Or the promotion.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX:
Xeno didn't know how to pitch coming to Dr. Carmazan's retirement party to Haiden. He decided the simplest way would be to send him a text, especially given that they weren't timetabled free at the same time. After much deliberation, Jess had convinced him to just do it, so he sent him a text that read:
"Hey, would you wanna come to Dr. Carmazan's retirement party with me?"
To which, Haiden had responded, " Doesn't she hate me? My first impression was accusing her of.. Everything."
"I'm sure that's just water under the bridge. She doesn't hold grudges for very long." Xeno lied. Truth be told, Dr. Carmazan held the most grudges of anyone he knew. The other day, he had seen her snap at someone from history who had gossiped about her once. Twenty years ago.
"Alright, I'll see you there." Haiden had said. After the confrontation, they hadn't really seen much of each-other. For one, they hadn't had many same-timed break periods, and for the ones that they had, one or both of them was seemingly always busy. There was also the matter of the kiss, which Xeno put to the back of his mind for the time being. If he wanted to get promoted eventually, he couldn't let his emotions impede his judgement.
While preparing for the party, Xeno wondered if anyone would suspect Haiden for being there. He didn't want it to be awkward for him, especially because of the news he was going to deliver that night. He wouldn't take it too personally, right?
Xeno shook off the thought. He put on his black shirt that he'd worn to the last company party before considering that it'd probably be too cold now to just wear it, especially since the party was in a pub garden. He hadn't noticed that in his original brief scan of the invite; he'd just assumed that it would be held in the same place as last time, in the main hall of the museum. It made sense though, given what had happened there last time.
Still, he needed some kind of jacket. He looked in his wardrobe for one, but he could only find his old one. Luckily, it didn't look too.. alternative. Xeno slipped it on and was relieved that it still fit, especially since the last time he'd worn it was when he'd just left his family for uni.
Should he tell Haiden before or after most of the party had happened? He decided he'd do it early, just to get it out of the way. He wouldn't be that upset, right? He couldn't shake the anxiety that He would be distraught, but he knew that he'd have to tell him eventually. Even as he was driving to the pub, he kept worrying.
When he got there, it was clear that he'd wildly misjudged the tone of the "party". It was held in a quiet pub garden illuminated with fairy lights, with a few tables gathered together with "reserved" signs on them. Scanning around, he noticed that Dr. Carmazan was there, talking to a couple of her friends from the other departments. Looking around for anyone else he could talk to, his eyes met Dr. Aruda's.
He didn't know what to do. They'd had their falling out, but would it be fixable? They couldn't go on like this; it was just childish. He made up his mind; he was doing one uncomfortable friend-thing today, why not another?
As he walked towards Aruda, he was second-guessing himself. "What if I make things worse?" He asked himself in his head, worried. When he got over there, Aruda looked him up and down coldly, drink in hand. She was almost like a secondary school "mean girl". "Do you have something you want to say to me?" She asked.
"Hey, I'm really sorry. I know I shouldn't have interrogated you like that; I should have just trusted you. I found out from Mr. Crossley everything that happened fifteen years ago. I had no idea, I'm so sorry."
She looked away, sighing. "He really told you everything?" He nodded. "Well, I suppose he couldn't resist telling anyone who asked. After all.." She smirked. "Who wouldn't want to tell everyone they courted me? I'm a catch."
Xeno grinned. He hadn't realised until then how much he'd truly missed Aruda. That was another reason to be done with all this detective business, anyway- it had caused him too many arguments. "Too right." He started. "I can't believe he fumbled you, honestly."
She laughed a crisp, clear laugh. "All right, I accept your apology. I understand why you did what you did; I hadn't exactly been transparent with you."
For the next fifteen minutes, Aruda filled Xeno in on all the company drama he had missed. It turns out that when you only talk to a couple of people; you don't really get the full picture of what's going on. She told him everything, from the new hire from botany accidentally growing black mould instead of penicillin to someone's niece who'd recently gotten her application rejected.
"It's a real shame." She began. "But then again, if a department's getting new hires, it must mean that they won't get cut. That's why I hope that you're going to get promoted today."
"What?" Xeno cocked his head. "Why would it be today?"
"It's always announced at the prior head's retirement party. And if Jess is leaving, you've got a pretty high chance of being selected." She paused. "And I've seen Ms. Pepper here, so we can be quite sure that she's going to announce someone."
"Why wouldn't you get promoted?" Xeno asked, confused. "You've worked here longer than any of us."
"Because I have a life?" Aruda chuckled. "I'm joking, of course. But I did ask Ms. Pepper not to promote me; I couldn't handle all that now."
"Oh, all right." He replied. "Yeah, I can't really think of.." He saw Haiden from the other side of the garden, who was talking to someone else from palaeontology. "Anyone I'd want to replace. I'm really sorry, I have to go over there; he's my plus one."
Aruda looked over her glasses at him, then back to Xeno. "See you around." She said with a knowing smile.
When Haiden noticed him, he grinned. Xeno smiled back, waving. "Hey, good of you to show up." he joked.
"Oh, shush," he began with mock annoyance. "I was barely ten minutes late. In some countries, it's considered polite."
"Not this one, though."
Haiden rolled his eyes. "I've been thinking, I think we've gotten the investigation all wrong. I think we should re-look at Arudaand Mr. Crossley, the dates on those videos can be easily faked, and-"
