Jurassic World: Evolution (REWORKING)

4. Not the Dr. Malcolm You Were Expecting

"Ian Malcolm's your dad?!" cries Lowery after a moment of shocked silence. They weren't expecting that. "Dr. Ian Malcolm?! Dude, that is awesome!" I can't help but chuckle a little at his excitement.

"Yeah. Your representatives couldn't get a hold of him, so they contacted me and asked me to deliver your letter to him. He wasn't so keen on coming back here, to put it nicely. But I've been dreaming of seeing this place my whole life - I'm a paleontologist. I figured it would be better if someone came than no one at all so here I am..." I trail off as the realization of what I've done suddenly hits me.

Claire stares at me not knowing what to say and frankly, I don't know what to say either. In my excitement to jump at this once-in-a-lifetime chance I didn't think about the repercussions of my actions - these people were obviously dealing with something right now, and now I just show up unannounced. Oh jeez, what are they thinking of me?

I'm suddenly crushed by embarrassment and I recoil. "I-I'm sorry, I-I wasn't thinking. I guess I just got too excited and I leapt at the chance of coming here without thinking-"

Mr. Masrani steps in. "Please, no need to apologize. Thank you, Doctor Malcolm, we very much appreciate you taking the time to come here. Please allow us to reimburse you for your travel expenses. The idea was that your father's trip would be complimentary." He gives me a warm and welcoming smile.

What a sweet guy. He instantly makes me feel better and I smile back. "Thank you. And I'm sorry my dad couldn't be here." I'm sorry he couldn't have been of more help.

"Again, please, do not apologize. I understand." Again, he smiles. Then he gestures to the other employees. "Please, allow me to introduce some of the leading members of our wonderful team here: this is Claire Dearing, our Operations Manager."

Claire manages a smile and shakes my hand in a firm grip. "Welcome. Thank you for coming here. And so quickly. Like Mr. Masrani said, we really appreciate it."

"My pleasure," I assure her.

"And this is Owen Grady, our head raptor trainer," Mr. Masrani introduces.

"Really?" I cry. Raptor trainer - that's something you don't hear everyday. Well, maybe everyday here. "That's so cool! Nice to meet you." We shake hands.

Owen nods. "Thank you, nice to meet you too. Glad to see someone appreciates my work," he adds, glancing at Claire who glares back. Uh oh, tension amongst colleagues.

"And Mr. Cruthers you've already met it appears."

I nod and Lowery gives me a smile and wave. It's such a cute gesture I can't help but chuckle and return it.

"And I am Simon Masrani, park owner." He gives my hand a firm, welcoming shake.

"It's great to meet you, Sir." He seems like such a personable guy. I also love the fact that he introduces himself as well and doesn't just assume I know who he is, even though I clearly do. Personable and humble. He's just so friendly.

Mr. Masrani continues to smile and claps his hands together. "Excellent! Now that all the introductions have been made - Doctor Malcolm, I imagine you are tired from your travels, so please allow us to get you settled in a hotel room." He nods to my suitcase. "Then perhaps we can give you a tour - you will have to excuse the current state of the park - and then we'll talk business."

"Sounds great!" I'm back to my overly excited self now.

Claire steps in then. "Sir, if I may-"

He holds up a hand. "Please Claire, we will continue this later." She steps back.

Mr. Masrani gestures for me to follow him and right as I'm about to, my cell phone buzzes in my pocket.

This makes me realize that I haven't checked it since before boarding my flight back home. When I take it out of my pocket I find that I'm receiving a call from Dad, and that I have three missed previous calls from him, as well as various voicemails.

Uh oh. He's probably just about ready to call the police department and report his daughter missing.

"Please excuse me for just a minute, I have to take this," I tell Mr. Masrani, who nods in understanding and kindly steps back into the room so I can be alone in the hall to take the call.

I stare down at my phone, buzzing away in my hand. Here goes. I press the answer button.

Before I've barely answered and before I can even say "hi," let alone 'hi Dad," I'm greeted by-

"JANE ELIZABETH MALCOLM!"

(Uh oh, haha! Someone isn't happy ;) I know it's been a long time, but in honour of the release of the 'Jurassic World' sequel, here's another chapter! :) I hope you all enjoyed, thanks so much for reading!))