"Hey, I'm your boss now, you know?" Xeno laughed.
"It's not funny." Jess replied matter-of-factly. Despite this, Xeno saw her smiling as she looked away at her clipboard. "Anyway, you have three main jobs today. First, go to a meeting with the other heads of department and tell them your plans for astronomy. It's in the boardroom; you have to be there in half an hour."
"But I don't have any plans for astronomy." Replied Xeno. "I thought Dr. Carmazan had that all under control; I didn't have any problems with it." To be honest, he was so excited to get to be the head of astronomy that he hadn't really considered what he'd do.
"I'd bet Dr. Aruda would have some ideas; you'd better ask her before the meeting. It's at eleven." Jess said, flipping her clipboard. "Next up, you have to do a talk for a primary school, but you don't need help with that, and finally.. Oh, you can do this during your.. four hours of overtime."
"Don't remind me." Xeno groaned. Though, internally, he didn't mind the extra work so much. It was easier to navigate than.. other things that had come up recently.
"Finally, you'll have to move all your stuff into Dr. Carmazan's old office." She concluded. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She opened a small green notebook and began drawing inside it, sitting down at her desk. He took the hint. After saying his goodbyes, he set off for Aruda's office.
He hadn't been inside for quite a while. He was glad to see that nothing had changed, even during their argument. When Aruda noticed him standing in the doorway, she smiled pleasantly at him. "Hello, Xeno. It's nice to see you again."
Even though they'd seen each-other not three days ago at the retirement party, Xeno knew what she meant. "It's nice to see you too. I was wondering; what do you think is wrong with the astronomy department here?"
"You're asking me about my opinions?" She asked inquisitively, cocking her head. "Well, I've been trying to get Dr. Carmazan to listen to me for quite some time now, but she's always avoided me." She paused. "Now, where do I begin? First, we've devolved into animals trying not to get our departments cut. Most of the things they have us do is absolute inane drivel. I mean, honestly, have you ever been helped by one of those ridiculous "interpersonal communication" online courses they have us do? And don't get me started on the "appropriate workplacebehaviour" workshops they bring in every so often. I know full well not to scream at people, or call them names. I'm fifty-three, for goodness' sake!"
Xeno winced. He remembered all too well last year's "appropriate workplace behaviour" workshop that Ms. Pepper had made them all do. In it, the poor unfortunate soul she'd got in to do it had had to outline, in painstaking detail, how to "acceptably" flirt with people at work. "Well, I'm going to a meeting later about the things I'd change. Do you think I should bring those up?"
"You'd better. In all those years, I could never once pin Carmazan down for a chat. Honestly, she was a great boss, but sometimes it felt like she was being deliberately evasive." He shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his former boss. Her dire warning, as well as her facial expression when he had been promoted echoed in his mind. Putting it out of his head, he made a mental note to bring up the workshops.
"Oh, and by the way," she began, "I'm sorry about your falling-out with your friend. He seemed like a lovely young man." She sighed, eyeing him sympathetically.
"I didn't have a falling out with him. It was a misunderstanding, that's all." He replied, defensive. "And anyway, how do you know about that?"
She smiled and winked at Xeno. "I'm not the only person who Jess tells things. Honestly, she can't keep things to herself to save her life, that one."
"You're right." He said, though not unkindly. Jess' (often brutal) honesty was one of her best traits, even if it came with the unfortunate side effect of not being able to keep a secret.
"Anyway, I think you should try to talk to him today. Don't text him either. I know what you're like over the phone." At that, she held up hers, and Xeno felt embarrassed. He had forgotten the desperate messages he had sent to Aruda after they'd had their argument.
"Yes, right." Xeno looked away. "I understand." He should be able to talk to Haiden at some point today, even if it was only for a little while. He glanced briefly at the clock and noticed that his meeting was soon. He had forgotten that it took a little while to get to Aruda's office, and it would take longer to get to the boardroom upstairs. "I need to go; I'm sorry. I'll tell them what you said!" Xeno continued.
"You'd better. If those are law mandated, I wouldn't mind being a criminal."
He had never gone up the stairs to the boardroom. On the way, he noticed Ms. Pepper's office; he hadn't known where it was before. Whenever anyone had told him a story about it, he'd imagined it in the history department or something. It made sense to be there, though. Xeno thought to himself. Assuming he would be the first one there, he opened the door. To his surprise, Ms. Pepper, Mr. Crossley and a couple of other people were already seated.
"Welcome, Mr. Baxterson. Please, take a seat. Ms. Pepper ventured, gesturing to a chair on her right. As he sat down, he noticed Mr. Crossley staring daggers at him from across the table. Had Haiden told him about their disagreement? It would make sense- Mr. Crossley already knew about their investigation, and Haiden and he were pretty close.
As more people shuffled in, the meeting began. Ms. Pepper started by introducing Xeno, and then began asking each personwhat their plans for the month were. Xeno was surprised to learn that some other departments deemed to dislike each-other. Or, at the very least, their heads did.
He tried to listen as the other departments listed off things they'd change. Luckily, none of them mentioned a department getting cut. He didn't want to think about what would happen should Astronomy go under, but surely his getting promoted was a good sign? When Xeno brought up the workshops, as per Aruda's request, he elicited a weak cheer from a couple of other department leaders. Unfortunately, his idea was shot down by Ms. Pepper, who said that they were a "necessary evil".
When the meeting was over, Xeno tried to find Haiden. He didn't know whether he would be available, so he decided to check his schedule. Jess had made him download it onto his phone when he'd been promoted. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that they were free at any point at the same time. "It doesn't matter." Xeno thought to himself, "I'll just talk to him tomorrow."
Rounding the corner to the planetarium, he could already hear the hum of chatter coming from the children in the hallway. While he was talking to the room, which included a primary school, Xeno reflected on how fortunate the museum's location was. It was hardly a ten-minute walk from Willowheath Primary School, which meant they could get visitors from all over the country. It was one of the most popular museums, thanks in part to its many wings and departments. It helped that they had teams of experts in each one, too.
"Can anyone tell me the correct order of the planets in our solar system?" He asked. He realised it was a stupid question, given that they were literally in the planetarium, but the planets weren't labelled, and the kids were only six or seven.
A gaggle of children raised their hands. Xeno chose the blonde girl with glasses nearer the front. "Yes?" he asked, pointing at her. He felt rude doing so, but there was no way he could possibly learn every child's name just for one visit. Still, doing his normal job as the head of astronomy felt more dignified, somehow.
"Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune." She said, matter-of-factly.
"That's right. Good job." Xeno said. He was glad that he rarely had to tour them around the rest of the museum, only give them talks in his planetarium. Generally, it was Jess, or someone from a different department, who did the touring for Astronomy, and this time it was no different.
When they'd gone, He retired to his office and started moving some of his things. The only issue was that Dr. Carmazan had taken everything with her, including her desk and filing cabinets. So Xeno would need to carry all of his. For a moment, he considered asking Jess for help, but he decided against it. She'd be too busy; he wouldn't want to waste her time. He realised that Haiden would have been perfect to help him. He remembered how easily he'd been able to pick his own desk up, while he had unwrapped it.
Xeno rarely missed people, so it was a relatively unfamiliar feeling. He promised himself that' he'd apologise to Haiden tomorrow, maybe invite him out for coffee again, no strings attached. As he thought, he tried to pick up his filing cabinet, only to realise that it was way too heavy. He elected to take the drawers out, and carry them one at a time to his new office.
