He expected Aruda to make some kind of comment on modern technology, but she just looked away, sniffing, before saying, "I'll check my phone for those messages every day, Xeno. I'm so sorry this has happened to you."
"Guys, maybe this is a good thing? I mean, I could work on a PhD, right? I'll have all the time in the world to do that now." He joked, trying to force a smile.
It wasn't the time for jokes.
"Goodbye, Xeno. I'm so sorry." Aruda stated. Now, it was clear she was also trying not to cry.
"I'm not dying, guys. You'll see me sometimes."
"Still, you have to admit this is awful!" Jess exclaimed. "You're being fired for something that you haven't even done, right after you got your promotion."
"I agree." said Aruda, a tear running down her cheek.
"Guys, I really need to go now. We can arrange to talk later. I just.. need to drive home now."
"I understand. Goodbye, Xeno." Jess croaked. And with that, he almost started the drive away; but then he realised he still had something left to give.
"Dr. Aruda? I want you to have this." He handed her the astronomy key. "It's yours until Ms. Pepper asks for it."
"Thank you." She said through tears. "Goodbye, Xeno. And good luck. I'm sure you'll have no problem finding somewhere else to work."
As he pulled out of the car park, he waved to his friends before driving away. While he passed the front of the museum, he looked back at the massive building. Those walls of white marble had been his home for the last few years, and he couldn't believe he'd never enter them again.
Finally, Xeno began to cry. He wasn't a loud crier by any means, but once he'd started, he just couldn't stop. Working at that museum had been his dream since he was thirteen, and now it was being wrenched away from him like a planet from its orbit. He cried for the department gossip Aruda wouldn't be able to tell him any more, he cried for the "accidental" free time Jess would give him so that he could relax, he cried for the fact that he'd never be able to explain to Haiden why he'd stopped the investigation.
When he got back home, to his flat, he still had tears streaming down his face. He dumped the box down on the ground, unable to stomach unpacking it just yet. He didn't know how to process an emotion so big. Whenever he'd been minorly inconvenienced before, he'd just play music as loud as he could, or he'd invite his friends out. He checked the clock on his mantelpiece. Ten-fifteen. There was no one he could invite out, no one he could talk to right now. He wished he'd taken the opportunity to stay at the museum until closing- Ms. Pepper had been generous enough to give him the whole day, at least. But he disregarded the thought- he wouldn't have been able to stay there for longer than he had. Not when he knew that he could never come back.
Better sooner than later, right?
Anaesthetically, he started to clean his apartment, unsure of what else to do. After finishing the kitchen and moving onto his bedroom, Xeno found the alien that Haiden had made for him. He sat with it on his bed for a second before hugging it close to his chest. Despite being hardly bigger than his hand, it was decently heavy, and it helped a little.
It had been such an exhausting couple of days that he curled up in bed and fell asleep for goodness knows how long. During the night, he had dreams of someone slinking through the shadows of the palaeontology department and dumping the remnants of Steve all over the ground. Whenever he tried to get a look at their face, they ran away. It was immensely frustrating.
Eventually, and not willingly, Xeno woke up. He realised he needed a plan. Because he'd been fired with due cause, his reparation payment from the museum would be minimal- it certainly wouldn't cover the costs of his rent- he didn't want todip into his savings either, because goodness knows how long he'd be out of a job.
He began thinking about all the careers he could look into. It felt wrong. He hadn't even considered working anywhere other than the museum for years. It had been his dream since he was young. To his horror, he realised that the number of places that he could work was next to nonexistent. He'd have to disclose on his CV that he was fired from his last job for disorderly conduct. Potentially even continuing a sabotage-war, depending on how Ms. Pepper would take it. That meant he probably wouldn't be able to get a job at another museum.
"At least I won't have to worry about astronomy getting cut." He thought to himself, but it was hardly comforting. He briefly considered becoming a teacher at a university, but he ruled that out, too. For one, he'd need a PhD for that, and second, he was too young. Maybe he could teach astronomy at a secondary school? But for that, he'd need to go through teacher-training, which would take time he simply didn't have.
He paced around his flat anxiously. He carried the alien with one hand and was biting the nails of the other. "There has to be something I'm missing." He whispered to himself.
He opened his laptop to see if there were any entry-level positions available near him, willing to take pretty much any work that was available to him. Unfortunately, all he could see was work experience or volunteer work. He considered taking a part-time job; that would probably make him enough money to keep his flat, but he'd barely have enough left over in case of emergencies, and what would his next move be after?
Clicking through the job listings, he wondered why there weren't search filters. "Whoever designed this website clearly has noidea how this works." he thought. Suddenly, a job listing came up that jolted something in Xeno. it was perfect in every way- he had work experience in the field, it was full- time, and it said he could just go in and work, should his interview go well.
There was just one problem. It was his father's bakery, and going there would mean admitting that he was right, and that he couldn't actually make it as an astronomer.
And that was a path that he had sworn he'd never cross.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE:
Six years earlier:
"Dad, for the last time, I don't want to work in the bakery," he fumed. "I told you years ago that I wanted to go to York to study astronomy."
"Xeno, just think about what'll happen to you. University's risky business, why don't you just stay here? You're already plenty qualified." His father replied gruffly. "Besides, it's too late to apply now; you said it yourself."
He stood up from where he was sitting on the armchair in his living room. "I applied three months ago. I got three As, and they liked my personal statement. I'm in."
