CHAPTER EIGHT
It was a beautiful sunset, like a painting. There were arcs of red and orange and dandelion that melted and swirled together like gold in a furnace. Hopefully, everything would turn out all right, and the party would go off without a hitch, even with the added pressure of the department cutting.
Upon entering, Xeno was greeted by directions signs telling them where to go. The upstairs balcony just above the palaeontology department. There were arrows on the floor (as if he would get lost at his own workplace) and he followed them up the stairs to the party.
Once he arrived at the top, Xeno finally had a chance to see the museum balcony.
It was massive. The thirty or so people currently on it barely took up half of the available space.
The balcony railings extended to either side a little ways, creating corridors of sorts at the extremities of the balcony.
The view from the balcony of the rest of the great hall was stunning.
From up high, it was easier to appreciate the craftsmanship of the murals on the ceilings, and the birds-eye view let him see his workplace from an entirely new angle.
Xeno didn't come up here often- he didn't have much reason to, it was on the opposite side of the museum from his department, and it was difficult to justify a detour of that length just to see a pretty view.
He scanned the sea of faces for a familiar one until he finally located Dr. Aruda, trying to ignore that Dr. Carmazan was staring daggers at him from the other side of the room.
He speed-walked towards her so that no one else would engage him in conversation.
Surely no one would talk to him if he looked like he had somewhere to be.
Doctor Aruda was wearing a black floral dress with red lipstick. Her glasses sat slightly askew on her face, and her short black hair was styled neatly to frame her face. She looked easily ten years younger than she usually did at work.
"Hello, Xeno! Isn't it great?" She asked, her voice pleasantly audible despite the hum of chatter and the music.
"Yeah!" he replied; "Is there a coffee table near?" He was already eyeing one of the narrow corridors at either side of the balcony.
"Don't you do what I think you will."
"What?"
"I mean, don't just grab a coffee and disappear off into a corner somewhere! Try to enjoy today. It's your birthday, after all." Why did everyone else seem to remember besides him? "Speaking of which, I got something for you."
She produced a silver bracelet with little planets on it, in solar system order from Mercury to Neptune.
"I found it at a charity shop a couple of weeks ago. I saw it and thought of you." She said with a smile.
"Thank you so much!" He exclaimed with a grin. He immediately put it on.
"Don't mention it, happy birthday again, Xeno." She turned away from him slightly, someone had caught her eye. "I'm going to go now, remember what I said, okay? No slinking off to some dark corner and avoiding everyone, I mean it."
He watched her go and meet some old friends from the history department. The two departments seemed to get on really well, and the general air of the party was completely relaxed, despite the looming threat of a department cancellation.
He walked towards the coffee table, trying to gauge which cup had the most in it just from the amount of steam coming out of the lid, until he saw someone that stopped him in his tracks.
It was the blonde guy from a couple of months ago. He had nearly forgotten about him.
Just as he was about to sneak away, Xeno noticed that he was standing alone, not talking to anyone. He remembered what Aruda had said, and after he grabbed his cup of coffee, he walked over to him.
He walked up to him and caught his eye. He got a chance to properly look at him.
He was wearing a green knit jumper and jeans.
His hair was a golden shade of blonde, and was messy.
He had almond- shaped grey-blue eyes, like pebbles.
He was also holding a cup of coffee. Great, they at least had something in common.
"Hey, I saw you a couple of weeks ago, I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name's Xeno." He began, trying not to react when he noticed Jess giving him a thumbs-up from the other side of the room.
The blonde looked confused for a second, and squinted slightly, trying to remember. Suddenly, recognition flashed across his face.
"Oh! You're the guy I ran over! I'm so sorry!" he looked away, clearly embarrassed.
"It's completely fine, I shouldn't have been walking so briskly." He replied.
"My name's Haiden. Haiden Ashworth." His gaze slowly returned to Xeno.
"Do you want to walk away from the speaker? I'm finding it hard to hear" He said, gesturing to one of the little corridors the face of the balcony made with the walls.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Haiden said, gratefully. He clearly hated the tinny music as much as Xeno did.
As they were walking, he glanced up at the ceiling, with the papier mache pterodactyl strung up. Thinking on his feet, he thought of a conversation opener.
"What's with the pterodactyl? Why does it look like.. that?"
Haiden looked at him with a grin, and feigned offense.
"Don't say that about Steve! He isn't ugly, he's just unique!" he said, grinning.
He took another look at it. It was ugly, There was no doubt about it.
Xeno had never seen a pterodactyl before, but he knew that if they looked like that, they wouldn't have even seen the asteroid, let alone survived it.
Its eyes looked in two completely different directions and it was a hideous green, with limbs that stuck out like the shoots of a potato. Not even a mother could love that face.
"It has a name?" He began, "How did you even... get him?" he couldn't believe anyone in the palaeontology department had made it.
"It was a gift from Willowheath primary. It was my first quarter at the museum, and I led them around. Apparently, they were "inspired" by me, and they made it." Haiden beamed with pride.
"How'd they decide to put it up?"
"I'm guessing Ms. Pepper was smitten with one of the primary school teachers. She lobbied until Mr. Crossley put it up, and we've all loved Steve since. Don't you have anything like that in your department?"
"I mean, we've got odd bits and pieces, but I don't think the primary schoolers appreciate the workings of the universe enough to make us a.." He looked back at the paper dinosaur. "gift?"
Haiden laughed, which made him feel very proud. He loved when people laughed at his jokes.
"Fine then, Xeno. What do you get up to in the astronomy department if you aren't receiving gifts like Steve?"
"Work? Most of my entertainment comes from Doctor Aruda- you might know her. She fills me in on the work gossip from.. just about every department." He admitted. Somehow, it seemed she had ties to everyone in the museum.
"Work gossip? I've seen her around when I go to the other departments. Isn't she, like, fifty?" He asked.
"Fifty-five, actually." He began. "But she's a young soul, age doesn't mean that much."
"I guess. I don't feel twenty- three."
Xeno considered for a moment. "I think I feel twenty-five. It's my birthday today, you know."
"Really? And you chose to come here?" he replied, chuckling.
"I'm gonna be honest, I completely forgot it was my birthday."
Haiden's jaw dropped slightly. "How do you just forget? Birthdays should be special, you know?"
"My dad was never really a big birthday person, I guess I just got that from him." he shifted uncomfortably. "What about you, what do you do outside of the museum?" He asked, trying to steer the conversation away from himself.
"I'm actually trying to start a small business."
"Oh really? what do you sell?"
"Promise you won't make fun of me? It's a little embarrassing."
"I promise."
"I sell crochet weighted dinosaur stuff. Like blankets and plushes and.. Whatever else people ask me to make, really."
"That's really cool, actually." Xeno said, honestly. "I'd love to learn to crochet. How many have you sold?"
"About twenty? I started a couple months ago. It's not meant to be a main source of income, It's just I crochet all the time at work anyway, and people were asking for them, so why not make some money, right? "
"What dinosaurs do you do?"
"T-Rexes are my most popular, but I've had all kinds of requests. When I was just starting out, Mr. Crossley asked me to do one of Steve. He's still got it in his office I think."
"Mr. Crossley? He doesn't seem like the type." From what Xeno had heard from Aruda, he wasn't a man to be trusted.
"He's sweet when you get to know him, he's like a grandpa." Haiden said, gesturing to a man across the hall.
He couldn't believe it. His age was the only thing that made him remotely "Grandpa"-like, he looked slightly ancient, but from what he had heard, he was a severe, strict man.
"Can I have your number?" The blonde asked; "I want to make some more museum friends, and that's what this whole party is about, right? It'll be especially important in light of.. everything that's going on." He knew what he meant, even if neither of them wanted to say it out loud.
"Right." Xeno agreed. He wrote it down on a spare piece of paper he had in his pocket, letting Haiden text him on his phone to secure the number. Xeno added him to his contacts as "Haiden (work)".
"Thank you." Haiden said.
"Ding Ding Ding Ding"
The pair turned around to see Mrs. Pepper hitting a wine glass with a spoon. Everyone had their attention on her.
"I would just like to say how happy I am that all of my favourite departments are finally getting together again. It feels like ages since we've had a work event. I thank you all for coming tonight, and-"
Haiden whispered to him "Do you think she knows it's a work party, not a wedding?" Eliciting a stifled laugh.
"Furthermore, It is with great pleasure that I tell you all that this party will continue to be held annually from now on, to foster connection and trust between departments, despite the.. unfortunate reality that one of us is going to be made to leave soon. Also-"
She was interrupted by a loud "CRACK" that felt like it shook the museum's walls.