Unsupervised

Epilogue

The next few days were a whirlwind for Lena. With Lois off in Metropolis doing... well, who knew what Lois Lane was doing. All that Lena knew was that Lois was out of town, so the youngest Luthor threw herself into her work and ignored the rest of the world.

To be fair, Lena had neglected both her companies for several days, and that concept was anathema to a Luthor. As her father once told her, Luthors don't call in sick, they only call in dead. Sixteen hour days while eating granola bars at her desk for sustenance may not have been strictly necessary, but it would have made her father proud. It was also incredibly convenient when you were dodging call after call until your voicemail was full, leaving every text unread though they made your fingers twitch. Kara's forced absence was proving to be as real as her presence.

"Miss Luthor?" The door popped open at Lena's response, and Jess entered with a box in hand. "This came for you. Security already scanned it."

Lena took the box, turning it in her hands with a bit of resistance due to the weight. "There's no return address. Did it come with a note?"

"No ma'am. Perhaps it's in the box."

"Perhaps," Lena agreed as she took out a letter opener, slicing into the tape as Jess retreated.

The contents were packing peanuts covering bubble wrap, something heavy and metallic buried below it all. There was a note, a small one that simply stated, 'In recognition of what you've done for the aliens of National City.' That sounded especially promising for a Luthor, some progress made at last, but snipping scissors revealed what proved to be the ultimate letdown.

On a black circular base stood a symbol, heavy, metallic and shining. It was a beautiful gesture, equally as beautifully made, but the time was about a week too late. In Lena's hands sat the symbol of the House of El, the infamous 'S' that was emblazoned across the chest of one of the people she'd once most admired, once most respected, once... But not any more. All of that was in the past.

Now it was just a cruel reminder that sometimes the wizard behind the curtain could be more than a disappointment, he could be a devastation.

Dumping the statue back into the box to rest on the packaging material, Lena pushed it to the side and went back to her work, even more annoyed than earlier. About fifteen minutes later, her heels clacked a warning to her assistant who was already standing when the CEO stepped outside her office with a pile of papers in hand.

"Jess, is that spreadsheet ready for my meeting with the board at two?"

"Not yet, Miss Luthor. I only got the numbers from marketing a few minutes ago. I'll have it ready with time for you to review."

Lena nodded, never missing a step as her assistant half-jogged to keep up. "Excellent. Have you been in touch with the caterers for the gala benefiting the children's hospital?"

"I have a call scheduled with them in ten minutes. I sent them the pricing I received from a competitor and told them that if they couldn't come down on the cost of their canapes, we'd go elsewhere."

Finally, Lena cracked a smile. "Good work as always. Remember, it's imperative that we need to have kosher options."

"And vegetarian and vegan. I know, Miss Luthor. I sent them a list of acceptable options."

"Did you remember—"

"No nuts and that also means peanuts." Paused at the door to the conference room, Jess tilted her head to the side. "You know this isn't the first gala I coordinated, don't you?"

With a gentle smile, Lena nodded. "You're a godsend. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Let me do my job, and you won't have to. Is there anything else?"