Jinstain - Conor
Conor wrapped himself tight in his long coat. He really should have grabbed his fur lined jacket instead, but for some reason he had thought the sun would warm the world a bit more than it had. He darted from the car and made his way inside the run-down community center.
"Conor!" squealed a small girl, wrapping herself around his legs.
Conor laughed as he struggled to walk forward, swinging little Tess with each step. "Well, hello to you too, Tess. Is your brother, Jake here today as well?"
"He is off playing basketball. They managed to break another net though, so it's just a hoop now." The small voice was downcast.
Conor knelt down to look her in the eyes, "If I can manage it, would you still come visit if we moved your play spot across town?"
Tess scrunched up her nose, "Across town? Where?"
"Well, I have a friend looking at a spot. Do you know the big field over near 'The Den' apartments?"
"Yea! That's actually were we live. It's not very nice over there but that field is fun to play in."
"What if some people I know build a new community center there? I would make sure it still had lots of fields to play in, but it would also have lots of indoor space too."
Tess thought about in before her head bobbed up and down, "YEA! I think that would be good!"
Conor rubbed her head and stood. "I will see what I can do. Now, show me what you have been doing with those new chalks!"
As Conor began his own mural of mountain landscapes, his phone rang, "Hello."
"Mind telling me where the most sought-after CEO might be? I have business to discuss."
"Anna? Hey! Are you back? I am at the community center! Come on over!"
There was a pause, "They are great kids, Conor, and I will do whatever I can to help get a new center up and going for them but please don't make me sit there and let them braid my hair again. It took a week to get the chalk and bits of rubber band out."
Conor frowned but said, "You are welcome here any time, but no, I will not force you to do anything."
"Ok, see you shortly."
Conor added some more trees to his mountain as little Maggie and Hannah added fluffy white clouds near the mountain peaks. "It's really coming along!"
"It's missing something," Maggie insisted.
Conor stood and circled the mural, "What do you think it's missing?"
"A lake," Hannah pointed to a ravine that had formed as Conor drew the mountains. Maggie dug through their bucket of chalk and found a stick of blue and began adding a lake near the base of the mountain.
Tess wandered over and said, "That's nice. Should we add a waterfall near the back, coming off that peak?"
"Here?" Conor added a thin fall, cascading into the new pond.
"Better," declared Hannah. "Hopefully the lady with the green eyes will visit us soon." All three girls nodded.
Conor smiled, "Well, Miss. Anna is on her way! And I am sure Cara will be around later this week! Did Cara show you her new stone?"
The girls all lit up with big grins, "YES! We like Peter. He brings us candy."
"Oh, I see. Hhe knows how to bribe you already, huh? We will have to see about that."
Anna pulled into the parking lot then. She got out and casually walked over to Conor, wrapping him in a big hug. The kids let out "Ooo's". Anna smiled and stuck her tongue out at them.
"How was the trip?"
"It was good. I may have to go back before long though. Grandma is getting worse, but it was good spending time with her. However, I need to be back for a bit in any case. I was able to get several of my agents working and I think we made some great progress. Is there somewhere I can show you the file?"
Conor glanced around and then pointed to Johnathan's office. Anna darted to her car to grab her folders and headed for the indicated office. Hannah walked over to Conor and tugged on his sleeve as he watched Anna. "Hmm?"
"Mr. She is not the one with green eyes. She is not Eibhlín"
Conor looked down at Hannah perplexed. "No, she has brown. Her name is Anna."
Hannah just lowered her head and slowly walked away. Conor watched her go and couldn't fathom what she was on about.
Anna was laying out several maps when Conor arrived at the office. "Come, check it out. I think there is a really good spot that we talked about here." She indicated the field near 'The Dens' apartment complex. "It's about a 120 acre zone currently owned by the Harden Group. For years they have tried to develop the land, but so far, the city council has not changed the zoning on it. Every attempt by the Harden group has been met with stiff resistance from local residents as well. It seems no one wants an industrial complex there. When they attempted to place high end apartments here, they get pushback again. The locals fear their own rent will be raised and they will be squeezed out, while potential buyers don't want to live near what they consider a slum."
Conor leaned over the map, "Sounds to me like Harden Group has failed to reach the heart of the community. Before we do anything, lets see if we can work some PR magic. If we can get the community on our side first, it will make zoning and permitting much easier."
"I have my agents working on the legal end, but as far as the outreach, do you have ideas?" Anna asked, skepticism evident.
Conor glanced out the office window at little Hannah and Maggie playing hopscotch, "Oh, I think I can come up with something."