Chapter 9

Combining the Unlikely

The team reassembled slowly. The tension from the first take at brainstorming was quickly becoming a distant memory as the group refocused on the problems they were there to tackle. Kate was sure not to bring the group back to the activity too quickly. Instead, she encouraged small talk. She wanted to get to know her team a little more personally. They had yet to have that time together, so she started to ask some seemingly benign questions, but in truth, she was very interested in their responses.

Over lunch, she learned that Amy had a toddler in preschool. Elaine's kids were in college—one was adrift on the party circuit with no major in sight and the other (engineering major) just got his nose broken playing rugby but was on the mend. Damon was an artist in his spare time but was a bit coy about what kind of art it exactly was, which Kate allowed to slide. Maya was in a relationship with the same man for the past five years and seeming quite happy together with their two cats, a Birman and a Maine Coon. Juan was an avid carpenter on the weekends and in the midst of remodeling his kitchen piece by piece, much to his wife's frustration.