The First Time I Saw You

Chapter 1

They wouldn't be able to tell you if it was love at first sight. Admit they had fallen in love with each other the moment they laid eyes on the other. It would be impossible for them to even recall if it perhaps wasn't the first, but until the second or third time when they realized they had found the one.

However, they both remembered every detail of the first time they looked at the other. The way she walked towards him. The cheeky smile curved in his lips. The way her long red locks flew in the wind. How for a second, the rest of the world seemed to vanish as green and hazel met.

Their eyes were the first to make contact, but it was a handshake what ignited the spark. It was the handshake they exchanged for two seconds longer than expected what had her smiling back, feeling the freckles in her cheeks warm. It was the way their hands fit so comfortably what made him stand straight and inch closer.

She was wearing a black pencil skirt, a black and white checkered cold shoulder top, and a pair of high heels. An outfit that made her look chic, and complimented every curve of her body. For a man like him, it was impossible not to admire and even stare a little. Her fresh vanilla scent was something he knew he'd find completely intoxicating at some point.

He was in a pair of slacks and a light white dress shirt. It was his first day at the job, he knew he was to meet the woman in charge of the park and figured it wouldn't harm anyone if he looked casual but still presentable. It was hot, so he had the first two buttons of his shirt undone. For a woman like her, it was impossible not to notice how some of his chest hair was visible. She didn't stare, but couldn't help bite on her lower lip for a second.

"Mr. Grady." The operations manager finally greeted him after noticing they were still shaking hands.

"Ms. Dearing." The Navy man nodded upon releasing her hand.

They were standing in the Samsung Innovation Center. She had come down from the control center to meet him by Pearl, the brachiosaurus hologram.

Four raptors were in the last phase of incubation before hatching. Owen Grady had been hired by InGen to take on a new project. It mostly consisted in behavior analyses and training technics.

The study was not under Claire's directive, but it would still take place in her park so she had been asked to show the new hire around. He'd be using her facilities and would require to be part of the park's budget, and so her boss, Simon Masrani, had requested for him to be settled in by her exclusively.

"Was your flight alright?" She asked politely, trying to build up some casual conversation that would lead into the whole induction. "And the ferry over to the island?"

"It was alright." He shrugged it off. "Is that for me?" He pointed out at the badge the young woman had in her hands. She was also carrying a small file with her. Inside she had everything she'd need to settle him in.

At his question, Claire looked down to find her fingers playing with the neck strap. "Yes." She cleared her throat and handed it over. "You are required to wear that at all times, either around your neck or clipped to the waist band." She suggested, as she started to walk out with him.

Following her, he wore his new badge around his neck as told.

The fresh a/c inside the building made the humid heat outside feel like they had just stepped into an outdoor's oven. It only required some adjusting to figure out that it wasn't that bad.

"We only get two types of weather here; hot or rain." Claire informed him upon eying his expression. "And no, you can't tell when it's going to rain." She added.

Central America wasn't really about seasons. It was the rain forest. Sometimes it rained, sometimes it didn't. They could be in the middle of raining season — which usually started in May and ended in September, and they would still get dry days where the sun would be heating down like no other day. And it worked the other way too, it could be summer and on any given day it would pour down for hours.