd had.

Tucking the phone back into his pocket, Owen focused back on the island as the Sorna outpost came into view. Almost immediately, something felt off. He scanned the area from right to left and then from left to right trying to figure out what it was. And then he did it again, before he finally caught what was bothering him.

When he'd left just over two weeks earlier, they had finally broken ground for Olive and Grape's outdoor paddock. It was to be on the opposite side of the outpost from the girls paddock, so that they wouldn't be too close together. He didn't want them interacting, knowing that Olive and Grape were still destined to move to Nublar. However, as he looked at the spot where the construction had started, there was no noticeable development from when he'd left two weeks earlier. What the hell? It was supposed to be near completion by the time he'd returned.

He didn't have much time to think about it, as a moment later they were docking. He was greeted warmly by the few people on the dock as he disembarked, and he called out his own greetings as he walked by them, his duffle bag hanging from one hand. It was nice to be back.

As he walked along the dock, Owen debated what he should do first. Should he go check on the construction? Find out what was going on?

The decision was made for him as he stepped off the dock to see Barry headed his way. He quickened his pace, meeting his friend halfway.

"Owen," Barry greeted him before falling in step beside him. "How was your trip?"

"Great," he said, but he wasn't focused on that, his mind still thinking about the paddock. "What's going on with Grape and Olive's outdoor paddock?"

"Oh, that," Barry frowned, glancing in the direction of where said paddock was supposed to be. "Things have changed."

"Changed how?" Owen asked. "We had a plan. It was supposed to be almost done. They're ready to be moved outdoors. That's what I was going to do this week."

"Well," Barry started only to immediately pause, both in words and motion, as he came to a stop. He was looking just past Owen, and Owen stopped and turned in the same direction. There was a woman crossing the area towards them.

She was tall with shoulder length dark brown hair. Unlike the rest of Sorna residents, she was wearing dress pants and a blazer.

"Who's that?" Owen whispered, not wanting to be heard.

"Kathy Wright."

"Oh." That was all he managed to say before the woman was within hearing distance.

"Mr. Grady," Kathy stated, her hand outstretched as she approached. Owen dropped his bag to the ground and reached out to shake it.

"Ms. Wright," Owen replied.

"I've heard lots about you," Kathy said. "Everyone's been eager to have you back."

Owen wasn't sure how to respond to that. Was that supposed to be seen as a good thing or a bad thing? It didn't seem to matter, as Kathy continued on.

"Now that you're back, I've set aside some time to meet with you so we can go over what your responsibilities are."

At that, Owen frowned. His responsibilities? The way she was saying it sounded like she thought she would have a say in what those were. And that it may change from what he'd already been doing. He had no plans to allow another person to dictate what he was doing, or to add reporting to another person to his list.

"I've been meeting with everyone to discuss their roles. Things are going to be run a bit differently now," Kathy continued, seemingly not registering Owen's reaction.

"Wait a minute," Owen held up his hand, stopping her. "You've only been here a week."

"Ten days," Kathy countered, and Owen barely managed to suppress an eye roll.

"Don't you think you'd be better off seeing how things work before you start implementing a bunch of changes?" Owen scanned the area, his gaze alighting again on the location where Grape and Olive's paddock should be. "And why isn't the raptor's paddock finished?"

"Like I said, things are going to be a bit different now," Kathy repeated. "And to start with, I've put a pause on all construction as I work on our long term plan. Everything has been done so hastily with little thought about how it affects everything else. I'm going to change that."

"Their paddock was not a 'hasty' decision," Owen countered. "It was a necessary development. Not having it ready is going to cause major disruptions to their schedule and mine. Who approved this?"

"I did," she said, looking annoyed now. "It's my job to determine where and how this space is used. I do not agree that putting a paddock in that location is the best use of our limited space. I would like to consider moving it over next to the other raptor paddock. We can save on costs and space if we do that. Especially if they share a wall."

"Beside the girls?" Owen's jaw fell open at the thought. "They can't be next to each other. Do you know anything about animal development? About everything we're doing here? The reason we chose that location was because it's as far away as possible from the girls."

"And like I said, Mr. Grady, I've put everything on pause. I'm doing a full re-evaluation of our construction plans before anything moves forward. You'll have a chance to make your case for using that location."

"It's not about making my case." Owen bit back a groan. Really? He was going to have to deal with all of this stuff again? "The paddock was supposed to be finished. Where am I supposed to move the girls now? They are getting too big for the nursery. They need to be in an outdoor space."

"The compys are supposed to be moved to Nublar next week," Kathy said. "Use theirs."

"I can't–" Owen cut himself off, feeling like his mind was about to explode. Use the compys' space? The compys and the raptors were nothing alike. The raptors would be able to escape the compys enclosure in no time.

"Anyway, I just came over to say hi and to introduce myself," Kathy continued, seemingly unaware (or not caring) about Owen's distress. "I know you'll need some time to get settled, but I'd like to meet tomorrow so we can discuss all of this in more detail. I've scheduled you in for 9am."

She didn't even wait for Owen to agree before she turned on her heel and headed back in the direction she had come from. Owen watched for a long moment as she walked away, before he turned to Barry.

"Um, what the hell just happened?"

o-o-o

"Are you sure you've got time to have lunch today? We could always catch up later this week," Zara asked.

"It's fine," Claire reassured her assistant as the two walked along Main Street. "Besides, it's not like our lunch is just going to be all gossip. I have some questions for you based on what I've managed to get through this morning."

"Wait, you mean I can share gossip now?" Zara relaxed at Claire's words, a smile spreading across her face. "Nice. You wouldn't believe what has happened–"

"Some gossip," Claire interrupted her. "Just not about me, preferably."

"The only gossip about you lately has been how shocked people are that you took a vacation," Zara said. "At least a couple of people think the world must be coming to an end."

"Do those people really think they're funny?"

"I think a few were actually scared that Jurassic World might be in real trouble," Zara admitted. "That you going away was actually a cover for you taking interviews so you can get out before something big happens."

"Really?" Claire paused as she looked at Zara in disbelief. Zara just nodded. "I wasn't, you know. I really was on vacation."

"I know," Zara said as they started walking again. "Just telling you what was talked about. When people get bored they make up stories. General consensus was that either you were out interviewing or that you and Owen were actually getting married in secret."

Immediately, Claire started coughing.

"Wait, did you?" Zara asked, her eyes wide. "Oh, my god, Claire!"

"No. NO," Claire said, shaking her head frantically. "Why would people think that?"

"Well, you have been together for a while now…"

"Good god, why would anyone care about anyone else's personal life?" Claire asked as they came to a stop in the line for Yoshinoya. "Who cares if someone is married or single?"

"They're bored," Zara said with a shrug. "Like I said, people make up stories."

"Okay, enough of the gossip for now." Claire didn't want to spend anymore time (or thought) on any of that. "Tell me how the past couple of weeks went?"

"Fine, although I didn't even get a chance to tell you about–"

"No, no, no," Claire interrupted her. "I don't know that I can take anymore right now. Work first."

"Buzzkill," Zara replied, but her tone was joking. "Work's been good, actually. No major fires while you were gone."

"And the meetings you took? How did they go?"

Before Zara could respond, the cashier asked what they'd like to order. Claire hadn't even realized they'd made it up to the counter. They paused their conversation while they ordered and paid, but once they'd stepped away from the counter to wait, Zara responded.

"Mostly good, I think," she said. Claire waited her out, and after a few seconds, Zara continued. "It's definitely different when they all look to you for the answer."

"Mostly good?" Claire latched onto the first words. "Why only mostly?"

"It wasn't anything specific," Zara said after another pause. "I think it's just that I'm used to deferring to you, and so is everyone else."

"Did anyone give you a hard time?" Claire pushed a bit further. "Did they listen to you when you made decisions?"

"Yes, I mean, mostly." Zara gave a half-shrug. "I really can't put my finger on it. And it wasn't really anyone specific. I think it's just still an adjustment, and that everyone is sort of waiting to see if you override everything now that you're back."

"If I override… Zara, I trust your decision-making skills," Claire said, turning to face her friend and employee, making sure she met her gaze head on. "I wouldn't have put you in that position if I didn't. I want you to feel comfortable making decisions."

She watched as Zara looked at the ground briefly, before giving her a half smile. "Thanks."

"Seriously, Zara," Claire continued. "The goal of these changes is so that you take some of these decisions off my plate. So I want you to know that I'm behind you and will back what you choose. That said, I know decision making can be difficult. And so I want you to also know that you can always come to me if you're unsure. Being the decision maker isn't always as easy as it looks. And there aren't always simple solutions. If you're feeling stuck or uneasy, let me know and we'll work it out together."

They were interrupted as their order number was called out, and they quickly stepped back up to the counter to grab their food before making it out of the building. Claire let them over to an empty table. The two of them took a minute to open their meals and get everything sorted.

"I think it's just going to take some getting used to," Zara said as she poked at her food with her chopsticks. "I've seen you do all of this for years. I guess I just thought it would be easier. But when everyone turns to you… It's a very deer in the headlights situation. Everyone seemed to expect I'd have all the answers and my mind just kept going blank."

"I've been there," Claire said with a quick laugh. "It's hard at first, but I promise it does get easier. And you just have to remember that it's okay to say you don't know. Don't forget, everyone else in those meetings are there to provide you with the information you need. If you don't have enough to make a decision, then your task is to ask them for more. I know we're taught to never show weakness, but saying you need more info isn't a weakness. It's a strength."

"Definitely doesn't feel like a strength," Zara admitted.

"You just have to ask for it with confidence," Claire said. She set her chopsticks down, and took a sip of her drink before continuing. "Seriously, I think the main lesson I learned was just how important it is to show confidence in what you're doing. I know that sounds sort of contradictory, when I'm saying admit you don't know everything. But it's possible. I do it all the time. You've seen it. The trick is to state your questions more as requests. Instead of asking if someone may have some information, just straight up ask for the information. 'Lowery, I need the weekly numbers on the gyrosphere riders' works better than 'Lowery, do you have the numbers?' With the second, he can just say no, and the question is technically answered. With the first, he'll know that he needs to find them if he doesn't have them yet."

"You make that sound so easy," Zara said wistfully, picking up her own drink.

"It's not," Claire agreed. "But it really does just take practice. And I know you'll get there." She paused as she took a bite of her food and chewed. After swallowing, she added, "And, you're not on your own, you know?"

"I know," Zara said.

Just as Claire was about to take another bite, her phone buzzed and she flipped it over from where it'd been resting on the table, face down. It was just an alert notifying her of another email.

"I have to say, it was nice to not be interrupted every few minutes the past couple of weeks," she said as she opened her email, quickly scanning the message over. "I don't know the last time that happened."

"Who's reaching out now?" Zara asked, curious.

"The research institute," Claire said, closing her phone and returning to her meal. "I need to find some time to go visit them this week. They've been really busy with getting the Edmontosaurus project ready to launch."

"A lot of nervous excitement about that," Zara said. "I was able to answer a few of their questions while you were gone. But I think they just really want to see you confirm everything now. Everyone's worried they missed something, but no one can figure out what it is."

"That's just normal last minute panic. It'll be nice to finally get that project officially going. I know it'll mean more work, but at least then most of our decisions will have been made. No more second-guessing. Or, more accurately, not as much second-guessing. We've had the launch date out there for a while, so there's no backing down now anyway. Stuff has to move ahead."

"How are you so calm about it?" Zara asked, as she picked up another bite.

"I just have good feelings about this," Claire said. "And all the feedback so far has been very positive. We know people love dinosaurs, and we know they love baby dinosaurs. And while, sure, bad news is like catnip to the media, they also love to be able to tell feel-good stories."

"Won't be that feel-good if none of the eggs hatch," Zara pointed out.

"Hey, don't jinx it," Claire said, pointing her chopsticks across the table. "That's why we're going to have so many eggs. Dr. Barnes is confident. If he wasn't, we wouldn't be moving ahead yet." She paused as she took a couple of bites of her food, before focusing on Zara again. "Actually, that reminds me, I should probably plan a trip over to Sorna next week. Check on everything there and make sure it's all set."

Zara raised her eyebrows at her. "And get a chance to see Owen?"

"Since he's going to be stuck there for a few weeks, yeah, that'll be a nice side benefit. But, who I really want to meet over there is Kathy," Claire said. "Have you heard much since she's started? I hate that our timing worked out so badly. I really wanted to be here for that."

"Not much," Zara said with a quick head shake. "But she only spent like two days here before she headed over. I saw her briefly, but she was in meetings constantly. I think things must be going fine, but you know Sorna: they don't say much unless there's a big problem."

"Yeah, that's true. I'm sure I'll hear more from Owen tonight."

o-o-o

"I'm telling you she's crazy, Claire," Owen said. As he said the words, he glanced around, once again checking to make sure he was alone out at the raptor paddock. The last thing he needed was to be overheard.

"She's not crazy," Claire immediately countered.

"And I thought Hoskins was overbearing," he continued, ignoring Claire's protest. "But I've been back for one afternoon and I've already seen her three times! THREE TIMES, Claire. She met me almost the moment I got off the boat. And then she came over to the paddock while I was training and interrupted us. And then she was there at dinner tonight!"

"Everyone's there at dinner," Claire interrupted. "You guys have one dining area. That's not her fault."

"She didn't have to come at the same time," he grumbled. "She could've eaten later. Or earlier."

"I'm sure she wasn't planning her dinner to coincide with yours. I think you're reading too much into this."

"Fine, be on her side." Owen knew he sounded petulant, but he didn't care. All afternoon and evening it had felt like no matter where he'd turned, Kathy was there. As the day had gone on, he'd found it harder and harder to stay focused. As it was, he found himself constantly looking around now as he paced the raptors catwalk, expecting to see her again.

"I'm not on anyone's side."

He could practically feel her eyes rolling. Still… "You should be on mine."

"Owen." Her exasperation was clear.

"Claire."

"You're being petty, you know?"

He did know. And he didn't care. Okay, that was not entirely true. He did care. He just wanted to vent. Was that so bad? Surely she could let him do so.

"I know. It's just… It's been so nice these past few months. No Hoskins. No Wu. Just us workers. Everything was fine. Why did you need to hire her again?"

"I didn't hire her," Claire reminded him, stressing the 'I'. "And you know why. Someone needs to be in charge over there, and with the raptors research project, plus your girls, plus Grape and Olive, and the Edmontosaurus project, and all the new research development… It was too much for someone to do as an addition to their current workload. I'm sure you and her both just need time to settle in. To get to know each other."

"I don't want to have to get to know anyone else," Owen said, coming to a stop. He leaned on the railing and looked down into the raptor paddock. While they had come out to see him when he'd first shown up, they'd quickly dispersed once they'd realized he wasn't going to pay them any attention (or, more importantly, give them any treats).

"And you call me a hermit," Claire laughed. "I swear you're more anti-social than I am."

"Not wanting to be friends with people from work doesn't make me anti-social," he protested. "And when have I ever called you a hermit?"

"Who said anything about friends? You don't need to become friends. You just need to figure out a way to work together."

"Claire, she canceled Olive and Grape's paddock and then had the nerve to suggest we use the compys' one." Owen liked to think he could be pretty laid back. But Kathy overriding his decision to build the paddock felt, to him, like crossing a line. She hadn't been there long enough to know better than him where it should be built. And it wasn't like Owen had approved it all on his own. Even though there hadn't been someone officially in charge of Sorna for months now, that didn't mean he had had carte blanche. He'd still had to jump through hoops as it was.

"I thought you said it was on pause?"

"Paused or cancelled, what's the difference?"

"To start, paused means it'll be restarted," Claire said.

Owen frowned, suddenly hearing the sound of typing through the phone.

"Wait, are you still at work? I thought you said you were home."

"I am home."

"Then why are you typing?"

"I'm looking at my email. I'm trying to see if there's been any discussion about construction on Sorna. She's new, Owen. While yes, she's got a big title, she's still not just going to be given leeway to do anything she wants out of the gate. You know how complicated construction on Sorna is. There will have to be paperwork for anything she wants to do."

When she finished, Owen waited, expecting her to say more. He quickly grew impatient when she didn't. "And? What did you find?" While he waited for a response, he found himself tapping his fingers impatiently on the railing.

"I'm still looking," was her exasperated response. "I'm not finding much. Oh, wait. I think this is it. Just a sec. Uh huh. Yeah."

"Well? What does it say?" He tried to keep the frustration out of his voice that she wasn't just telling him, but he knew he wasn't doing a good job. Needing to get his antsy energy out, he pushed away from the railing, starting his way along the catwalk again.

"There's just an email from her talking about putting everything on pause so they can re-evaluate it all. That she wants to put together a two year roadmap first and see how everything fits into it," Claire explained.

Owen waited, expecting her to say more, but she didn't. "That's it?"

"Yeah. It's just her saying she's putting it all on pause. There's a few replies from some others who got it acknowledging that."

"And no one pushed back? No one pointed out why the raptors paddock needed to be constructed now?" Owen asked. He wished he could see the emails that Claire was looking at and just scan them over himself.

"Who was there to push back?" Claire asked. "Let me see who was even cc'd on this email. Just a sec. I see Masrani, myself, Patrick… and Stephen."

"And Stephen didn't push back?" Stephen Parker was Owen's boss—well, technically he'd been Hoskin's boss and so Owen's boss's boss. But ever since Hoskins had been taken away, Owen had reported directly to Stephen. And it had been Stephen who had been highly involved in hiring Kathy. "He knew why we were moving ahead with it. He's the one who gave the final sign off."

"He responded. He just said okay, and then said that she should make sure to check with you on timelines," Claire said after a short pause.

"Huh."

"You said you're meeting with her tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah."

"So maybe that's her plan. To ask you all about this tomorrow. Owen, wait and see what she says first. Give her a chance to explain everything, and for you to put forward your arguments."

Ugh, Owen hated when Claire was the voice of reason (a role she took on all the time and one he knew was actually useful, especially when he was worked up like this). Still, that didn't mean he had to like it.

"I still don't like her," he said petulantly.

"Owen."

"I don't," he insisted. "Maybe it's petty, but this is all crappy timing. Besides, she could've asked Barry if she had questions. He's been here. He could tell her why we were moving ahead."

"Did you ask him if she had?"

"Well, no." Owen winced. He stopped as he reached the back of the paddock, the part that was aligned with the outer fence of the compound. Standing there, he stared out at the rest of Sorna. "But he would've said something if she had. We talked about the delay a lot this afternoon."

"See how the conversation goes tomorrow. You're the best advocate those raptors have." He couldn't help but smile at the pride he heard in her voice. It was nice to know that she was not only on his side, but that she believed in him.

"I know, I know," he agreed. "I just, I wish I didn't have to. I had a whole plan of what I was going to do this week. And moving Olive and Grape was top of the list. Now I have to figure out something else."

"You said she suggested using the compys' paddock, right?"

"Yeah, but even if that would work—and it won't—the compys are still in it. They aren't being moved to Nublar until next week."

"Well, how long would it take to make it so that the paddock is useable?"

"Why are you being practical?" Owen groaned. "Can't I just rant about this."

"Fine, go back to ranting," Claire agreed. "But, before you do and before I forget, I wanted to tell you that I'm planning on coming over next week."

"Really?" Owen hadn't even thought to ask Claire when she'd be able to come over next. He'd just assumed it wouldn't be for a while, and that it was better to not ask than to get his hopes up.

"Yeah. We're getting close to the Edmontosaurus launch date and so I want to come and check in on everything, make sure we're all ready. Also, I do really want to meet Kathy in person."

"You say that now…" He smiled when Claire laughed at that.

"Just because you got off on the wrong foot today doesn't mean it's all bad," she countered. "She came with excellent references. Give her a chance."

"How long will you be over for?" he asked, deflecting off the topic he didn't want to get sucked back into again. Having her visit would at least give him something to look forward to.

"The day, I think. I'm hoping to come over first thing. Zara and I are still trying to sort out my schedule."

"Nice. The girls will be happy to see you," he commented, turning around to look into the paddock to see if he could spot any of them.

"How were they for you today?" she asked. "You've barely even mentioned them."

"Blue was definitely happy to see me," he said. "And same with Charlie. I think Charlie still worries when her routine feels interrupted and is never sure anyone will come back. Echo, on the other hand, was acting aloof and pretending I wasn't even there." While it had been sort of irritating, and had made the few drills he was doing more complicated, he didn't really mind it. He liked knowing that they all had their own personalities.

"Aw, sounds like she missed you too."

"She was favouring Barry today," Owen expanded. "But yeah, I think she did. She just doesn't like to show it. But that's okay. They're all doing well. And we didn't do anything too complicated today. Barry was just showing me what they'd been working on the past couple of weeks. We'll step it up a bit tomorrow."

He looked down when he heard a chirp, to see that Charlie had come out to see what was going on. She must have heard her name. He waved down at her, but didn't do anything else, not wanting to engage.

"How long is Barry sticking around?"

"Two more days. Just enough so we can make sure that we go over everything."

Charlie was still staring up at him, so Owen shooed her away. She stared at him for another long moment, before turning and disappearing back into the jungle growth.

"Is he coming back here?"

It took Owen a second to remember who they had been talking about. "No, he said something about the mainland."

"Oh, an actual vacation?"

"I think he's meeting family or something. We were too busy talking about Kathy and all of that. We didn't get into it." Whenever Claire asked him questions like this, he always felt bad that he didn't have answers. When she'd ask, they'd seem like perfectly reasonable questions and ones he should have answers to. And yet, they never seemed to be things he'd think about asking when he was actually with his friend.

"And Grape and Olive? How are they doing?"

"They were their usual playful selves. We had them out in their temporary paddock today, and they're putting up more of a fuss now when we have to move them back inside. It's definitely getting too small in there for them. They want—and need—the extra space, and also just the change of scenery. I'm going to have to figure out something asap." He couldn't contain his resigned sigh, the topic bringing him back to where they'd started.

"Don't stress about that, Owen. It'll all get sorted out," Claire reassured him. "She hasn't even been there two weeks yet. Give her some time to get the lay of the land. And remember, she's giving you a chance to plead your case tomorrow. It's not like she's just overridden you."

"I shouldn't have to 'plea my case'," he grumbled. "She should just have let it proceed. The paddock wasn't going to be in the way of anything. And Olive and Grape need it."

"Have you figured out what you're going to say to her tomorrow? What your argument is?"

"Well, since you've been saying I shouldn't go in there and just tell her she's wrong, not really," he admitted. Honestly, he'd been mostly trying to not think about the meeting.

"Yeah, definitely don't start with why you think she's wrong." He could hear the humour in Claire's voice at that. "Although I'd kind of like to see that. But, remember, you need to be able to work with her. You're going to have to figure out how to get along. See what she has to say. Ask her what her plans are for the area. I bet she's going to have a lot of questions for you. But she's worked with animals before, Owen. I mean, not like you—not as a behaviourist. But at her previous job she was involved in large-scale agri-science. So she's worked with farms and large labs. She gets both sides of this more than most would."

"The raptors aren't cows, Claire," he reminded her. He started along the catwalk again. Thinking about all of this was just making him realize he really should have a plan for tomorrow. And as the meeting was at nine, he wouldn't have a lot of time in the morning to work on that.

"But cows also need space, and enrichment, and food, and all of those things. She's had to balance all of that. Just don't write her off yet."

"Why are you defending her so much?"

"I'm not defending her. I'm just stating the obvious. Anyway, it's still early days. Besides…"

Owen was surprised when Claire trailed off, and he waited to see if she'd finish her sentence. When she didn't, he asked, "Besides what?"

"Just… Remember how people talked about me. How some people still talk about me. Rumours and gossip and everything. Most of it was off of at most a single interaction. Just, don't use your experience today to write her off."

"Hey, I never wrote you off." But, he knew what she was getting at. And he knew that even today she still got a lot of it. He also knew that she didn't know about most of what was said, a tacit agreement he and Zara had to just keep quiet.

"I know you didn't, but many others did. And I know you know that. Who knows, maybe she'll turn out to be like me."

"That, I doubt." He immediately shook his head in disagreement at her words, even though she couldn't see him. "You're one of a kind."

"Thanks?"

"It's a compliment." Sighing, Owen reached the steps of the catwalk and paused, looking back at it for a long moment, before he started his way down.

"You okay?" The question was tentative.

"Yeah. I mean, I will be. Just frustrated and annoyed."

"It'll get better. I bet after your meeting tomorrow you'll realize that all your worrying today was for nothing."

"I'm not worrying."

"Right."

"I'm not. I'm just… okay, I'm worrying. And I know you're probably right–"

"Probably?" she interrupted.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," he chastised jokingly as he started across the field towards his office.

"I look forward to telling you 'told you so' tomorrow."

"Speaking of tomorrow…" He trailed off and came to a stop as he realized there were lights on in the building. He knew that Barry was over in the lounge. Who would be in there? Oh. OH. Dammit, Kathy had probably been given Hoskin's old office.

"Yeah?"

"I'm heading for my office so I can go look through all the notes I had on Grape and Olive's paddock."

"That sounds like a smart idea."

"I do have those sometimes," he joked. "But, it felt smarter until I realized that Kathy probably has Hoskin's old office."

"So? Go do that. I still have a bunch of emails to get through tonight. I know vacations are good. And I loved ours. But it would be nice if they didn't involve the two weeks of work backlog when you got back."

"No kidding," he agreed, but he still stood where he'd stopped, wondering if he wanted to go in. "I can't decide if it makes me want to go away again or to never leave."

"And once again, we're back to us being workaholics," Claire said. "I mean, we both looked at our email while we were away. We can't even claim to have totally shut it off."

"Hey, at least we like our work," he said as he motivated himself forward. Claire was right, he was going to have to get used to Kathy at some point. Still, if he was quiet enough, maybe he could sneak right to his office without her knowing. "It could be a lot worse."

Well, here we go. Any guesses where this story is going? Or what (or who) you're hoping to see in it? Thoughts about Kathy? Always open to hear what you want to share. As it is, an early Happy New Year to everyone, and I'll "see you" next year with chapter 2.