"But if anyone has any information, I'd like to know. If it helps, it seems like it was done the day of the work party." Ms. Pepper added. "The culprit must be reprimanded."
There was a candid, suffocating silence that hung in the air after he was finished. No-one could trust anyone, and the atmosphere of suspense was so thick one could cut it.
Ms. Pepper spoke up again. "I do not need to remind you that we will cut a department in a month and a half. Should no-one come forward, well.. Let's just say it wouldn't look good for either of your departments. Everyone else will get this speech, and I'm not accusing any of you, but I thought it was the most fitting to have yours together first, given your joint.. history."
"Well, how can you expect anybody to give any evidence?" Mr. Crossley spoke up. Xeno jumped as he realised that he hadn't noticed the man, despite the fact that they were barely three feet apart. "If they know that they'll get their department cut?"
"I.. I'm not sure." Ms. Pepper looked away, ashamed. Then, trying to maintain an air of composure, commanded everyone back to "business as usual."
The room descended into quiet, malicious chatter, it seemed that no one was in a hurry to return to their stations. The individual departments of the museum only had about four or five workers in each, and so they took up very little space in the hall. It felt like a twisted social deduction game. As soon as they were out of earshot, Jess started talking rapidly. "Can you believe that? Someone from the Palaeontology department's trying to sabotage us!"
"You don't seriously believe that, do you, Jess?" Xeno asked.
She stopped walking and turned towards him. "I mean, it can't have been any of us. I can't believe it- I won't believe it." Jess said adamantly. She chewed on the inside of her cheek. "This is terrible. How are we going to avoid getting cut now?"
"I mean, you're leaving soon, anyway." Though he had considered it an innocent observation, the words left Xeno's mouth unconsciously, accidentally laced with venom.
Jess was taken aback. "What's your problem then?" She asked, sounding equal parts hurt and irritated.
"I'm just saying that it's a little hard to think that you care about the department when you're leaving us soon, that's all." As the words came out of his mouth, they left a bitter taste. He knew what he was saying was making it worse, but he couldn't help trying to fix the situation.
Her mouth fell open, eyes wide with offense. "I can't believe you right now. It's not like I'm abandoning you, not like your... " She trailed off, clearly trying to backspace her words.
Xeno froze. "Not like my what, Jess?" he asked, eyes narrowed. He'd framed it like a question, but he knew exactly what she meant. And he knew she knew he knew exactly what she meant.
"Xeno, I didn't mean it like that, I-"
He turned on his heel, a pit forming in his stomach. He walked briskly back to his office, avoiding anyone he thought would try to make conversation with him. Luckily for him, the whole department was subdued by the announcements of the last few minutes, and no one challenged him as he disappeared into his office, even as a tear traced a crescent-moon down his cheek.
CHAPTER TWELVE:
It had been the worst day of his life.
"Daddy?"
Xeno was sitting at the top of the stairs. Confused as to why his father hadn't answered, he started walking down them. The railing was above his head, so he held the banisters to guide him down, traversing them like a mountaineer.
The kitchen was dimly-lit, the only source of light coming from the early-morning sun streaming in through the windows, catching the dust swirling lazily in the air. He stood in the doorway and saw his dad clutching a note in his hand, white-knuckled. It was slightly crumpled, with dents in the corners. As he was reading it, he noticed two pink fridge magnets in his other hand.
Mummy left notes on the fridge for them all the time, and Xeno had been practising his reading. He slowly approached his dad, eager to prove himself.
"Daddy, can I tell you what it says?" He asked, looking up at his father. He jumped, clearly having been too lost in thought to notice his son.
"No, Xeno. Not now." Xeno thought he heard a wobble in his father's voice, but he couldn't be sure. He looked up and met his hazel eyes. For once, he didn't look like he knew what he was going to do next. He felt his stomach turn, he'd never seen his father like this before.
"What's wrong?"
He seemed to steel himself, looking up and blinking before saying in a gruff voice: "Nothing's wrong, Xeno. Would you want Nana to come over later?" He folded the letter twice and put it into his pocket, a feeble attempt to try and ignore it.
Xeno's face lit up. "Yes, please!" He went to hug his father, who knelt down and reciprocated, lifting him up. The hug probably only lasted for ten seconds, but for him, the memory had stuck with him for a lifetime, following him everywhere. Not just the hug, but that day. It had been the first time his father, a tall, burly man in his thirties, hadn't been able to protect him. Muscular baker's hands aren't worth much in the arena of pink fridge magnets and crumpled letters with loopy handwriting.
Nana was the one who'd had to tell him they didn't know where Mummy had gone. She'd left. The letter didn't say where; the only thing that was clear was the time frame for how long she'd be away.
In no uncertain terms, it would be roughly forever.
They didn't talk about it much. Sometimes, it felt like a secret that only they knew. Like cards kept close to your chest, away from the preening eyes of everyone else at the poker table. Xeno held them with such force it felt as though he couldn't breathe. His father became so busy with work at the bakery that they had little time to talk about it, anyway. He threw himself into it wholeheartedly, as if he would find his wife hiding under a cupcake liner.
Even when he remarried, the bakery remained a constant in every Baxterson's life. It was the one thing that his father had retained for his whole life, having inherited it from his own father, expecting to pass it down to his eldest son. Xeno had trained under him for years. So had his stepbrothers, when theywere old enough. For his father, it seemed to be the only place he could truly relax.
