PREPARATIONS
1 – When the Shoe Is on the Other Foot
"That's why you need to get up and move around," echoed in Pet's mind. Grant was right.
Arriving in New York after an almost seven-and-a-half-hour-long flight left Pet wrecked on the couch towards the rear end of the plane. She had only gotten up once during the journey to use the lady's room before returning to the couch to lay on her stomach. She hadn't quite gotten the sleep out of her system by the time four AM came around. Good thing she packed her bags before going to bed the night before. Er, well, more like the three hours before needing to be up. Oh, and Chuck was there, too. She couldn't forget him.
When given the choice of staying in California or go to London to chauffeur there, the ecstatic man gave a quick answer. Chuck was parked in front of the hotel and ready to pick up his two passengers by four AM. He'd spent much of the trip so far playing a video game on some sort of handheld gaming system. Pet wasn't sure what it was; she never cared about that sort of thing.
Meanwhile, Simon slept much of the way like Pet, stretched out in a reclining chair with an eye cover over his face.
The only reason the two were awake was that they needed to land in New York for refueling and aircraft inspection. It was a scheduled stop that was estimated to take around an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. In that time, a pre-prepared lunch consisting of chicken tikka masala over basmati rice filled Pet's eyes.
She felt guilty and a little bit of a glutton for eating more than she should have. It was delicious and filling that put her in a food coma shortly after take-off. She'd have to be mindful to get up and move around more on the almost ten-hour flight to London.
Three hours to go, and the hybrid was whimpering and unable to move. She had fallen asleep in the most awkward of positions that had compromised her lower back. At first, Pet tried massaging the kink and accompanying soreness. Then it occurred to her that she forgot to take her pain medication after eating. Again, she tried getting up after twenty minutes of trying to work out the pain on her own. No such luck.
Footsteps neared her position and stopped. Pet slowly looked over her shoulder at the confused looking Simon. She smiled and nervously laughed. "So, I could definitely use some help. I forgot to take my pain killers after lunch, and well, I think I'm broke now."
He mumbled something Pet was sure was Hindi under his breath and then sighed. "What can I get you?"
"A bottle of water so I can kill the feeling in my body?" She smiled and batted her eyelashes pleadingly and what she was sure looked stupidly.
He walked away, and while gone, Pet rummaged around in her backpack for her prescription bottle and electroshock therapy device. Laying back on her stomach, she lifted the bottom of her shirt just enough to get one of the six sticky pads in place near her lower back.
Simon returned and shook his head at the sight. The package of small circular pads was taken out of her hand, and the bottled water put in its place. Pet grumbled and twisted the caps off both the water and pill bottle.
Simon spoke. "You don't have to try and do everything by yourself. There's no shame in asking for help when you need it." Two stickies, three stickies…
Pet drank a little over a quarter of the water bottle and set it down beside the couch. She folded her arms under the left side of her head and frowned. It was making sense to her, now, why Grant avoided her shortly after her arrival to the dig site. He knew damn well how she felt about him, and it made him uncomfortable. She knew she followed him around a little too much in her earlier days. She just wanted to be around him and thought by helping him with his dig site, and research into raptors would justify it.
Now she was in a similar predicament, except this time she was in Grant's place. It seemed in the past almost seven months since Simon found and recovered her off Isla Sorna, he was continually finding new excuses to either come out to the dig site or have her fly to California. In Pet's mind, he most likely saw his helping her as a justification for seeing her. Much like her trying to help Grant. She couldn't be angry with him for this. Doing so would feel hypocritical.
Pet tried to shut away the feelings of embarrassment and shame from her earlier days at the dig site that invaded her, but closing her eyes didn't work. She hated herself now. She wanted to apologize profusely to her beloved paleontologist for her immaturity. She loved him too much to describe and hoped he felt the same about her, despite their rough start.
A gentle hand pushed down on the sticky pads to make sure they were set in place. In less than a minute, the familiar electroshock tingle worked its way into her tense muscles. She remote sized device was rested next to her hand, and in hushed footsteps, the man was gone.
SHREECH! Rattling shook the private plane as back tires touched down on London's Heathrow Airport's runway. SHREECH! The front landing gear making contact had Pet relaxing in her seat. She worried the landing would be more jarring than what it had been.
Chuck peered outside the aircraft's window to the early London morning. Once the plane was parked and its engines shut down, the passengers disembarked. With their luggage on their person, the three passengers proceeded to customs. Pet was more than nervous about the process, but her passport was approved. Somewhere along the way, Chuck slipped away.
Pet remained closed to Simon out of fear of losing him, too. She did not want to get lost in such a big place in a foreign country. They proceeded outside just in time to see a black luxury sedan pull up to the passenger loading and off-loading ramp. Chuck opened the door for the two people before scampering back to the driver's side.
Seeing the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle was nothing unusual to Pet. Because of her pain killers having already kicked in, she was able to move around more. What meant, going back and forth trying to take in as much of the sites as possible.
She inquired the smiling billionaire, "Will I get to go sightseeing after the interviews?"
"Of course," he beamed. "If you wouldn't mind, write me out a list of all the places you would like to see, and I'll arrange a tour for you."
Pet was grinning from ear to ear. "Robert said one of the first things I should do is try the fish and chips."
"Sure. We can get some for lunch later this afternoon if you'd like."
The hybrid opened her mouth to answer, suddenly remembering her prior thoughts on the plane. That shame of her actions at the dig site resurfaced. She smiled timidly and nodded her head. "Yeah, that'd be good."
Dark eyes could tell something was off with the hybrid. There was a sudden burst of excitement in her eyes, only to fizzle out in exchange for something else. He didn't like it. "First things, though. I need to stop by my office here. I'd also like to introduce you to a couple of people you'll most certainly be working with starting tomorrow morning."
Pet nodded. "Sounds good."
Becoming visible from behind a building was a massive Ferris wheel. "Oh, wow!"
Chuck smiled to himself. "It's called the London Eye, or Millennium Wheel. If you think it's impressive now, wait till you see it at night."
"I definitely need to go on that before I leave!" Pet was glad she agreed to come to London.
Simon laughed.
The car pulled into a circular drive and came to a stop in front of a newly constructed building. There was no doubt it was InGen's, given the signature blue logo mounted above four glass double doors. Simon and Pet proceeded into the building.
What got her attention first was the grand stairwell in the middle of the lobby. It teed off midway to two separate stairways on the left and right sides. In the shape of a horseshoe along the inside of the building were balconies of their respective upper floors. Seen just beyond some of the balcony railings were offices and hallways leading elsewhere.
Her eyes were pulled upwards to the steepled glass roof several floors above the open central lobby. "Oooooohhhhh."
She was so caught up admiring the architecture of the building that she didn't notice Simon had stopped walking. Not until she collided into him. They were at a blue-grey half-moon shaped customer service desk. Peering at her over the desk's serenata granite top was the receptionist.
She was a lovely older black woman in a light blue button-down shirt and navy-blue slacks. Around her neck was a gossamer scarf matching the color of her pants. Captured behind thin gold-framed glasses were warm brown eyes. Pinned to her shirt was a silver name tag reading Buna.
"Good morning, Mr. Masrani!" Buna greeted. "How are you doing this fine morning?"
"I'm doing wonderfully!"
"How was your flight?"
"Long," Simon laughed. He motioned for Pet to step forward. "I want you to meet who will be assisting me with the interviews this week, Veronica Hammond."
Buna's raisin colored lips lifted her cheeks and slimmed her eyes. "Hammond…I know this sounds stupid to ask but, you wouldn't happen to be related to the John Hammond, would you?"
Pet bit her lips together nervously. "Yes, actually."
Buna stood up and extended her hand to the much younger woman. "It's a pleasure to have a Hammond back within the company. My name is Buna McGuire, but you can call me Ms. B. Everyone does."
"Okay. Um, you can call me Veronica or Nica. Either or is preferred over announcing my last name."
"Sure thing, love!"
Simon and Buna conversed about how the following week would go, Pet tuning them out. Her gaze was back upwards and admiring the beautiful sky. She knew she needed to pay attention, so she didn't look like a schmuck asking questions later.
The trip up to the fourth floor wasn't the most comfortable with the elevator cubicle jostling about in its ascent. As soon as it stopped and the doors opened, Pet and Simon turned right. It wasn't too far of a walk down a corridor lined with offices before she was being introduced to another smiling face.
A woman with brunette curls resting on slender shoulders in a peach dress suit handed Simon a note. The secretary turned her attention to the other woman in super casual dress. Sweatshirt and sweatpants topped off with hiking boots didn't fit in with others in business attire occupying the building.
Pet was then led to the office's door. Simon explained, pointing at a card reader mounted above the door's handle. "Before we leave here today, I'll have you an ID badge made so you can access my office when needed." He reached into his suit coat and withdrew his own ID card. It was then run through the card reader, a red light turning green, and the door's locks clicked. The handle was turned, and the door opened. Pet went inside, jaw dropped at the office's fancy interior. Simon continued. "Right here," he pointed to an electronic door mount on the inside of the door, "is how you disable the card reader, so you don't have to keep running your card. This little button, here," he pointed to a pea-sized button. "Just press it," as he explained, he demonstrated, "and a green light should remain permanently on. The same light will show on the outside."
Pet nodded. "And if, by chance, I leave my ID card inside the office and forget to disable the reader?"
"I can give you a list of people who also have access to this office, but I suggest keeping up with your ID." Simon went to his computer and turned it on. A pen was grabbed out of his cup and a white post-it notes pad retrieved out of his desk. Pet saw him scribble something on it then it was peeled off the stack and handed to her. "Keep this with you as well. It's the login information to my computer."
Pet blinked. "Excuse me, you're giving me access to your computer?"
The question baffled Simon to the point of appearing almost offended. "Why wouldn't I? I trust you more than I trust most others that work for me."
Pet looked down at the note and read the information to herself. The fact he used Derek's nickname of Simoney as his username cracked her up. His password being his birthday in numerical form was too predictable, though. "Why use 'Simoney'? I thought you hated that nickname."
He shrugged. "I do. All the more reason to use it. It's less predictable than something more easily guessed."
Pet carefully folded the note. It was tucked into her wallet where it wouldn't fall out, and her wallet returned to her pants pocket.
In less than an hour, Pet, Simon, and Chuck were checking into the hotel. The elevator ride was whisper quiet and stopped so gently it made Pet wonder if they even moved. The scent of lavender filled the brick red-carpeted hallway, Pet almost certain why. Lavender was supposed to help calm stress and support more peaceful sleep.
She checked her room's information and shuffled down the hallway to her room, six-nineteen. The key card was inserted, and the hybrid went into the cool, well-lit suite. The first place she went was to the bathroom. Her bottled water from the plane ride was wreaking havoc on her. She flicked on the bathroom light and froze on the spot. Instead of a bathtub was a shower. Mounted in the walls were spigots joined by the primary showerhead that offered more settings than she thought possible. She knew exactly where she was going to be spending more of her time when in the room.
