She shot him a look of pure hatred. "I'm getting to it." She spat, dropping her calm facade for a moment. "The reason that I destroyed that silly dinosaur was because I knew that museum donors wouldn't take kindly to the astronomy or palaeontology departments getting cut without due cause."
"But why would you want to cut those departments specifically?" Asked Haiden.
"I can answer that." Aruda added. "They take up the most money, don't they? Money that could go to you. And, of course, there's another reason, isn't there? You're burying the hatchet. We're all that's left of your confidant, Dr. Carmazan, after all."
Ms. Pepper went pale. "How do you..?" She steeled herself. And so what? Isn't it the job of a good boss to separate the wheat from the chaff? You were acting completely unprofessionally, and the departments were getting too close for my liking. You understand, don't you, Kiara? For the good of the museum?"
"Don't you dare." She spat. "The only good thing you'll ever do for this museum is leave it."
"But then.. why would you do it a second time? Framing Xeno, I mean." Haiden asked.
Ms. Pepper looked back at him, a mixture of resentment and defeat in her eyes. "It's because your.. friend told me you were looking into who destroyed that ridiculous dinosaur." The crowd perked up, now outraged. Angry whispers turned to furious clamouring.
"Zara, I think you should step down as head of the museum." Stated Dr. Aruda.
"I don't take orders from the likes of you." She replied, bitterly.
"Actually," Haiden began, "you probably should. Firing someone without due cause is a criminal offense." Ms. Pepper looked around frantically. Xeno felt a little guilty. He knew all too well how it felt. The eyes staring, the fear of losing your job, etcetera. Only this time, she wasn't framed.
She was guilty.
As she stalked out of the planetarium, the crowd was subdued. Xeno hadn't noticed, but as he glanced at the clock, their lunch break had ended fifteen minutes ago. "All right, everyone, don't just sit there gawking; I want to see some alacrity. Get back to work!" projected Dr. Aruda. She turned to Haiden and Xeno. He realised that amongst the chaos; they had subconsciously gravitated towards one-another. "I'll sort everything out. You were both very brave, I wouldn't have had the courage to do that."
And with that, they were alone in the planetarium, save for the people in the seats milling out, talking amongst themselves. He turned towards him, who looked back at him. "Haiden, you were.. amazing." Xeno said breathlessly. "I thought you said you'd be too nervous to do something like that."
"Oh, it really wasn't anything." His cheeks reddened. "You know, I just.. saw what needed to be done and did it, you know?"
"Even so, surely it was terrifying, right? You hadn't expected to."
"Yeah, but I'm hardly brave. I mean, I'm still shaking like a leaf." His slight accent was becoming more prominent with nervousness.
"I'm serious, it was really impressive." Xeno leaned towards him, drawing closer.
"I.. thank you." Haiden whispered. They were inches away from each-other now.
There was a moment of silence, where they both looked at each-other. Their eyes met, and he felt his face grow hotter. Finally, Haiden bridged the small gap between them and kissed Xeno. Stunned, but not surprised, he kissed Haiden back as well as he knew how. It was quick, probably only lasting about three seconds. For him, it felt like hours.
CHAPTER FORTY ONE:
Suddenly, the PA system flickered on, and Dr. Aruda's voice echoed through the tinny speakers. "Attention all museum personnel. Mrs. Pepper has resigned as head of the museum. As your acting museum head, I have an announcement. Xeno Baxterson and Haiden Ashworth are to report to Ms. Pepper's old office effective immediately."
The pair looked back at each-other and smiled.
Ms. Pepper's office was much the same as he remembered it. The pink walls that once felt oppressively calming now exuded an air of joviality. He'd only seen inside once before, and that wasn't a day he was keen to relive. Still, seeing Dr. Aruda sat at the table was comforting, and the pair sat down opposite her. "You wanted to see us, ma'am?" He asked jokingly.
"Oh, hush with that." She rolled her eyes, smirking. "Congratulations, you two. I really did all I could to distract her, but she got suspicious almost immediately."
"All's well that ends well." Haiden grinned.
She turned to Xeno. "Now, back to business. Obviously, you are to be reinstated as the head of astronomy."
A wave of relief washed over him. "Thank you so much." He breathed. It almost felt unreal.
She smiled. "Now, Haiden, I believe you have a conjecture?"
Haiden stood up. "Yeah, I thought that if we use the money that was originally going into Ms. Pepper's pocket, we could probablyafford to keep all the departments up, right?" He talked with his hands, gesturing with each beat of his sentence.
"It's a good idea, Haiden. Of course, I'll look into it, and if there really isn't enough money then you told me about a Plan B, which I thought would be interesting."
