Jurassic Love

Chapter 11

"Hey, we should go out tonight!" Claire said excitedly. We were sitting in the control room in spinning chairs eating corn dogs from the park and watching the last stragglers leave the park on the big screens and watching the dinosaurs go to bed.

"I've got work tomorrow." I groaned.

"Not if I have anything to do with it! I can get you the morning off. Come on Rosie, let's do it!" Claire begged, standing up and tugging on my arm. I stood up and followed her out of the room.

"Claire, where are we going?!" I asked, running after her.

"My place, come on!" she laughed before tugging me into a golf buggy outside that a lot of the staff used to get around the park. Claire didn't have a house like I did, she had an apartment in the employee housing building, and because of her status, she had the penthouse suite.

"Jesus this place is amazing." I breathed, taking in the sleek appearance.

"I'm never here to admire it that much." she admitted, "now come on, we have serious work to do." she gestured to her hair that had gotten frizzy in the heat and the lack of make up on her face.

We spent around an hour getting ready, me doing Claire's make up and she did mine. It was like a slumber party and we spent even longer trying on all the outfits in Claire's walk in wardrobe. I wore a black dress that was just plain and skin tight with spaghetti straps and plunging back.Claire wore a red dress that had a flowing skirt that ended above her knee which complimented her orange-red hair nicely.

We made our way to a small club that was in the outskirts of the park that was strictly for employees. It was done out like your typical up-market bar and Claire and I sat sipping mojitos and checking out the eye candy. We got a little giggly and made our way to the dance floor, dancing badly to the music. People stopped and stared at Claire, who was normally seen as uptight and serious; now she was drinking cocktails and letting go on the dance floor, both of us clutching each other for support.

"I haven't had this much fun since... Since... I don't know!" Claire shouted above the music and I laughed.

"Me either." I said, but I suddenly became aware of eyes on me. I tried to ignore it, but when I turned around I saw him, of course. He was standing at the bar clutching a beer bottle, his eyes dark as he watched us. Well most definitely Claire.

"Hey, don't look now, but Barry is totally checking you out." I told her, watching Barry as he stared at Claire's body whilst she danced.

"I'm going over!" she whispered excitedly, causing me to laugh. Claire would do anything whilst she was drunk. I carried on dancing by myself, enjoying the feeling of the right amount of alcohol in my veins and the music loud, surrounding me. After a while, I saw Barry and Claire sit at a table together, him buying her another drink and she looked at me, grinning and I gave her an encouraging thumbs up. I sighed to myself and decided to go, a little wave of sadness washing over me. Determined not to let it stop my great night with my best friend, I text Claire to tell her I was leaving and took a slow walk back through the park, the sleeping dinosaurs making me feel slightly at peace with the place. The night watchmen all nodded to me as I passed, making me feel safe.

Finally I reached the area of land beside the river where the few bungalows were. By this time I had taken off my high heels and was just swinging them in my hand, humming tunes softly to myself.

"Didn't have you down as the partying type." a voice said in the darkness. I sighed and looked to the light on the porch of Owen's bungalow where he was conveniently sitting.

"There's a lot you don't know about me." I said blankly before continuing to my bungalow.

"Drowning your sorrows?" he said, a smirk evident in his voice, I didn't even need to look at him.