The group turned around to see Ms. Pepper in the centre of the garden. Xeno felt a sudden sense of dread at seeing her there, on account of what had happened last time.
"Hello, everyone!" She began, cheerily. "I'm so glad you could all make it tonight. I know it means a lot to Dr. Carmazan. When she first joined us back in nineteen-eighty four, all that time ago, I'm sure she didn't think she'd stay on with us for this long. But aren't we glad she did?" She waited for the applause to die down. Despite her cryptic, strict reputation, she was well-liked (or well-feared) enough within the museum to garner applause.
For the next fifteen minutes. Ms. Pepper told stories about Dr. Carmazan's time at the museum. The whole time, she stood next to her, laughing, with a drink in her hand. She hadn't even retired yet, and she already looked revitalised, like a weight was off her shoulders. Perhaps it was because Xeno had never seen her dressed up like this; she wore a navy ankle-length dress with matching high heels, and her hair was put up, a stark contrast to her usual brutalist attire.
When she was done, Dr. Carmazan gave a speech. "I know none of you were there when I joined. Wow, that makes me feel old." She waited for the laughter to die down. "Regardless, I just wanted to announce that I'm going to be working with my research team from now on. If any of you would like to get in touch with me for whatever reason, you know my phone number." She looked away, continuing to address the whole crowd. "I want to say that you should never give up on your endeavours, whatever they might be. If you want to continue working at the museum, so be it. It's been a lovely place to workfor me for the last forty years, thanks in part to Ms. Pepper, but also thanks to all of you for making work enjoyable for me." After she stopped, there was loud applause from everyone. Despite it being a relatively small "get together," everyone there seemed to really like Carmazan.
"Now, then." Ms. Pepper stood up from her seat. "There is the matter of who is going to take over as head of astronomy now that Denise is retiring." Xeno realised that before then, he'd never heard anyone call Dr. Carmazan by her first name. Maybe it was a similar situation to Aruda; perhaps she just wanted to show her doctorate off. "I know that everyone from your home department is desperate to hear what I have to say next. The person who will take over as head of astronomy is.." She paused for effect. Xeno subconsciously leant forwards in anticipation. Even if it wasn't him, her announcement meant that his department was likely safe.
"Xeno Baxterson." She smiled at him and started clapping. There was applause from everyone else.
He couldn't believe it at first. He thought that he'd surely misheard her, or he was dreaming, or it was some kind of joke. But no, sure enough, he was to be the new head of astronomy. "That's enough of that, everyone, let's have a round of applause for Dr. Carmazan and Xeno!"
During the clapping, he met Carmazan's eyes, expecting to see pride, or maybe disappointment. Instead, he saw anxiety. What was so wrong with being head of astronomy that she wouldn't want him to take the position? Perhaps she didn't think he could handle it, or maybe it was because of the secret she was keeping from him.
"I'll show her." he thought, "I'm gonna run it better than you could."
After the clapping, Jess's head whipped around to look at him. "I'm so proud of you!" She beamed. "I'm so glad it's you! You'll do great!"
"Thank you!" he smiled back, barely able to contain his excitement. "I couldn't have done it without your help!"
"Hello, Mr. Baxterson." He turned around and locked eyes with Ms. Pepper. She wore a pink cardigan, and her hair was done, making her look significantly less frazzled than she usually did these days at the museum.
"Oh, hi! Thanks for the promotion!" Xeno exclaimed.
"Don't mention it. You're clearly the most.. qualified for the position." She smiled. "Just one tiny thing."
"Yeah?"
"On your first day as the head of department, you have to do four hours of overtime after your shift. You'll be paid, of course. It's a museum tradition."
"Oh. Of course, I'll be there." Xeno replied. It wasn't like he was doing anything after work, anyway. Especially if Haiden stayed angry at him.
"Great!" Ms. Pepper beamed. "I'll be seeing you soon, then." And she walked away.
"Did you know about that? The overtime thing?" He asked, turning around to Jess.
"Nope." she replied. "But then, we haven't had a new head of department since before we got hired. Before any of us got hired,now that I think about it. I mean, I guess it's not something that people would talk about, right? Maybe it's just time for you to move into his new office." She gasped. "Xeno, you get to move out of the planetarium! You don't have to sneak past schoolkids to get to your office anymore!"
"Oh, great!" Xeno said. To be honest, he'd miss his old office. He wondered if he could ask to stay in it, but thought against it. He wanted nothing to jeopardize his new promotion.
As the party died down, he received congratulations from everyone. Obviously, Dr. Aruda was first, clearly trying to hide her reservations about the position, but pretty much everyone gave him a high-five, even people from the other departments that he'd never met before. He couldn't believe that he'd gotten to the head of astronomy. What would his family have thought? His dad had told him he'd never be successful as an astronomer- how was this for proof?
As Xeno got home, he felt exhausted. However, try as he might, he couldn't sleep. He knew he should have been excited about his new position, but all he could think about was how disappointed Haiden had been earlier that day.
Whatever, he`d just make up with him later.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT:
"You've got a nice, easy day today, Xeno," Jess began. "I've got all of your stuff rescheduled; you only have to do a couple of things as the head of department."
Despite Dr. Carmazan's sudden leaving, He had settled into her shoes well. For the past hour, he'd been talking to Ms. Pepper about all the things he'd have to do, and now Jess was telling him about her scheduling. One question he'd wanted to ask Ms. Pepper was, "Why me?" But he decided not to go into it. Better not to look a gift horse in the mouth, right?
"Xeno? Are you even listening to me?"
"I'm sorry, I was a million miles away. Can you repeat that?"
Jess shook her head, disapprovingly. "Honestly, you have to start paying attention now. This disorganisation isn't gonna fly for long."
