The girls climbed out of the pool and grabbed two towels out of the standing cabinet. They dried themselves, taking their towels, clothes and drinks upstairs into the kitchen. Mikki invited Kate to stay as long as she wanted, to which Kate happily agreed. Kate texted Mark, checking in on his status at the sports bar. He replied he's staying to watch the late game and wouldn't be home until after 9 or 10 o'clock.
Still naked, leaving Kate's clothes in the kitchen, Mikki took Kate to the master bedroom. "Here," Mikki said, throwing a pair of shorts and t-shirt at Kate. "Now you don't have to worry about putting your yoga pants and bra on...just wear these until you leave," she offered. Mikki then changed back into the clothes she was wearing when Kate arrived, minus her bra and panties.
Kate put on the clothes Mikki gave her and they went back to the kitchen. Kate grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table while Mikki disappeared. The notebooks containing information for the project were on the counter next to the table. Kate pulled one of them and started reading the contents.
A few minutes later, Mikki entered the kitchen, approached the table and began to sit down. "SHIT!" Kate yelled, jumping in her seat, looking at Mikki. "Bitch! You just scared the shit out of me! Oh, my God!" Kate exclaimed, catching her breath, then chuckling a bit as Mikki sat down.
"Sorry," Mikki responded with a chuckle. "Didn't mean to scare you," she added.
Kate sighed deeply, staring silently at Mikki for a few seconds. "Wow, I guess I was really into this research material."
Mikki chuckled some more, looking at Kate as she sipped a fresh lemonade. "Find anything interesting?" she asked.
"Not really," Kate replied looking at the material. "Mikki, I'm sure your team has researched this, but have you looked at any possible tax credits for redeveloping the industrial district based on zoning decisions made by the city?" she asked.
"I'm sure we have. Jay has a pretty savvy team assembled," she commented.
"Yeah, probably so," Kate replied, pursing her lips, then looking back at some more material.
"You know it's Sunday, Kate. You don't have to
"work"
today, right?" Mikki said, kind of impressed with Kate's attentiveness to the materials.
"Yeah, well, successful people do consistently what other people do occasionally...ya know?" Kate replied, still looking at the material, flipping the page in the notebook.
Mikki sat back in her chair, taking in Kate's comment. Mikki again found herself impressed by Kate's attitude and serious approach to Jay's project. Mikki sat there silently; watching Kate study the information, turning pages, flipping back to other pages.
"I need a pen and paper, please," Kate stated, looking at Mikki.
Mikki hopped up from her seat, chuckling to herself that Kate didn't "ask", she just kind of demanded, although her voice did not indicate so. Mikki returned shortly with a pad of paper and a pen and slid them to Kate.
Kate stood and went to the counter where more research documents and notebooks rested. She found the colored, sectioned map that was projected on the wall Thursday night by Mr. Howard. Kate sat down and studied the map.
"Mikki?" Kate asked.
"Kate?" Mikki smiled back.
Kate looked at her. "No, seriously. Look at this," she said as she rotated the map towards Mikki. "Section 5. Isn't that where the school is proposed in the low-income area?" she asked.
Mikki looked at the map. "Yes, looks like it. Why?" she replied.
Kate was silent looking at the map, then thumbing through the research table of contents. "How easy was it to get the city to make a deal for the new school?" she asked.
"I don't know, I wasn't involved in those discussions. I only know it didn't take but a few days for Jay and the city to work something out. Why?" Mikki asked with a touch of concern in her voice, watching Kate going through the information.
Kate remained silent while going over some more pages of information. She then spoke, looking at Mikki. "I hope I'm wrong, but have there been soil samples taken in that section?"
"Soil samples? I don't know, why?"
Kate looked back at the research, then at the map.
"Kate; what's wrong?" Mikki asked with concern, as Kate continued studying the information in front of her.
Mikki watched Kate for several more seconds. "Kate!" Mikki said in an elevated tone, trying to get an answer.
Kate looked at Mikki. "I may be wrong, but back in the 30s and 40s, I'm pretty sure there was a small chemical plant in this section," Kate commented. "Do we have research on this?"
"No, maybe...I don't know what our research team knows, but I can find out. Why? How do you know about that area of town almost a hundred years ago?" Mikki asked.
"My grandfather worked somewhere around this area after the war. During the war, there was a plant that made insecticides for the troops. After the war, they made pesticides up until the early '60s or '70s. The plant shut down and was vacant for a few years, then a paint manufacturing company bought it and used it until the mid-90s." Kate reported.
"How do you know this?" Mikki asked.
"My grandfather worked in the area...not sure it was exactly the same buildings, though. Then my biological father worked somewhere around there, too," Kate replied, then paused. "Look, this may be nothing...maybe everything is legit; you know, safe. I'm just saying that I'm kind of sure this is where my grandfather and my father worked for years. I kind of remember this, even though my parents divorced when I was young," Kate recounted.
"Okay, I get it, we need to make sure there are no chemicals in the ground, but it can't be toxic...right?" Mikki asked with intrepidation.
"I don't know, I'm not a chemist," Kate responded, looking at Mikki. "But...if Jay is helping to build a school and he cares about children like you say he does, the last thing he'll want is to put kids over possibly contaminated soil."
