The rest of his work day was relatively uneventful. As it came to a close, he began gathering his files, stuffing them haphazardly into the filing cabinet next to his desk. He decided to take the long way out of the museum; he had become accustomed to doing so since his last meeting with Mrs. Carmazan, who he secretly hoped would be there so that he could try to get on her good side. After all, despite having worked under her for the last three years, Xeno couldn't get a read on her.
As he was coming out of the astronomy doors and into the great hall, he noticed the balcony above palaeontology, where the party was usually held. That stupid looking pterodactyl was overlooking the area, which was already being prepared for partygoers. There were streamers and what looked like a coffee table. The balcony extended past where Xeno originally thought, with the railings creating narrow strips of standing space on either side of the main floor. Xeno presumed he would spend most of the party in one of those, especially if they played music out of one of the loudspeakers in the middle of the balcony.
He dreaded to think of what music Mrs. Pepper, Mrs. Carmazan and Mr. Crossley, the head of palaeontology, would cook up to serve them. He braced himself for radio stations boasting "Top eighties hits" or "motivational music".
Shuddering, he went through the museum's automatic doors to get to his car. Would it be worth it to drive home just to drive back to the museum a couple of hours later? Xeno thought so.
As he was driving home, he looked for a CD to put into the player. He considered what would happen if he brought someone in his car and they heard his "emo" music. No matter, no one would get in his passenger seat for a while, he was sure. He put in a pierce the veil CD and listened to it on five below full volume all the way home, mentally preparing himself for what was sure to be a night of barely tolerable boredom.
CHAPTER EIGHT:
It was a beautiful sunset, like a painting. There were arcs of red and orange and dandelion that melted and swirled together like gold in a furnace. Hopefully, everything would turn out all right, and the party would go off without a hitch, even with the added pressure of the department cutting.
Upon entering, Xeno was greeted by directions signs telling them where to go. The upstairs balcony just above the palaeontology department. There were arrows on the floor (as if he would get lost at his own workplace) and he followed them up the stairs to the party.
Once he arrived at the top, Xeno finally had a chance to see the museum balcony. It was massive. The thirty or so people currently on it barely took up half of the available space. The balcony railings extended to either side a little ways, creating corridors of sorts at the extremities of the balcony.
The view from the balcony of the rest of the great hall was stunning. From up high, it was easier to appreciate the craftsmanship of the murals on the ceilings, and the birds-eye view let him see his workplace from an entirely new angle. Xeno didn't come up here often- he didn't have much reason to, it was on the opposite side of the museum from his department, and it was difficult to justify a detour of that length just to see a pretty view.
He scanned the sea of faces for a familiar one until he finally located Dr. Aruda, trying to ignore that Dr. Carmazan was staring daggers at him from the other side of the room. He speed-walked towards her so that no one else would engage himin conversation. Surely no one would talk to him if he looked like he had somewhere to be.
Doctor Aruda was wearing a black floral dress with red lipstick. Her glasses sat slightly askew on her face, and her short black hair was styled neatly to frame her face. She looked easily ten years younger than she usually did at work.
"Hello, Xeno! Isn't it great?" She asked, her voice pleasantly audible despite the hum of chatter and the music.
"Yeah!" he replied; "Is there a coffee table near?" He was already eyeing one of the narrow corridors at either side of the balcony.
"Don't you do what I think you will."
"What?"
"I mean, don't just grab a coffee and disappear off into a corner somewhere! Try to enjoy today. It's your birthday, after all." Why did everyone else seem to remember besides him? "Speaking of which, I got something for you."
She produced a silver bracelet with little planets on it, in solar system order from Mercury to Neptune.
"I found it at a charity shop a couple of weeks ago. I saw it and thought of you." She said with a smile.
"Thank you so much!" He exclaimed with a grin. He immediately put it on.
"Don't mention it, happy birthday again, Xeno." She turned away from him slightly, someone had caught her eye. "I'm going to go now, remember what I said, okay? No slinking off to some dark corner and avoiding everyone, I mean it."
He watched her go and meet some old friends from the history department. The two departments seemed to get on really well,and the general air of the party was completely relaxed, despite the looming threat of a department cancellation.
He walked towards the coffee table, trying to gauge which cup had the most in it just from the amount of steam coming out of the lid, until he saw someone that stopped him in his tracks.
It was the blonde guy from a couple of months ago. He had nearly forgotten about him.
Just as he was about to sneak away, Xeno noticed that he was standing alone, not talking to anyone. He remembered what Aruda had said, and after he grabbed his cup of coffee, he walked over to him.
He walked up to him and caught his eye. He got a chance to properly look at him. He was wearing a green knit jumper and jeans. His hair was a golden shade of blonde, and was messy. He had almond- shaped grey-blue eyes, like pebbles. He was also holding a cup of coffee. Great, they at least had something in common.
"Hey, I saw you a couple of weeks ago, I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name's Xeno." He began, trying not to react when he noticed Jess giving him a thumbs-up from the other side of the room.
The blonde looked confused for a second, and squinted slightly, trying to remember. Suddenly, recognition flashed across his face.
"Oh! You're the guy I ran over! I'm so sorry!" he looked away, clearly embarrassed.
"It's completely fine, I shouldn't have been walking so briskly." He replied.
