Slowly, everyone started milling out of the museum, down the spiral staircase. Covered in the green paper fibres, Xeno thought they all looked like little soldiers. As soon as they got outside, Xeno joined a bunch of astronomers who were crowded in a huddle. So much for inter-departmental bonding. Everyone wasshouting their bizarre theories, none of which Xeno thought to be true. Surely it was an accident, right?
"Surely it was someone from the palaeontology department trying to frame us?"
"What if it's Mr. Crossley? He's always been suspicious.."
"Maybe it was a new hire? It's not like they'd care much if they got fired, and they'd be a hero in their own department if they framed one of us, right?"
Dr. Carmazan broke in. "There will be no more discussion. I want you all to go back home and disperse. Talking about this won't do us any good." She declared.
Xeno was the first to break away, but a few people protested. He was a few paces away, but he still heard her lowered tone, which she only used when she was furious.
"You will all go home. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you." The crowd almost immediately dispersed. No-one wanted to get on her bad side. Dr. Carmazan never shouted, but when she spoke, she was heard.
He just sat in his car for a while, absolutely dumbfounded that anything like that could ever happen. What would happen now? What would Ms. Pepper say? He silently prayed that no-one from astronomy had done it. Of course they hadn't. It was probably just a palaeontologist who thought Steve was tacky and wanted to sabotage the Astronomy department by framing one of them.
He forced himself to drive, to leave the museum car park and get out of the gates. He must have taken more time than he'd initially thought to process everything that had happened because there was very little traffic as he pulled out.
When he got home, Xeno didn't even take his green-stained party clothes off. He hadn't realised how exhausted the party had made him. However, when he flopped into bed, he found that he couldn't sleep. He kept wracking his brain for anyone who would have done something like that. He kept telling himself that it was irrational, that no-one would ever do something so stupid and risky just to potentially secure their job, but feelings don't care about facts.
Exhausted, he checked his phone, and was surprised to see a text message from Dr. Carmazan telling him they were still on for their mentoring session that Monday. How was that still on her mind? Defeated, he opened Instagram, only to be immediately met with a post from his family's bakery. Despite his exterior, he did genuinely miss them, but he didn't know how he could ever go back.
His mind was a storm and thunder struck every time he came up with a new suspect, someone new that could have succumbed to their anxiety about losing their job, someone that was brave (or stupid) enough to try and take the fate of the museum into their own hands.
Hopefully, both he and Dr. Carmazan could turn over a new leaf on Monday. Perhaps all of this speculation would dissolve some of her resentment towards him.
CHAPTER TEN:
Xeno could barely get up that Monday. He rolled out of bed with sleep collected in his eyes. Checking his phone, he realised he had overslept.
Oh.
Scrambling to get ready, he sprinted to the bathroom, cleaning his teeth while washing his face. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had looked better. His beard was unkempt, and his eyes were wild. Why hadn't he been able to sleep last night?
Oh.
Today would be his first day back at the museum since the party. Over the weekend, he'd tried to put his mind off it, off of the rumours he'd seen on work group chats, but he'd have to face it now. Still, it's not like it was actually caused by anyone, right? That thing looked like it was held together with tape and a prayer, it could have just fallen on its own, he reasoned.
Still, he tried not to let it get the best of him. He needed his brain to be firing on all cylinders, working at full calibre if he was going to work to be a head of department. He had a meeting with Dr. Carmazan that morning, so that would shield him slightly from the rest of the museum. Surely everything would blow over once they realised it was an innocent mistake? Ms. Pepper would get someone to check it, and they'd all be fine after.
Despite his rationalisation, a small part of him wondered if it was actually an accident. Surely Jess would text him if she found out it wasn't? He wondered whether Mrs. Pepper knew already. It wouldn't be hard to check if someone had tampered with thestrings, perhaps she checked it the night of the party, and she was just waiting to tell everyone.
While thinking, he shaved his face, maintaining his relatively clean beard. One day he'd be able to grow a moustache. He grew worried; what if the prank war started again? He forced the thoughts out of his mind. There was no way, right?
"Ow!"
He'd nicked himself with the razor. This wouldn't be a good way to start his interview. He cleaned up and got dressed. The cut wasn't really that noticeable, and he checked his watch. The time that Xeno had wasted by oversleeping had been caught back by his haste to get ready. Now, he just had to get in the car to drive to the museum.
As he got in the car, he banged his head on the doorframe.
It's like the universe doesn't want me to go.He thought to himself, turning the car on. He put the keys in the ignition and, just prior to driving off, he put a "Ghost" CD in the player.
When Xeno was thirteen, he had gone with his father to a Ghost concert. It was one of the happiest memories he had with the man. Not that he was a bad father, things had just always been a little icy since their falling out. The music perfectly captured the early September sunrise. Painterly yellow and purple strokes coloured the early morning sky.
The huge, intimidating gates of the museum seemed ancient, though it was hard to gauge exactly how old they were. As for the building itself, it seemed gothic in construction, with dark stone arches that seemed to reach up to the sky, catching the waves of morning sunlight like waves on a beach.
He entered the creaking door with apprehension and was happy to see business as usual. Employees were milling around calmly, preparing for the museum to open in an hour, and there was only a slight hint of tension in the air. Everything was going.. surprisingly smoothly.
Relieved, he returned to the task at hand. Having been instructed to turn up at Dr. Carmazan's office at exactly seven-thirty, he began the walk to astronomy. Normally, he would have used the astronomy car park, but he couldn't be bothered with the traffic at the end of the workday, especially since astronomy was at the very back of the museum. Finally, he made it to her office. Knocking on the door, he was surprised to find it swung open - it was unlocked.
