A NEW HOPE
9 – In Search of a Life
The first stop after leaving InGen was a coffee shop. Pet felt guilty requesting if the chauffeur could make a detour on the way to the hotel, considering all the driving he'd done for her throughout the day for her appointments. The driver was a slightly heavyset man in his early forties preferring to be called Chuck rather than Charlie. Pet was okay with it, as long as he stopped calling her Ms. Hammond or Ms. Veronica in exchange.
Chuck drove the black Mercedes C 200 into the parking lot of a coffee shop. Twenty minutes later, they were leaving as Pet savored as much enjoyment as she could down to the last sprinkle of her second donut.
Derek fished his wallet out of his back pocket and slid a prepaid money card out of a sleeve. He smiled at the snacking hybrid. "Uncle Rob loaded this bad boy up with five-hundred dollars for some spending spree fun money." The card was flicked into the sticky-fingered Pet's lap. "How about we go blow some of it?"
Blue-green eyes lit up in delight. With that, Chuck diverted from his route to the hotel once more and to the closest mall instead. He couldn't be too upset about this. After all, Mr. Masrani did inform him the young woman would most likely want to do some sightseeing and shopping during her stay. He would be paid accordingly for his time, and it wasn't like his passengers were intolerable or obnoxious.
Into the mall parking lot, Chuck turned and dropped the two people off at the front door. As part of his job, he opened the back passenger door for the passengers to get out. In the blink of an eye, they were off to enjoy themselves.
Three hundred and seventy-five dollars total was spent in a matter of two hours.
While Derek toyed around with an RC helicopter outside a clothing store, Pet went inside and looked around. The hybrid took a sip of a strawberry smoothie in her left hand and admired a black cocktail dress displayed on a mannequin.
She liked how it looked and had been wanting a nice, yet casual dress to wear should an occasion arise for it. Seeing how Grant was expected to attend special to-dos at museums, Pet could see herself making use of the dress quite regularly.
"I wonder how much this dress is." Pet flipped the price tag over and arched her brows in surprise. "Wow, it's cheaper than I thought it'd be. Only forty-two dollars and ninety-nine cents." The three bags clutched in her right hand were set down, and a shoebox extracted and opened. Inside were black suede ankle boots with silver buckles and small chains decorating them. "These would look good with it." Pet began nosing around the dresses for the right size, smiling when she found one. "Perfect."
After trying it on and pleased with how well it fit, she bought it. As she made her way out of the store, the thought occurred to her how fun it would be to go to a night club wearing her new outfit. They always looked fun on TV, showing people dancing like there would be no tomorrow. Just one problem, she wouldn't be able to get in. She had no type of identification to prove her age. Then Pet had another idea but decided to keep it to herself and not tell Derek. He'd probably tease her about it, and she really didn't want to hear about it again. Instead, she would decide to approach someone else she hoped would be more understanding and willing to assist with her dilemma.
Once back outside, Chuck picked them up and drove to the hotel. Pet collected her shopping bags in her hands. "Thanks for driving us around, Chuck!"
They proceeded into the hotel and went to their rooms to relax. Derek stated, "I'm going to go hop in the shower for a little bit," and disappeared behind his room's closing door.
This gave Pet a perfect chance to execute her plan of action. She put her bags in her room and left just as quickly.
Thirty minutes later of enjoying a therapeutic shower, Derek emerged from the bathroom wearing a red t-shirt and khaki pants. He trudged across the hall to Pet's room and knocked on the door. No answer. Derek knocked a bit harder the second time with still no answer. Maybe she was asleep or taking a shower herself. No worries. He'd just use her second room key he kept with him to go inside.
It was slipped into the card reader and door opened. He poked his head inside. "Pet, can I come in?" Silence. "Pet?"
Pet was back at InGen's headquarters and staring Simon in the face. He tapped the top of his custom pen on his desk and studied the anxious hybrid. It surprised him to see her back at the headquarters, given the busy day she had.
Regardless, he wasn't going to turn her away. "You want what, now? A life?"
The woman nodded, eyes wide in their pleading. "That's right…a life, an identification...something to prove that I'm...alive, I guess you could say. As it stands, now, I can't get a driver's license because I have no proof of existence like a birth certificate and I can't get that because, well... look at me! I can't do anything because of how I was created and what I am."
She had a point Simon could understand. "What is it you want me to do, exactly, Veronica?"
"Help me get proof of existence that won't completely reveal what I am to the world." Pet pressed her lips together in a skeptical frown to her own request. She could see Simon thinking it over and felt embarrassed on the spot. "I know I shouldn't be asking this of you. You've already done so much for me already that I can never completely repay you for. If you don't feel up to this, I completely understand."
Simon could feel the weight of the woman's desperation in her voice and even see it in her glazing over blue-green eyes. He wasn't even sure if what she was asking was possible. So much would be required for the task.
The deep in thought man quietly sat his pen down and struggled with how to explain his thoughts without shattering the woman's hopes. "I'll see what I can do, but I can't guarantee anything. Like you said, you're going to need a birth certificate, and that requires parents' names. Proving your relation to John Hammond shouldn't be an issue. There are already records in InGen's files stating this from previous blood tests. As far as a mother goes, that could possibly be an issue. There's no other human DNA about you capable of tying you to a mother."
Pet shrugged. "Just leave that part blank? I know there have been cases out there where a second parent's name is left blank on a birth certificate. There's always the excuse my biological mother abandoned me right after birth because she wanted nothing to do with me?" She winced at the piercing dark eyes studying her in debate. "What else can we do? Can't exactly list me as a test tube baby, on there."
"Don't," Simon sternly cut in. The sharp and sudden authority in his voice startled Pet. "Don't ever refer to yourself like that again. You are a living, breathing being just like any other person."
Pet chewed at her bottom lip and timidly looked away. "Sorry."
Simon took a moment to calm that flicker of anger inside him. It's not that he was becoming impatient with the woman. It was because of the people from her past telling her that was all she would ever be. He didn't care what past InGen executives considered her to be. To him, she was a marvelous and fearless young woman he couldn't help but become more and more enamored by.
He slowly inhaled a breath and exhaled it much the same. "Again, I'll have to see what I can do." Simon didn't like how the hybrid appeared so disheartened and on the brink of tears. Maybe he could use his influential pull to make things happen. "I'll make a few phone calls, here in a little bit, and we can further discuss this over dinner tonight."
It took a second for the words to sink into the woman. Blue-green eyes blinked away the threatening tears to lock onto the dark gaze still settled on her. "Wait, what? Dinner?" All thoughts in Pet's head instantly derailed into panic mode. Oh no, not another one of those fancy restaurants with food costing as much as a mortgage payment. "Oh, well, uh..."
Simon held up a hand to silence her. "I assure you; it will not be anything like last night. You and I come from different lifestyles, Veronica, and I'm aware of that. It's why I was thinking something closer to your comfort levels." He warmly smiled at the speechless woman. He glanced down at his wristwatch to see it was nearing six-o-clock in the evening. "Does seven-thirty sound good?"
The woman fought to get her mouth to function enough for comprehensible words. Gulping back her anxiety, she answered. "Whatever works best for you." Her smile trembled.
"Excellent!" A genuine smile flooded the man's dark brown ones. "I'll pick you up at the hotel at seven-thirty, then."
With that, Pet felt she was being dismissed and nodded in appreciation. "Thank you for at least agreeing to help me."
Simon stood up and went to where the woman stood. "Again, I can't make any guarantees, so don't thank me just yet."
Pet studied the sincere features of the wealthy man. "I'm sure I've asked you this before but…with everything you have going on with managing your many companies, why do you keep helping me?"
Simon admired the woman. Her bronze skin almost glowed in the setting sun's light coming in through his office's window. "I owe it to Mr. Hammond. He was always so generous and so giving to my family and me. After my father passed away, I inherited the family company. I'll be honest, I was terrified I would do something wrong and ruin everything my father worked so hard to establish. That's when John stepped in and helped me better understand what was needed for successful business management.
"I never really thanked him for all that he did, and I regret that even to this day. You meant a great deal to him, so what better way to show my appreciation for his kindness than to do what I can for his daughter? His greatest creation."
Hearing the words made Pet feel like a squishy little girl as she stood there, teary-eyed and unable to speak. The moment was broken, however, by the office phone blaring. Simon wanted to ignore it but couldn't; not when it was from his secretary.
He reached over and hit the speaker button. "Yes?"
The woman pleasantly answered. "I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but Derek Muldoon is on hold."
Pet's eyes widened in alarm, and she looked nervously at the phone. She frowned. "Yeah, I didn't exactly tell him where I was going before I left."
Simon sighed. "Put him through," he replied to his secretary.
Pet tossed a thumb to the office's closed door. "I better get going before I get into any more trouble." As she made a beeline for the door, she could hear Simon explaining things to Derek over the phone.
"Don't you ever do that again, do you hear me?" Derek stood before Pet with his hands on his hips and a face matching his red shirt. "Damn it, Pet, you scared the shit out of me! I was about to call Uncle Rob and Dr. Grant and tell them you were missing! Do you know how well that would've gone over?" He ran his hands over his face and through his slightly disheveled brown hair. "Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"
Pet sighed. "Because I didn't think it mattered to anyone else, but me! It was my business to take care of!"
Derek groaned behind his hands. "You still could've told me where you were going! That's the point in all of this! Communication!"
The hybrid crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an inquisitive brow. "Really? And here I thought it was about you not wanting to get in trouble with Robert and Alan."
The man took a deep breath and shrugged, nodding. "That, too. Uncle Rob scares the shit out of me, and something tells me not to get on Dr. Grant's bad side."
Pet shook her head, remembering how cold natured her beloved paleontologist became towards Billy after the raptor egg fiasco. "No, you really don't."
Derek continued. "Anyway!" He returned to his previous stance and scornfully gawked at the hybrid. "From now on, tell me where you're going!"
"Fine, whatever," the woman snorted out and stomped away. She went into the second room of the suite and closed the door.
By seven-fifteen, Pet was dressed and ready to go. She decided to wear her newly bought black cocktail dress, since she felt a little underdressed at last night's dinner, and examined herself in the bathroom mirror. She debated on wearing her hair up but kept it down instead to hide the coloration pattern on her back. Not like it really mattered since her shoulders and upper arms were exposed. Maybe the restaurant would be dark enough in lighting that no one would notice.
The hybrid emerged from the bathroom to see Derek stretched out on the couch watching TV. He took one look at the hybrid, and his jaw hit the floor. "Where are you going dressed like that?"
Remembering their previous conversation about her needing to tell him where she was going, Pet answered. "I'm going to dinner with Simon to discuss business."
Derek blinked. "To dinner, or to bed?"
He knew it was coming and braced for the sharp smack upside his head. "Leave it to you, you little shit, to look too much into things!"
"What did you expect? Have you seen what you're wearing?! Girls going to 'discuss business' with the eleventh richest man in the world don't dress like that unless there's more to it!" He admired the curves of the woman that the body-hugging dress accentuated. "You do look nice, though."
"Thank you," Pet exclaimed. "How am I supposed to dress, by the way?" She snorted a bark in annoyance. "Sweat pants and a t-shirt?"
Derek huffed a laugh. "Definitely not something that screams 'bend me over and pull my hair'!" What he got in response was well deserved as Pet punched him as hard as she could in his shoulder.
Knocking at the suite door startled the two people. Derek rubbed the sore spot on his shoulder and spoke up. "That's probably your buddy." He answered the door to find himself right. "Yo," he greeted the black-suited billionaire with. "Hey Pet, Mr. Si-Money is here!" Another hit to the shoulder made Derek groan out loud.
"You can be such a little shit, sometimes," Pet snarled. She smiled at the newcomer while she pushed Derek out of the way. "Sorry, I was just on my way to the lobby."
Simon watched the two, resembling something more along the lines of rival siblings, and couldn't say he was surprised by their antics anymore. "It's fine. I got here earlier than expected."
Pet shoulder checked Derek out of her way and closed the room's door behind her. "Shall we?"
