Next of Kin - SuperCorp

Next of Kin Part 33 - Old Friends

  As her car pulled into the L-Corp private parking area at 7:00 A.M., Lena let out a long breath and tried to will herself to relax. She gripped the briefcase next to herself as if assuring herself, once again, that she had everything. She was prepared. Lena Luthor always was prepared, and today was certainly not going to be any different. True, today was going to be stressful and unpleasant, filled with underhanded calumniators, scurrilous statements, and perhaps even the occasional vituperation if she were really on her game. Like so many that had come before them, those who faced Lena underestimated her. You'd think by now they'd have learned. Some people seemed to enjoy learning this lesson again and again. She was getting exhausted teaching it.

As the car stopped, her driver popped the trunk and got out, walking around back. The vehicle shifted as the wheelchair was removed. It was another moment before the trunk closed. When the door opened, Lena looked over expecting to see her driver. The person there was a bit of a surprise.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see you down here."

Tilting her head to the side, Jess replied, "Where else would I be, Miss Luthor?"

Lena smiled, nodding at her driver as he pushed the wheelchair over. "Thank you, Franklin, and thank you, Jess. Thank you for all your work of late and the updates on this meeting. I'd like to say...ugh." Lena strained, lifting herself and turning into her chair. She dropped the footrests of her wheelchair, lifting her legs into place. "I'd like to say this little orchestration surprises me...but it doesn't."

"Which is why you had me monitoring all of their communications in your absence," Jess pointed out.

Lena inclined her head, smiling a bit sharply as her wheelchair was moved around toward her private elevator. "Imagine trying to arrange a secret meeting of the board via IM and text messages." Lena tsked. "Sounds absolutely covert."

"Ugh." Jess rolled her eyes as she walked along next to the CEO. "Then they shouldn't have used L-Corp equipment to do it. That sounds absolutely idiotic."

Chuckling as tension melted off of her, Lena grinned, "It does rather, doesn't it. So, what do you think the plan is, vote me out while I'm in the hospital and replace me?"

Jess pressed the button for Lena's private elevator as they came to a halt in front of the reflective doors. "I imagine...classless."

"Agreed," Lena said, taking a sheet of paper that Jess handed down to her and not looking up when the doors to the elevator opened, and she was whisked inside. She studied the paper which outlined the most recent communications between the board members, only the rise of one of her eyebrows indication any reaction. "Well, no surprises here. People are still proceeding according to character...or lack thereof. We've got to find a way to clean house when this is all over."

"Agreed," Jess said taking back the offered list. "You know, I was half tempted to not tell you about this little coup." Looking down at the obviously shocked face of the CEO, Jess nodded. "You heard me. You work too hard, Miss Luthor. You should get out from under this place while you're still young, and the golden parachute you'd have gotten from your forced resignation would have been more of a platinum one. You'd have been set up for life. You could have just sat back and enjoyed the good life; though knowing you, you would invest in your own startup company and thrown yourself back into work."

Chuckling, Lena said, "No rest for the wicked."

"You're not wicked, Miss Luthor," Jess replied, getting off the elevator when it chimed for the penthouse.

As Jess stood there, Lena held a hand up to her driver, staying her own progress. "So, what made you tell me what the board was up to? You've been acting in my stead since I was shot. The board might have named you interim CEO, and if that went well, the position could have been yours permanently."