The First Time I Saw You

Chapter 15

"We are here with Operations Manager Claire Dearing and Animal Behaviorist Owen Grady from Jurassic World." The hostess from the most popular talk show in America welcomed her audience.

It had been just a couple of days since Echo had found her way out of the paddock and terrorized Main Street; of course no real damage was reported since the raptor was just bored and was looking to get into trouble.

It had barely taken minutes for the footage filmed by many guests to hit social media and start trending. People simply couldn't get enough of the young challenging predator, but also no one could resist a little bit of romance: the kiss the 'pretty redhead' had planted on the 'brave sexy raptor whisperer' had an entire fan base of its own. The couple was now a sort of meme that people used to express all the appreciation they felt. There seemed to be no twitter thread without the two of them kissing.

This had proved to be, of course, free advertising for the park — which marketing was loving — but just as the footage had created all the hype around the young raptor and the couple, it had also awaken concern and negative comments regarding safety.

So Claire and Owen had been sent to several popular talk shows to address the matter; the public already loved them, so the warm welcome to national television around the US was very encouraging.

"First, I have to say: we love a boss lady." The hostess smiled, sitting on a single leather armchair across from the couch the couple was sharing.

Claire was wearing a navy blue, knee length dress with a wide belt around her waist, her feet in her usual high heels. Owen was in a pair of dark khaki pants and a black dress shirt, the first two buttons undone, giving a light peek into his chest hair.

He nodded at that statement. "You should see her in action! She's so fearless." He couldn't help himself to just praise her a little bit. After all, the fact that she was the boss was a turn on for him.

Claire smiled down to herself: she wasn't used to having so many eyes on her. She moved her green orbs to make contact with Owen's proud hazel ones and they slightly brushed their knees together.

"Tell us a little bit about your career in Jurassic World. How did you reach the top of the world?" The hostess wondered, casually looking down at the notes she had in her hands. "You started out as an intern, is that correct?"

Claire nodded. "We ran this internship called Bright Minds where the Masrani Corporation selected an exclusive group of college students with an impeccable academic record and who managed to impress him with their innovative creativity and thinking." She explained, "I was one of the first six to join the program back in 2004 and halfway into the internship I had already proven to have leadership skills as well as showing a very sharp decision making ability."

She slowly looked over to Owen who was nodding his head and looking at her with a smile. Claire wasn't used to talking about herself, and was trying to keep calm. "She's SO good, that she landed a job offer THAT early on." He added, making her blush and shake her head softly.

"Well~" She giggled, feeling his hand gently massaging her shoulder.

One of the disclosures between the talk show and Jurassic World was for the hostess to stay away from the subject of the raptors and their role for InGen, since anyone who had visited the park before (or had visited their website) knew they were not an attraction and their paddock was nowhere to be found on the park's map.

"So tell us a little bit about this cutie?" A photo of Echo with her claws up and ready to attack was displayed on the screens behind the couple, the footage visible to them on the monitor across under the stage.