"Jess? We need to talk."
She swivelled around in her office chair like a cartoon villain. Xeno half expected her to reply with an "I've been expecting you."
"About what?" She asked coldly. Clearly, she wasn't willing to make this easy for him.
"Look, I'm sure we both said things we regret-" he began.
"Nope, try again; that's not how an apology works." She retorted, folding her arms. Xeno was taken aback- Jess could be difficult at the best of times, but this was a new level of complicated.
He sighed. "Look, I've been really childish. I really shouldn't have said that you didn't care about me.. Care about us all, because you're leaving soon. I'm really sorry." He didn't know how she'd take it, but that was the honest truth.
Her expression softened. "And I'm sorry I said that about your mum. Honestly, I should've apologised sooner; it's just that I've been so booked with this whole department sabotage thing." She sighed. "Friends again?"
"Friends again." He finally relaxed; it felt like the weight of the earth was off his shoulders.
She smiled at him before she packed stationery from her desk into her handbag. "I'm not leaving because of you, honest. I've got stuff to do."
"Where are you going?" He asked, perplexed.
"I'm going to a fashion show." And then, at Xeno's incredulous look, followed it up with, "No, not like that, I'm not skiving off of work! I want to do some networking there so that I can get into the fashion world. I still want to make sure I have enough super-curricular."
"All right, I'll see you soon." He replied, relief spreading through him that she'd forgiven him. "But we have to catch up soon. I've got so much to tell you."
She beamed. "Tell me all about it when I get back; you have no idea how boring it's been since we stopped talking. Bye!" She hesitated for a moment. "By the way, I have a favour to ask. Could you clear up the constellations display? It won't take long."
"Consider it done, bye." Xeno said, amused as Jess started running to her car out of excitement. He was almost certain this was a task assigned for her to do that she'd disregarded in favour of going to the show, but he didn't mind helping his friend. Since his falling out with Aruda, he had tended to hang out with Haiden during his breaks. Xeno thought they would get on well, Jess and Haiden; he should introduce them at some point.
Reality struck again- the thought of confronting Dr. Carmazan made his stomach drop. He convinced himself it would be all right; she could leave on her own terms. It's not like she'd lose out on much if she was retiring soon.
As he made his way to the constellation section, he realised that when Jess had said "Organise" she actually meant "clean up". The whole thing was covered in sticky notes. Xeno thought it was decently tame for a sabotage, and noted that recently, the amount and severity of practical jokes that had happenedrecently had gone down. It was like everyone was maturing. "Finally." He thought to himself.
It took very little time at all to scoop all the Post-it notes up. He put them into a paper bag to recycle them and decided to go to palaeontology to check on what Haiden was doing. He could use their recycling, anyway. The one in astronomy was usually overflowing.
As he went into the Palaeontology halls, he realised that the suspicious stares he was getting hadn't changed. If anything, they were almost angrier. Xeno hoped that it was because of the bag he was carrying, rather than the departments' deep-seated hatred of one another. He couldn't be sure.
Suddenly, he saw Ms. Pepper round a corner. He silently prayed she wouldn't notice him, but to no avail. The pair locked eyes, and she started walking towards him, eyeing the bag in his hand.
"Hello, Mr. Baxterson." She said cheerily, though he thought he could detect a hint of suspicion in her tone. "What's in there?"
"Hiya, Mrs. Pepper. I'm just going to throw this into the recycling." He gestured to the bag, "And to visit a friend too."
She looked at him quizzically for a moment. Xeno was worried she didn't believe him, but then she asked him, "Have you by any chance noticed that there's been fewer tricks played recently?"
He thought for a second, and replied, "Yeah, haven't you fired a couple of people, though? That might be why."
She shook her head. "Truth be told, I haven't been able to catch a single.. perpetrator."
He saw his opportunity to get promoted, maybe win some of her favour by being seen as someone who took initiative. "My friend and I are actually working together to try and work out who sawed those steel cables on Ste.. the pterodactyl."
Mrs. Pepper seemed surprised for a second before following up with, "Well, I wish you good luck. Besides, you might not even need to! If things keep going the way they have been, this silly war'll be over soon. I hope so anyway; it's been an absolute nightmare trying to manage the museum. Considering you're all adults, it feels like I'm leading children." She paused for a second before glancing at him. "No offense, by the way."
"None taken." He sighed. Truth be told, he was disappointed in his department. It seemed unbelievable that they'd all stooped to that level, even if he didn't personally know anyone who'd done anything, they'd all heard rumours.
"Well, I'll be off then." Mrs. Pepper chirped. "It was nice seeing you."
"Bye, I'll see you soon." He replied.
As he walked to Haiden's door, he realised he had no idea if he was even inside. He probably should have checked beforehand. He knocked on the door and heard a "Come in?" from inside. Haiden's voice was slightly different with strangers, a little more measured.
