Utter Chaos (IAN MALCOLM X OC)

CHAPTER ONE: Uncle Shenanigans

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The humid air still felt unnatural in my lungs as I came down to the digging site for the second day in a row, even though I was planning to dedicate all my life to paleontology since the day I got my master's degree. One of my co-workers, Lydia, smiled my way, making me quickly head over, leaning in to see the boxy monitor in front of the girl. She was younger than me by a few years, apparently recently finished with her degree.

"Hey, Lydia," I greeted her, staring at the thigh bone on the static-y screen. "Everything going okay?"

"Yeah, sorry that we started up without you," She nodded quickly. "Our little t-rex is obviously not so little and even though you are an hour late, we still didn't make much progress."

"Sorry," I mumbled an apology, pushing a fallen curly strand out of my eyes. "My ex decided to show up at my hotel today. Don't know how he figured out where I am."

"Why do you have so many crazy exes?" Lydia rolled her eyes. "I remember starting high school and seeing you with that weird dude who kept apologizing to you with these big gestures."

Another strange fact about Lydia; she attended high school with me for a while before I moved towns, and by chance, we ended up working together on this project. Small world. Although she was right about the crazy exes. I happen to have more than a few, which is far from normal, but just my luck.

"Why do you even remember that?" I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. Even though I was wearing a sleeveless top, I was still feeling like a sweaty mess in the warm weather.

"Memorable." Was all she grumbled, then sprung out of her seat, pushing a baseball cap into her eyes.

I was about to go and follow her when I heard familiar whirring coming from outside the hastily set up pavilion, making me frown immediately. Either it was another set of media guys wanting to record us or some dumb idiot who thought it was the perfect place to land. Right at the dig site with a fragile t-rex skeleton still buried in the sand and soil. Huffing yet again, I made my way over to the side of the pavilion, shielding my eyes from the dirt coming my way from the helicopter-generated wind. It didn't last long though, as the helicopter stopped, and an all too familiar man left for the food tent.

"Fucking hell," I managed to croak out as I hurried my steps toward the same tent, knowing fully well what to expect.

And there he was, the white-haired man digging around in one of the coolers for some drinks. He settled on a lemonade, as that was all that bag offered, then spun around, as if he was welcome at the site. As if he wasn't trespassing.

"Oh, come on, aren't you happy to see your uncle?" John Hammond spoke loudly, raising the two bottles into the air. Those were homemade, as one of the guys' moms made it for the team out of sheer kindness. And now they were in the hands of someone like him...

"Not really, no," I shook my head defiantly. "To my knowledge, you only search for me when you want something. Or, rather, when you want something from mom."

"This isn't about your mom this time," He replied quickly, opening a bottle and handing it over to me. "It's something much more special."

"I bet," I hissed, taking a gulp of the cool drink. For a second, I wished it was alcoholic so our conversation would be made easier. "Say it then. What do you want?"

"Hey, Maya!" Lydia suddenly burst into the tent, her eyes soon finding mine, wide with worry. "Some deranged man just landed here and some saw him come this way! Should I tell the boys to throw him out?"

I took a deep breath, turning away from her slightly toward my uncle, who stood there in complete silence, although with a small smile playing on his lips. Lydia followed my line of sight, and immediately shut her mouth, glancing at me for help. Now that everything got a thousand times more awkward, I cleared my throat.

"Say hi to John Hammond, who thinks just because he is rich, it's okay to land in the middle of an excavation site." I gestured toward him, wearing my best fake smile.

"Oh my god, Mr. Hammond! I didn't know it was you!" Lydia's face contorted from embarrassment, causing me to hold back a chuckle. "I'm deeply sorry for insulting you!"

"Oh, no, you've only managed to entertain me a little, unlike my dear niece here..."

"What?! He is your uncle?" Lydia's jaw practically hit the ground as I tried very hard not to claw out my eyes. There was a reason nobody knew about him.

"That's confidential, and please, girl, get out now so I can send him away without an extra pair of eyes watching," I sighed, taking a hold of the excited girl's shoulders and pushing her out of the tent. I yanked the opening shut, careful not to get any more visitors.

"Impressive site you've got here," My uncle spoke up after a brief silence. "But do you have the money to fund it? You've got a pretty big project..."

"I'm managing, thanks."

"And how about I offered to pay for it all?"

"What?" I blinked, almost choking on the air.

"I have an offer for you," He began mysteriously. "I pay for all the expenses of the t-rex excavation, and in return, you come with me to my island in Costa Rica."

"Why would I want to go there?" I mumbled slowly, knowing that with the money in the conversation, I was pretty much sold. I wasn't proud of it.

"I have a biological preserve there, and I'd like you to see it. I've been setting it up for the past few years..."

"Does mom know?"

"My sister doesn't know about it, but it's not like she enjoys our phone conversations anyway," He chuckled as if our collapsing family was a laughing matter. "I can tell her about it if it sits better with you. Although I was under the impression that you would be on board with my idea once you heard about the money part."

"Okay, so, let's see," I raised both of my hands, trying to comprehend the situation. "You make sure we can dig up this dino ourselves without interference, and in return, I visit your stupid island, stay a couple of days, and...that's it?"

"Yes," He nodded. "Isn't that lovely?"

"Not really, since I have to be in your company. No."

"It's been a while, I have to say... Any grandkids for my sister yet?"

"From me? No way. From my brother? That's another story," I explained hastily, unwilling to actually share a lot of information with him. He really hasn't been in my life much, and I didn't actually think that he was worthy of my time.

But there were sacrifices to be made, and it was still better to spend a few days with him than having to sell my house and my car to fund the t-rex digging. I'm sure with his money we could even upgrade equipment. The downside though was that Lydia probably already ran her mouth about him being a relative of mine, so that will come with some unwanted gossip.

"Is it settled then?" He grinned yet again, raising his bottle into the air to clink it against mine. I slowly matched his movements, but much more unenthusiastically. "We're going to Costa Rica!"

That was how I sold myself over a t-rex, and how I managed to traumatize myself for the rest of my life. But of course, I didn't know that yet.