While I'm Alive (An Owen Grady Story)

Chapter Three

Author's Note:

Chapter three! I'll keep this short...for future reference I've changed certain scenes around and adjusted them to fit my needs. Right now, we're still got a lot of time before the events of the movie. So that's all! Thanks for the love!

xoxo

-Nikki

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CHAPTER THREE

"DAMN THAT SMILE. IT WASN'T EVEN FAIR, THAT THING WAS LIKE A WEAPON"

SONG TO LISTEN TO: COME AND GET YOUR LOVE BY REDBONE

I sat back in my cushy seat as the monorail sped along the track. Outside the window, I could just make out some of the exhibits below. The height we were at made the dinosaurs that were normally huge look like tiny ants. I was amped for my first day, sporting my pink Margaritaville t-shirt, my blonde hair combed into a quick braid that hung down my back. I grinned to myself, thinking about how two weeks ago I'd been sitting in a stuffy lecture hall and now I was here. Honestly, and everyone thought I had made a mistake.

The monorail slowed to a stop at the midway exit and I got off, along with about a dozen other employees. The park was already buzzing with guests, despite the fact that the doors had just opened. I weaved my way through the crowd towards the restaurant. Denny greeted me at the bar yet again and didn't hesitate to put me to work. Once we got busy, it was easy to get into the swing of things. Beer, martini, rum and coke, margarita. About a dozen more margaritas. By mid-afternoon, I reeked of tequila and estimated I'd made about thirty margaritas altogether.

I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. The bar faced the opened seating area that led to the patio. So no air conditioning. I was wishing I had worn shorts instead of my jeans when Claire's smiling face suddenly appeared on the other side of the bar.

"How goes it?" She asked with a smile, sliding onto a stool.

"Well, I'm sweating and I stink of alcohol. So pretty good." I answered, shooting her a grin. "You want a drink? I make a kick-ass margarita, or so I've been told."

She made a face. "The last time I had one of your margaritas, I was puking the entire next day."

"That's because you didn't have just one, you had like five of them." I reminded her.

Her skin tinged a little green at the memory, which had been years ago during the summer in which we both had turned twenty-one. "Yeah, I try not to think about it. Anyways, no tequila for me. I'm on a diet."

I frowned at her. "That sounds like the worst diet ever. Not like you need one anyways. You're tiny." I shook my head. "A life without tequila is a very sad one."

She looked like she wanted to disagree but thought better of it. "I better get back to work, I just wanted to stop by and say hi. What're you doing later?"

"Probably gonna try and see some more of the attractions. I met the girl who does the mosasaurus show last night, so I wanna check that out."

"Oh, Violet? She's so sweet!" Claire said. "She-"

"Oh shit!" The words popped out of my mouth as I suddenly remembered who else I had met the previous night. Claire raised her eyebrows at me. I felt one side of my mouth lift in a smile. "You failed to mention that the infamous Owen Grady is also the most attractive man in Central America."

Claire scoffed. "Come on, there's no way you know that for sure."

I laughed, enjoying her irritation. "Yeah, well, at this point to me he is. He didn't seem so bad."