Lena's Homeless Sacrifice

Chapter 30 - New Employee Lunch

Lena is currently out for some sort of work lunch that Sam has arranged for all of the new employees of El-Corp, as a sort of welcoming thing from the CFO. At first Sam told Lena that it was just a lunch, but Lena knew it was something else, so she pressed Sam on it. Sam eventually folded and told Lena it was an excuse to get her out of the building during a lunch hour, with several other people, while Lillian was going to be visiting El-Corp, and Sam didn't want to tell her because she didn't want Lena to get stressed out over it. Admittedly, the thought of Lillian being in the same building as her does stress Lena out, so she is ultimately glad that Sam arranged this lunch.

Presently Lena, Sam, and a few other new El-Corp employees, are sitting at a table in a nice restaurant, waiting for their lunch orders to arrive. Throughout the experience so far Lena has, of course, been very awkward about everything. Firstly, Lena is being awkward as over the last few years her whole life has essentially depended on her limiting her social interactions with people, and when she did talk to someone, keeping the conversations short. So, because of that, Lena is very much out of experience in a social situation with people she doesn't really know. Of course, over the last few weeks Lena has socially interacted with new people, like Kara, Alex, and even Ruby, but that is different. This current situation is in a completely different environment than the one she has been in with her other friends. Then secondly, Lena is being awkward because she is currently living her life, outside of Sam's house, as a woman named Katie, a lie. So, any social interactions with people would be a lie. Lena knows that she can't make any friends, because if she does then one day, when she is hopefully free of Lex and Lillian, she will have to reveal to them that she has been lying to them all this time, even if it was for a good reason. Lena does not like the idea of that. Lena hates people who lie, as that is exactly what her family has clearly been doing to her for years and years now.

"You are Katie, right?" A woman says, who is sitting next to Lena, while they wait for their food to arrive.

"Uhhh.... yeah.... that's me." Lena nods.

"Cool. I'm Stacy." Stacy smiles, sticking out her hand for Lena to shake.

Lena cautiously looks at Stacy's hand, and then shakes it.

"It's nice to meet you." Lena fake smiles, still feeling very awkward.

One of Lena's problems right now is she wanted to sit next to Sam, to feel more comfortable, but that didn't happen when they entered the restaurant, as other new employees decided to take the spaces by Sam's side. It is pretty obvious that they did this because they want to bond, or get to know, the El-Corp CFO, which Lena honestly doesn't blame them for. So, because of this, Lena has ended up being seated almost directly opposite Sam, and Sam has been in constant conversation with the people beside her.

"You work in the science division, right? And started last week?" Stacy asks.

"Uhhh yeah.... where do you work?" Lena asks, now kind of being stuck in the social situation where she has to be polite and ask, thereby continuing this conversation, even though she just wants to keep to herself.

"I work in the finance department with Miss Arias. I began just under a month ago." Stacy explains.

"Oh.... that must be nice." Lena replies.

"Yeah. It was far better than my previous job." Stacy explains.

"What was your previous job?" Lena finds herself asking, and immediately regrets it, because she could have just nodded her head and politely ended the conversation.

"I uhhh..... I got into some debts.... and ended up working for Veronica Sinclair.... as a.... sex worker.... sort of.." Stacy explains, awkwardly.