"Hey, Claire. I'm glad you could make it," I stand up from my seat to greet Claire once she enters the cafe. After I took care of Archer – making sure everything was okay, that he was asleep and not pretending – I left the Lockwood house.
"Hi, Bella. I'm glad you called," We hug each other briefly then take our seats.
"I ordered for both of us, if you don't mind," I give her a sheepish smile. My stomach had been humbling for the past half an hour, and I couldn't wait for Claire to order.
"Not at all. I'm actually hungry and love to have some food coming really fast," We both laugh.
"So, have you talked to Eli?" I change the topic to a serious one.
"Yes, I did. I was on my way to talk to Owen when you called to meet. Good thing I was just passing by," She says. "It's terrible, isn't it? The government decides they want to let them die instead of giving dinosaurs a second chance in life," She sighs.
"I agree with you if anyone, it is the both of us that are the most affected. Aside from Owen," She nods in agreement. "Food's here," I speak up when I saw our waiter come with our plates. "I ordered grilled ham and cheese and some dark coffee. Hope you like it," I don't even look at her as my eyes are already trained on the food.
"I do, I very much do," We thank the waiter and dig in. "I just so glad there's someone like Mr. Lockwood and Eli who are willing to help," Claire confesses in content.
"I'm glad too. So did you agree with him?" I ask with a mouthful.
"Of course, anything for the dinosaurs," I grabbed my mug and raised it for a lame toast.
"Anything for the dinosaurs," We touched mugs and drank the coffee, only to almost spit it back since it was so hot. "Oh God, I think I burned my tongue," We laughed. Now I won't be able to eat anything hot for the next twenty-four hours.
After eating our food, I got in the car with Claire and drove for a couple of hours – chatting about everything – into a pine forest, where we later found Owen building himself the wooden structure of a house.
We both step out of the car, but Claire got closer while I lean on it.
"Hey, Owen," She calls for him softly. Owen continues to hammer down on the nails on the wood, not hearing or simply ignoring her. "Owen!" She called louder. Owen stopped what he was doing and slowly turned his head to look at us.
"Back for more, huh," He says, a light smirk curves his lips.
"Can I buy you a beer?" Claire asks.
"Did you bring them, or do you want to go somewhere?" He picks his hammer on one of his hands, and the other was on his hips. "Hey there, Beast," He waves at me, and I wave back.
"I'm still not legal age, but I can drink water," I say loudly.
"Then I'm coming," He gets down the ladder, puts his stuff away, and walks to the car.
A couple of drinks later, once we arrived at a bar, Claire was laughing loudly while Owen and I stared blankly at her. She's never this boisterous, so we are a bit taken back.
"Seriously, I can't believe you think that you left me," She laughs.
"We play the conversation on your head alright; you said, "you want to go live in your van like a bum? Go ahead, Owen", and I said 'okay'" Owen explains in a bored tone.
"So, how's that you leaving me?" Claire slurs, clearly drunk.
"Because I left," I hold back a laugh at their conversation. "I left you," He points at himself, then at her.
"You left because I told you to," Claire argues.
"And then I left you," This time, I can hold it any longer and burst out laughing. "Because you didn't want to live in a van on the side of the road."
"No, no, no, no, because you wouldn't let me drive the damn van for five minutes," I can't believe they broke up because of this. And I can't believe I'm just finding of this now. Oh, how I would've love to listen to their bicker as I sat on my couch, eating my delicious ice cream.
"I was chivalrous. What can I do?" Owen shrugs.
"You are so stubborn," Claire sighs as I gain back my composure.
"Well, look at you now, you're saving the world," Owen mocks.
"I'm trying, at least. We are," She looks at me. "You can't just run away from everything," She looks to the bar.
"So, you're what? Dating an accountant now, insurance actuary? Your skin looks nice," He says out of nowhere, his eyes unfocusing a bit. Claire looks at him with a slight blush covering her cheek. "Dermatologist," Owen nods to himself as if he just had a whole discussion in his head.
"Owen," Claire warns him.
"Does he check you for moles?" I chuckle, and he winks in my direction.
"Stop," she Shakes her head.
"Ventriloquist?" He jokes some more.
"This is not why we are here," Claire sighs.
"Yeah, I know why you're here. Lockwood's little flunky called me, 'rescue op, save the dinosaur from an island that's about to explode,' what could go wrong."
"We're going," I say.
"Don't," Owen argues quickly.
"We don't have a choice," I say.
"What? Of course, you have a choice," Owen says in an 'it's obvious' tone.
"So what, I should just build my own cabin, play pool, and drink beer all day while these dinosaurs extinct?" Claire speaks, feeling pissed.
"Yeah," Owen shrugs. "I like pool," I roll my eyes at him. Typical excuses as answers.
"Blue is alive," Claire says.
"Jesus Claire," Owen sighs as she found his weak spot.
"You raised her Owen, you spent years of your life working with him," She speaks more softly. "You're just gonna let him die?"
"Well yeah," I am getting angry. I sit between Claire and the wall; this way, I couldn't walk out of here to breathe fresh air, so I don't get more frustrated.
"Come on; you're a better man than you think you are," I say again.
"You should write fortune cookies," If looks could kill, Owen would be six feet under.
"Forget it," Claire says before I can curse him. "There's a charter flight leaving tomorrow morning. You're on manifest. We just wanted to let you know," I go up from my seat and follow Claire out the door, leaving Owen alone.
In the next morning, I wake up earlier than usual, leave a note for my brother, and make him some breakfast. I told him a few days prior that I would be going somewhere for a day or two. He didn't question, but I still want to make him something since he trusts me that much. It's only fair to repay it with food.
I make sure to grab Levi's tooth with me as a good luck charm and go to the airport the plane would take off. When I arrive, I see Claire and a couple of people I've never met before.
Being the shy person I am, I walk inside the airplane, only saying hi to the pilot, then took a seat close to the back. The fewer interactions, the less staling, the quicker we get airborne. Claire sits next to me before a groaning sound comes from behind us.
"I thought you would never show up," The man says groggily with a sleepy face. Then, an Asian girl and a black guy came inside the plane as Claire notices them.
"Umm, this is Zia Rodriguez," Claire points to the girl. Both Owen and I extend our hands to shake her's. "Franklin Web," Claire points to the guy who looked very scared at the moment. "Systems analyst."
"Nervous flier?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Would you ride a thousand-pound horse that's been abused all its life?" He asks back with a quivering voice.
"I trained the hybrid dinosaur the park was going to present all its life. It was bigger than a T-Rex," His eyes went to Claire's, who nodded with a pointed look.
"We're not compatible,' He shakes his head, and I hold back a smile. The engine turns on, and soon enough, we are flying to Isla Nublar.
I'll be seeing you soon, Levi.
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What a long chapter, right? Of course, I took lines from the movie, so all credits go to them. (I just keep writing this because I don't want to get in trouble and shit)
What do you think will happen when Bella gets there?
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