SURVIVORS ↠ ZACH MITCHELL ✔️ [EDITING]

Chapter 8

     Claire had been driving in her car, her knuckles almost turned white from the grip on the steering wheel. Her phone, in the passengers seat, began to ring. Her eyes flickered towards it and she saw her sister's name pop up. She glanced back at the road before pressing answer.

     "Hey, Karen!" Claire spoke with a slightly hesitant voice.

     "Hi, Claire. How's it going?"

     "Yeah, everything's great. The boys are having fun. Everyone's...Yeah, everyone's good," she lied.

     "Really? Because I just hung up with Zach, and he said that you weren't even with them."

     "Yeah, look. Today turned out to be a really bad day for me. They're in great hands. They're with my assistant. She's British, they basically invented nannies." She laughed

     "Marlo, right?" Karen asked.

     "Uh, no, she's another worker, she's just as good as Zara, if not better...Wait, are you crying?" Claire looked down to the phone before pack to the road.

    "This was supposed to be a family weekend, Claire. You haven't seen the boys in forever. And I know how Zach will treat Gray if they're by themselves. And he can just be so mean," she sobbed out.

     "Okay, I'm sorry. But Marlo won't let Gray get upset, trust me, they'll be fine. Tomorrow, I'm gonna spend the entire day with them. I'm going to take off work, and I will not leave their side. I promise," Claire told her sister honestly.

     "Well, a promise tomorrow is worth a lot less than trying today."

     "Ew! You're using Mum's lines now?" Claire almost gagged.

     "My God. I am using Mum's lines. I'm sorry, but you know, I have to tell you, they work. You'll see when you have kids."

     "Yeah, 'if'." Claire almost laughed.

     "'When.'" She pressed. "It's worth it," Karen mumbled as she glanced at the people in the board room waiting for her to return.

     "Bye, Mum," Claire stated. Karen almost crying, forces a smile to try and calm herself down and trick herself into believing Claire was right before she responded.

     "Bye."

-

     Claire visited Owen at his bungalow near the sea, she did visit earlier that morning, but she never got the chance to talk to him as Marlo had gotten out quicker than Claire had first hoped. Owen by his bike, Claire getting out of her car.

     "What do they want now?" Owen spoke up.

     "Mr. Grady," Claire replied as she walks over. "I need you to come and take a look at something."

     "Why do you call me Mr. Grady? And Marlo...Marlo, not Miss Grady?" He stopped.

     "Owen." She paused while he took a drink. "If you're not too busy."

     "Well, I'm pretty busy."

     "We have an attraction."

     "That's not what you said the last time I saw you." He stood up and walks over.

     "I'm talking about the dinosaurs, Mr. Grady-" He interrupted her.

     "Owen."

     "A new species we've-" She batted away mosquitos. "Made." Owen caught it.

     "You just went and made a new dinosaur?" Owen asked as he walked back towards the table with tools.

     "Yeah, it's uh kinda what we do here. The exhibit opens to the public in three weeks. Mr. Masrani wanted me to consult with you," Claire told him.

     "You want to consult here, or in my bungalow." He smirked, motioning his head.

     "It's not funny." She huffed.

     "A little funny." He started to laugh.

     "We would like you to evaluate the paddock for vulnerabilities." She composed herself.

     "Why me?" He walked around the bungalow, out of sight.

     "I guess that Mr. Masrani thinks since you are able to control the Raptors..." She walked up the stairs.

     "See, it's all about control with you. I don't control the Raptors, it's a relationship. It's based on mutual respect. That's why you and I never had a second date." He walked back around and goes down the stairs.

     "Excuse me, I never wanted a second date." She balled her fists, trying to ignore the urge to hit him.

     "Who prints out an itinerary for a night out?!"

     "I am an organized person," she defended.

     "What kind of a diet doesn't allow tequila?" He tilted his head, back at his bike.

     "All of them, actually." She smirked at him. "And what kind of a man shows up to a date in boardshorts?"

     "Well, it's Central America; it's hot."

     "Okay, okay. Can we just focus on the asset, please?"

     "The 'asset'?" He stood up getting a rag to clean his hands. "Look I get it. You're in charge out here, you gotta make a lot of tough decisions, it's probably easier to pretend these animals are just numbers on a spreadsheet, but they are not. They are alive."

     "I am fully aware they're alive."

     "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 motioned his hands towards her, she rolled her eyes. "You can relate to at least one of those things, right?" He asked as Claire stepped down from Owen's cabin going face-to-face with him. She looked at him ready to say something smart.

     "I'll be in the car. You might want to change your shirt, there very sensitive to smell." Claire walked to her car with Owen staring at her.