"Good morning Ms Luthor" Jess chimed as Lena strode past the reception desk
"Morning Jess, have you got anything for me this morning?" Lena asked, a tired husk still in her voice
"Actually Ms Luthor, the secretary of defense is currently on hold on line 2. I told him you wouldn't be at work for another while and he chose to wait. It seems important." Jess informed her, feeling quite inquisitive about the situation
"Thank you Jess, I'll make sure to answer the line as soon as I get up to the office. Anything else?" Lena gave a small smile
"Oh uhm, yes, Emily Nelson is waiting in your office" Jess mentioned, nonchalantly
Lena almost choked on the breath of air she was currently inhaling. Why the hell was Emily here? In her office. At 9am.
Lena gave a departing nod to Jess and hurried to the elevator and hit the button for her floor, tapping her fingers impatiently on her hips as she waited for the doors to open once more. It had been a week since the expo and Lena hadn't heard much from Emily since then. Which helped as she tried to focus on making it up to Kara for upsetting her last week. The less contact with Emily, the better. Lena didn't exactly trust her thoughts around the woman.
The elevator doors flew open, then, and Lena took the biggest strides she could to get to the office. And sure, enough as soon as she opened the doors, there she was, as stunning as ever. Her dusty blonde hair fell effortlessly around her shoulders as she donned another one of her infamous, perfectly fitted dress-suits but this time she sported a cane with the outfit and it seemed to fit perfectly with the image, even as unnecessary as it may be.
"Emily" Lena seemed to let her name roll out with the unexpected breath of air she exhaled
"Hey Lena, it's good to see you again" Emily charmed as she placed the cane against the white leather sofa and paced across the floor to give Lena a welcoming hug
"What's brought you to National City" Lena asked, trying not to sound too inquisitive
"You of course. I needed to see your face again" Emily admitted in a low, husky tone
Lena swallowed hard upon hearing this and the way Emily was looking at her intently. Emily let out a hearty laugh as she caught Lena squirming under her gaze.
"Relax Luthor, I'm just kidding" Emily chuckled "I'm here for a meeting with your marketing and PR team to go over the branding for the new Luthor-Wayne deal" Emily said matter-of-factly
"Ah I see, sorry I wasn't informed, if I had of known you were coming, I would have reached out. Maybe we could talk about the new progress over lunch later? I have an important phone call waiting for me, apologies for being so brisk" Lena said trying to occupy herself by straightening out her knee-length dress
"Not to worry, don't let me interfere. Lunch sounds good though. I'll see you later Lena" Emily flashed a brilliant smile as she picked up her cane and headed for the door
"Yeah, later, uh, yes see you later Ms Nelson" Lena began to get flustered
"And please, it's Emily" she winked, repeating Lena's last message to her from last week
Emily then left the room and Lena let a relieved sigh escape.
'What the hell Lena?' She muttered to herself as she made her way to her desk and tried to get her thoughts in order as she sat down and took a note book and pen out from one of her many desk drawers. Lena wasn't sure what kind of effect Emily was having on her, but it had her worried. You don't just lose your train of thought like that around work colleagues.
Lena continued to pick up the phone and dial in the line where the secretary of defense was waiting for her.
"Good afternoon Ms Luthor" the general spoke with a gruff tone
"General Shreeves, apologies for the delay. To what do I owe the pleasure of being summoned by the Pentagon" Lena smirked as she gave the snide remark
The Luthor's and the Pentagon did not have the best of history, but they've had to put their grievances behind them to work on certain projects in the past and Lena knew by the nature of this call another offer was coming her way.
"This isn't a summoning, don't worry Ms Luthor. Look at this more like a lucrative offer you'd be mindless to decline." General Shreeves boasted confidently
"Continue" Lena mumbled, she simply did not have time for government officials and their bravado
"We've recently acquired intel of your new weapons research facility, we'd like to enter into a partnership with LCorp if you produce your weapons in our facilities. We'll fund any further research you conduct and LCorp will receive 45% of the profit from any weapons sold." The General offered
"Sounds promising" Lena mused as she processed the offer that was just put on the table "If you can have someone in your department draft a proposal and send it to me for review, I can have a counteroffer drafted for you by the end of next week" Lena proposed
"I can accept that. It's always a pleasure doing business with you Ms Luthor" General Shreeves replied, seeming quite chuffed with the business dealings
"Don't get too excited just yet" Lena replied bluntly "I'll talk to you again next week General" Lena finished the conversation and after some polite goodbyes she hung up the office phone.
Lena continued on with her days work, attending a board meeting and bringing up the pentagon offer. Everyone on the board seemed to agree with General Shreeves' offer and were excited about the deal. Lena couldn't see the harm in the offer, one way or another the military needed arms, it might as well be LCorp profiting from it.
Before Lena knew it, she was back sitting at her desk reviewing some papers and her eyes fell on the clock on her computer screen. It was 2pm and she had completely forgotten about her arrangements for lunch with Emily.
'Shit' Lena cursed aloud as she flustered around her desk trying to tidy her things away while pulling out her cell phone and searching for Emily in her contacts to call and apologize. Just before she could hit the call button, she heard a soft knock coming from her office door.
'What now' she almost growled as she picked up her bag and headed for the door, opening it abruptly and giving a dismissive "What!" before looking to see who was standing there
"Sorry Ms Luthor, didn't know you hated lunch so much" the blonde chuckled at Lena's disheveled state
"Emily" Lena breathed a sigh of relief as she began to relax
Lena set her bag down near the door and greeted Emily inside. They both walked side by side to the sofa and Emily placed the contents in her hand down on the glass coffee table.
"I rang Jess" Emily began as she planted herself down on the sofa "just to make sure you were free, she mentioned you had quite the hectic morning, so I decided to bring lunch here, so you could take a breather" she flashed one of her famous smiles
"Gosh, you didn't have to do that Emily, but thank you, I really appreciate it. It's certainly been quite the morning" Lena huffed as she gave a look of gratitude
"So, tell me, what has CEO extraordinaire Lena Luthor in a huff?" Emily probed as she began to unpack the contents of their lunch along the table
Emily had brought just about everything off the lunch menu. She had sandwiches, salads and a different array of desserts. Lena looked at the spread in awe and before she could answer, Emily cut in.
"Sorry, it's a lot of food" she laughed softly "I wasn't sure what you liked so I got a little bit of everything"
"It's perfect, thank you Emily" Lena returned the friendly laughter "and to answer your question" she continued "I received an offer from the pentagon this morning for a new arms deal, they're looking to partner up with LCorp's research facilities." Lena admitted
"Sounds like a lucrative deal" Emily weighed in "What are you planning to do?"
"I'm not sure yet, I'm waiting on their proposal. One of General Shreeves' staff will have it sent to me within the next few days. I told them I'd have a response for them by the end of next week. To be honest, I could see it working well. For LCorp's publicity I'm not so sure, but we have our deal with you guys for good image, for our books however, it's certainly going to up our profit margins." Lena was more so trying to convince herself with this statement rather than Emily
"So, we're just good for your ego is that it, Ms Luthor?" Emily remarked sarcastically
"No, no that's not what I meant Ms Nelson, the Luthor-Wayne deal is quiet brilliant, I'm just say-" Lena began to fluster, she'd really put her foot in it now
"Lena, relax. I'm just kidding" Emily joked as she placed a comforting hand on Lena's bicep
"Right, of course, sorry. Today has just been-" Lena tried to cover up her embarrassment
"It's been a day" Emily finished her sentence with a supportive smile "I get it, and that's why I'm here with lunch. So, why don't we talk about something non-work related"
"Sounds good to me" Lena nodded happily
The two women continued to chat and laugh over lunch and didn't feel the time escape them.
Somewhere across the city Kara Danvers had the idea to pick up some lunch for her and her girlfriend. Lena had been trying really hard to make things up with Kara after their spat last week and now Kara wanted to do something in return. She hit up their favorite spot and got some take out with Lena's favorite foods. Kara then flew to LCorp's building and landed on Lena's balcony outside her office. Front doors were just too conventional for Supergirl.
Just before Kara went to open the sliding door to Lena's office, she could hear voices laughing and talking from inside. Maybe Lena was in a lunch meeting. She shouldn't interrupt. She couldn't help but use her super hearing to listen in on what Lena could be discussing.
"I received an offer from the pentagon this morning for a new arms deal, they're looking to partner up with LCorp's research facilities."
Kara could hear Lena's voice chime through the walls of the building. But what struck her is the mention of the pentagon deal. Lena never mentioned LCorp dabbled in arms dealings or research into military grade weapons for that matter.
"Sounds like a lucrative deal. What are you planning to do?"
Kara could hear another voice echo into the conversation. She didn't recognize the woman's voice, so she decided to use x-ray vision to see if she could identify the woman. She didn't seem to recognize her; however, she did notice that the woman had beat her to it in bringing Lena lunch.
"I'm not sure yet, I'm waiting on their proposal. One of General Shreeves' staff will have it sent to me within the next few days. I told them I'd have a response for them by the end of next week. To be honest, I could see it working well. For LCorp's publicity I'm not so sure, but we have our deal with you guys for good image, for our books however, it's certainly going to up our profit margins."
Kara listened to the rest of what Lena had to say and decided she had heard enough. She launched herself from the balcony and certainly was not happy with what she had just heard. What was Lena thinking getting into deals with the pentagon? And General Shreeves. He did not have a good track record as Secretary of Defense. There was plenty of corruption allegations surrounding him along with an expunged illegal arms dealing case that was thrown out by the court a few years ago.
And that thing Lena said about 'but we have our deal with you guys for good image'. Was she talking about the new deal with Wayne Enterprises? And then, all of a sudden, it all clicked with Kara. That must be the woman Lena had drinks with in Gotham. What was she doing in National City? Did she come all this way just for Lena?
Kara tried her best to push back the thoughts that were creeping into her mind and instead she flew straight to CatCo and decided to get some work done and take her mind off what she just heard. She'd take it up with Lena tonight when they got home. Kara entered the building and discarded the lunch she had bought earlier. She certainly had lost her appetite now.
"Hey Kara, is everything ok?" James Olsen asked as he watched Kara walk through the office with serious determination
"Yeah. I'm fine James" she huffed as her cheeks grew red in frustration
"Hey, come here for a sec" James motioned as he led Kara into his office "What's going on? I know that look on your face. Something's pissed you off" he stated with concern
"Actually, you know what James, no everything's not alright. I'm pissed. I'm pissed at Lena. I wanted to bring her lunch and instead I hear her in her office laughing with some woman she met last week at the Gotham expo and now all of a sudden they're getting drinks and eating lunch and I don't even know her god damn name!" Kara exclaimed as she threw her hands around in exaggeration
"And to make matters worse she's about to get into bed with the pentagon, well not literally but you know what I mean" Kara began to fluster as the situation got the better of her. "And if this arms deal goes south Lena could get herself in some serious trouble and I don't think I can save her from herself James" Kara's tone was laced with sadness and concern now as her anger began to ebb away
"What?" James asked incredulously as he looked at Kara in shock "LCorp is working in weaponry development now? Since when?" James began to press Kara for answers now
"Wait, James. That's not what I- I didn't mean, well what I'm trying to say is" Kara began to blurt out her words incoherently as she tried to string a sentence together.
"I shouldn't have said anything" she sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose
"Oh, you've said quite enough Kara." James scoffed as he proceeded to his desk and sat down to open his laptop
"James, what are you doing? You can't write about this. You don't have any official information" Kara panicked as she tried to stop James
"Kara the people deserve to know what their precious LCorp is really up to and what they're spending tax payer's money on!" James argued as he began writing "I'll send it as an anonymous blog, Lena will never know it was you"
"Don't you dare blame this on me James Olsen. You have no right- "Kara was furious now
"I have every right Kara!" James cut across her, matching her rage
There was nothing more she could do to deter James. All she could do was warn Lena and so she turned on her heels and strode furiously out of the office and towards the roof of the building where she could fly off to LCorp's building in downtown National City.
She landed softly on the balcony to Lena's office and did a quick scan before entering. Lena was alone, sitting silently at her desk. Kara then entered the room behind the dark-haired CEO and announced her presence, watching as Lena turned to greet her.
"Hey babe, what are you doing here?" Lena said, a huge grin growing across her face as she stood up to place a gentle kiss against Kara's cheek
Kara stiffened slightly, and Lena could feel the tension emit from her body.
"Kara, is everything alright?" Lena asked cautiously
"Actually, no not really" Kara cringed slightly "I might have come here earlier to bring you lunch and you were already having lunch with that blonde, ridiculously pretty woman from Wayne Enterprises and- "Kara began and watched as Lena groaned internally
"Kara, look it came as just a surprise to me as it was to you, I didn't know she'd show up in National City and she- "Lena tried to explain but Kara cut across her
"Wait let me finish, so I got a little bit jealous and I decided to listen in to your conversation and I overheard you telling her about the pentagon deal, which, by the way, is madness and you shouldn't even be considering a deal like that but we'll talk about that later" Kara continued in a hurry "and so I kinda got a little pissed at you and I went back to CatCo to take my mind off you and just throw myself into some work but James caught me before I could do that and it just all boiled over and I might have let it slip to him about the deal and he got super pissed and now I'm afraid he might be writing an article about LCorp and it's secret dealings with the pentagon" Kara blurted out in almost one breath
Lena stood back, speechless. How could she even respond to what Kara had just told her. This could ruin everything. This could ruin her and all that she has built for herself. Before she could even respond, which felt very difficult without completely losing her head and screaming at Kara, Jess knocked softly on the door and entered the office.
"Sorry to interrupt Ms Luthor but I think you should turn on your TV" Jess warned in a grave tone
Lena ignored Kara and turned to reach for the remote that was on her desk and she pressed the necessary buttons to turn it on and find the news channel.
"We've just received a leaked article from an unnamed source stating that solid information has been given that LCorp has just entered into talks with the pentagon in a multi-million dollar weaponry deal. What will this mean for the safety of the citizens of National City and beyond? CEO Lena Luthor has failed to comment at this time but will have plenty of questions to answer on behalf of the ethics within her company." A news anchor could be heard announcing
Lena turned slowly to Kara, trying her best to suppress the rage she was feeling at this very minute.
"Kara what have you done?" she snarled in a low, dangerous tone.