While I'm Alive (An Owen Grady Story)

Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR 

 "BECAUSE SWOONING SEEMED LIKE AN APPROPRIATE WORD FOR THE WAY I'D FELT WHEN I HAD BEEN FACE TO FACE WITH HIS BROAD CHEST" 

 SONG TO LISTEN TO: I WANT WHAT YOU HAVE BY WILLAMETTE STONE

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My first week on the island flew by in a whirlwind of busy work shifts and theme park exploration. I'd seen most, if not all, of the attractions at least once. My favorite was still Mo. After a lot of convincing, I'd finally convinced Claire it was totally find to show me the impressive, fancy control room with all it's screens, buttons, and other gizmos. She was busy constantly, which was why it probably hadn't been so hard to break her down about filling me in on the behind the scenes stuff. We hardly saw each other unless it was for some dinner here, a coffee there, or a quick 'hey I'm just passing by' wave. Any free time I had outside the park was usually spent reading in my new plastic lawn chair outside my trailer, trying to figure out how to get things sent to me from Amazon (my Isla Nubar address seemed to cause confusion for a lot of vendors), or sometimes hanging out with Violet. I'd only seen Owen once or twice in passing since the night I'd first met him. Apparently playing parent to a pack of raptors kept him pretty busy.

Which was why I hadn't expected it when he walked in through the doors of Margaritaville, just after my last customers had finally drifted out. I was used to us being one of the last restaurants opened on Main Street now. A lot of the other park employees often stopped by for drinks after their shifts were up. This, though, was the first time I'd ever seen Owen set foot inside.

"Hey, new girl." He greeted, giving me a smile.

I glanced up from polishing a pint glass, surprised to see him. "Hey! What the hell are you doing here?"

He perked an eyebrow. "I kinda work here, remember? Why, should I not be here?"

"No, just never seen you here before." I said with a shrug.

"Well, you have only been working here for like a week..." He teased, his voice trailing off. He shot me one of his cheeky grins and I rolled my eyes.

"You know, we are technically closed so I could technically refuse you service." I said in mock seriousness. "If you're gonna get an attitude with me."

"What attitude? I don't see any attitude. I just came in for some tequila. Had a hard day, you know how that is. My co-workers have lots of sharp teeth and claws, and it's a little bit terrifying when they get pissed off." He propped his elbows up on the bar, resting his chin both his hands like the way a little kid would.

I smiled, shaking my head. "Alright, alright. One shot it is. Patron, Jose...what's your poison?" I pulled out a clear shot glass from the shelf underneath the bar and slid it towards him.

"Better give me the Patron." He said, reaching for the shot glass and twirling it in his hand. I grabbed the bottle from the shelf behind me. I made to grab the shot glass from him, but he suddenly pulled it back. It was my turn to raise an eyebrow at him. "You know, on second thought, you probably should have one too. It's not healthy to drink alone, and all that crap."

"I wish, but I'm still on the clock." I reminded him, leaning against the bar.

Owen shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, but you're technically closed. You did just say that, didn't you?" He gave me a playful smile. "Come on, I'm not gonna tell. You need it, you worked all day too."