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°➶☽∘ ✾ ∘☾➴°
𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗 𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐒 from her bungalow, one hand holding an ice coffee and the other holding a beer. She hops down the steps with practiced grace, walking over to where Owen is sitting. He stops his work on his motorcycle for a moment and looks up at the brunette woman.
She hands him the beer, plopping down on the grass next to him. He gives her a wink before cracking it open. The two had been sharing a bungalow since Owen decided he liked the view and wanted to stay, ironically, right by the place Alex was occupying.
"I want to go see Jo," Alex sighs, taking a sip of her coffee before flopping onto her back.
"Hey, I thought we were hanging out together?" Owen questions, pausing his work, "But if you do, why don't you?"
"First don't say hanging out, you're cool, but not that cool," Alex jokes, "And I'm too lazy and 'hanging around here is fine.' As much as I love my T-rex, she can be really sassy sometimes."
Owen chuckles, "I thought you just said not to say 'hanging out.'"
"Yeah, you can't. I can, I am that cool," Alex says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Owen can tell she's joking though from the playful glint in her eyes.
For the next hour, Owen and Alex hung out together, chatting occasionally, talking about random stuff, until a white Mercedes pulled up in front of their bungalow.
A red head steps out and looks at her reflection in the rearview mirror. She brushes her shorthair, almost as if she wants to make it look more enticing. Owen looks down at Alex, who's still laying on the ground and asks, "What do they want now?"
"Who knows," Alex responds. She sits up and props herself up on her hands.
"Mr. Grady? Ms. Wilson?" the woman, Claire, says, approaching the two, "I need you to come look at something."
"Why are you calling me Mr. Grady?" Owen asks.
"And Ms. Wilson?" Alex says, crossing her arms.
"Owen. Alex. If you're not too busy," Claire corrects.
"We're pretty busy," Owen responds, taking a sip of the Coca Cola he had gotten once he finished his beer.
"So much to do," Alex says, dramatically, taking a sip of Owen's Coca Cola.
"We have an attraction," Claire explains.
"That's not what you said the last time I saw you," Owen responds, causing Alex to spit out the liquid and burst out laughing. The two look at her, Owen with amusement, Claire with a poker face.
"Sorry," Alex says, wiping her mouth, "Continue."
"I'm talking about the dinosaurs, Mr. Grady, Alex," Claire responds.
"Owen," Owen corrects, standing up and pulling Alex up as well.
"A new species we've made," Claire says as a bug comes flying around her face. She tries to swat it away awkwardly, but fails miserably. Owen rolls his eyes slightly and grabs the fly without a second thought, giving the woman a smug look in turn.
"You just went and made a new dinosaur?" Owen questions.
"Yeah, I named her Lo," Alex responds, "Pretty cool, I know."
"Yeah, it's kind of what we do here," Claire adds, raising an eyebrow at Alex.
"The exhibit opens to the public in three weeks," Claire continues as Alex disappears into the bungalow for a moment, grabbing a hair tie to pull her hair up with. A moment later she's back, leaning on the railing of the bungalow.
"Mr. Masrani wanted me to consult with you," Claire adds, looking between the two.
"No offense, but I'm already consulting with someone," Owen winks, looking up at Alex.
"That's not funny," Claire denies.
Owen chuckles, "A little funny."
He walks up the stairs of the bungalow, patting Alex on the back when he passes her, giving her a knowing look.
"We'd like you to evaluate the padlock for vulnerabilities," Claire explains, trying to get the pair's attention back on her.
"Why us?" Owen questions.
"I guess Mr. Masrani thinks since you're able to control the raptors and the T-rex. . ." Claire starts.
"See it's all about control with you," Owen cuts in, "I don't control the raptors and Alex doesn't control the T-rex. They're relationships. It's based on mutual respect. That's why you and I never had a second date, well, that and I upgraded."
He says the last part quickly, winking up at Alex, who rolls her eyes and chuckles.
"Excuse me? I never wanted a second date," Claire objects as Alex tries to hold in her laughter.
"Who prints out an itinerary for a night out?" Owen questions, going back to his motorbike, while Alex leaves her place on the elevated floor outside the bungalow to grab a tool for him.
She tosses it to him as Claire said, "I'm an organized person."
"What kind of a diet doesn't allow tequila?" Owen asks, tossing Alex a tool to put back in the work space table they had set up.
"All of them, actually," Claire responds, "And what kind of a man shows up to a date in board shorts?"
"It's Central America. It's hot," Owen objects, looking at Alex for back up, to which she just shrugs.
"Okay. Okay," Claire trying to get back on track, "Can we just focus on the asset, please?"
"The asset?" Alex chuckles.
"Look, I get it, you're in charge out here," Owen says, standing up again, he walks closer to the stairs, where Claire finds herself standing, "You gotta make a lot of tough decisions. It's probably easier to pretend these animals are just numbers on a spreadsheet."
"But they're not. They're alive," Alex adds, crossing her arms.
"I fully aware they're alive," Claire responds.
"You might have made them in a test tube, but they don't know that. They're thinking 'I gotta eat, I gotta hunt, I gotta. . .'" He makes a gesture to indicate reproducing causing Alex to chuckle.
"You can relate to at least one of those things, right?" Owen asks, mockery evident in his voice.
Claire takes a few steps down the stairs, standing right in front of Owen, "I'll be in the car. You might want to change your shirt. They're very sensitive to smell."
Alex bursts out laughing, "Oh, she got you!"
"Hey, who's side are you on?" Owen asks, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Oh, you know yours, always," Alex teases, patting his chest.
"You know what would make it up to me?" Owen asks.
"I don't want to know," Alex teases again, leaving his embrace and heading to the car.
"Oh come on!" Owen says, making Alex laugh. She opens the door to the car and gets in, not before winking at him.
