Family Line // B. Wayne

five

 "-and I said they were the best damn cookies next to my Ma's."

"'Cause you're a fuckin' suck-up."

"Well, now she won't stop bringin' me those damn oatmeal cookies! It's like she's got a central line to the fucking Quaker guy."

Lily stifled her laugh as she passed Sal and Marnie, two of the administrative assistants for the HR and accounting floors. Fawn from the HR department crowed that she had the greatest cookies of all time and insisted on feeding everyone who would talk to her. Most folks learned quickly to avoid her sugary bricks, but it appeared that Sal was her new target.

"Amapola! Get your cute little tush over here." A hand waved over the heads of the crowd seated in the Wayne Enterprises cafeteria and Lily followed it to find Gloria, Teddy, and Malcolm in their usual seats. Lily set her tray down and slid into her seat, immediately slapping Teddy's hand away from her slice of pie.

"I'll beat your ass and you know I will," she warned. Teddy offered her a sheepish grin which Lily responded with an eye roll.

The administrative assistants tried to get lunch everyday together. It gave them a chance to get away from their bosses and gossip about what was happening on their floors. Lily rarely had something to contribute but she soaked up every bit of information that was offered. She would then help out Lucius by keeping him up to date on office politics. Who was cheating on their spouse, who was possibly embezzling funds, etc.

Assistants saw and heard everything. People forgot that they were present or assumed that they weren't intelligent enough to understand what was being discussed. Lily had been underestimated and patronized her whole life. She learned to use that to her advantage.

"Hot topic of the day," Gloria declared. "Bruce Wayne is back and hot as ever."

"He passed me in the hall earlier and I nearly swooned," Malcolm gasped. "What do you think his workout routine is?"

"More like, who is..."

"I'm losing my appetite over here," Lily grumbled. In fact, she didn't really have an appetite in the first place. For a Fortune 100 company who raked in billions every year, Wayne Enterprises' employee cafeteria had awful food options. It was free, so she shouldn't complain, and it was better than when she dug through trash cans for scraps, but still. Was the gray slop on her tray even edible?

"You look like shit," Gloria observed. "Which is surprising since you average about four hours of sleep a night and still look fresh as a daisy, so what's up?"

She shrugged and pushed some of the puce-shaded meatloaf across her tray. "Long night."

Lily could offer up an anecdote about her run-ins with Wayne. She could tell them about how she almost got mugged -- and worse -- last night. She could talk about how her little sister was now in medical school after over a decade of Lily doing everything in her power just to keep Nadia alive.

But she instead deflected.

"Has anyone seen Kallie?"

Kalliope Marks was the only non-assistant allowed in their little group. Where Lily was the science, Kallie was the math. She was a whizz at calculations and quickly became one of the company's top accountants. But she was a quiet figure who hated being the center of attention. When Gloria asked if she could bring along someone to lunch and Kallie joined them, Lily took one look at the shy woman and decided that they would be best friends.

Gloria grimaced. "Last I heard, Vandeer was chewing her out over a late report."

James Vandeer, also known as the head of accounting and the biggest asshole of the company. Lily shot out of her seat and tossed the supposed food into the trash. She threw her tray onto the stack growing by the doors and headed for the elevator. Swiping her ID, Lily slammed on the up button repeatedly until the door opened.