CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
Xeno paced up and down the hallway of his apartment.
He'd told Haiden and Jess to meet him there after work, and it was a quarter past five now.
Where could they be? Had there been some kind of holdup, and Ms. Pepper had worked out their plan?
Surely not, right? Or maybe she'd bumped up the date for the department cuts?
He put the thought out of his mind. They'd certainly be here soon.
After what seemed like an age, he heard a knock at the door. He practically jumped out of his seat on the sofa and ran to the door. "Heya, Haiden'll be here in a minute, but I thought I'd swing by a little early." Jess said cheerily.
"No problem, come in." Xeno motioned for Jess to step inside, and she followed him to his living room. Looking back, Xeno probably should have cleaned his flat a little more before he had people over. Shame crept into his cheeks.
"Why's Haiden gonna be late?" He ventured.
"He had to clean himself up after today." Jess replied, as if that didn't open up a million follow-up questions.
"Wait, what? Tell me everything." He asked before remembering his manners. "Do you want a cup of tea first?"
"No thanks, I'll make one when Haiden gets here." She said, matching his eagerness to share information, just hiding it better. "Okay, so, I get to work and it's all normal up to about.. three? And I go to the history department."
"Why?"
"I checked Ms. Pepper's schedule, and that was when she wasn't in her office; she was off supervising some trainee or something. That'd give Haiden about a fifteen minute window to get in and out, which I reckoned I could get up to half an hour if I could get her to talk about the right things."
"Mhm?" He leaned forward subconsciously.
"So I bring up that I'm leaving, and she goes on about how I should have some kind of going-away party, and how I should have come sooner."
There was a knock at the door, and the pair jumped like co-conspirators. He walked over and opened it to see Haiden, whose hair was noticeably wet, despite the clear sky.
"Hey." he said, smiling.
"Hi." Xeno replied. The pair stayed looking at one-another for a second before Jess called to ask when they were getting back.
Sitting down, she continued her story. "Okay, so, Haiden, feel free to interrupt me with yours. So, basically, she suggested a going-away party, and I thought it was a great distraction at first, but then, she started walking me to her office."
"Where I was." Haiden replied.
"Where you were. So, obviously, I try to stop her, but she's having none of it, telling me about how I should be more modest, and that I'd done "great things in my short time there".
" She put her fingers up for air quotes around that last. "So, in a last-ditch attempt, I just started talking louder, so that Haiden could hear me and, I don't know, come up with an excuse? "
Xeno hadn't realised how anxious he was.
He leaned forward again, as if that would get him the next part of the story sooner.
"But then we get in, and he isn't there?
" She cast a confused look at Haiden. "So she keeps talking at me, and we pencil in a date for my faux- retirement party.
I'm gonna be honest, I completely forgot the date as soon as she told me.
Then, I led her out of the office, and we went on a walk discussing decorations. "
Perplexed, Xeno turned to him. "So.. What's your side of the story? Why did you need to clean up?"
"Oh, Jess told you about that?" He chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for being late, dude." He took a deep breath and then began.
"I walked through palaeontology to get to her office at three, like we discussed, and I realised how close it was to the balcony over the main hall.
It would have been easy for her to do something to those wires, but why?
" He paused for a second. "You weren't joking about the lavender smell.
" He laughed. "Ms. Pepper's office is like stepping into another world.
So anyway, I open her computer, and look for the file called "AAvid.xv". "
"That's the one Dr. Aruda said we should look for.
" Jess chimed in. "She knows a lot about that sort of thing, despite her.
. difficulties with technology." Xeno assumed that was because of her security cameras at home.
It made sense that she would learn more about them if they'd saved her skin before.
Haiden continued; "It was really easy to find, actually.
I got the files for the main hall for both the sixth of September, the first party, and the night before Xeno got sacked, and I plugged in a USB to download it all.
" He paused. "It was all fine until about sixty percent? But then I hear something."
"What was it?"
"It was Jess' voice, really faint. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I knew I needed to do something. I checked the USB, and it was only at sixty-seven. Oh, thanks, Jess."
Xeno jumped. He'd been so engrossed in the story that he hadn't noticed Jess get up to make the three of them drinks. "Thank you." He said quickly.
"You're welcome." She replied, sitting down again.
"So, you know those huge filing cabinets behind her desk? It turns out that there's a gap between them and the wall?" He paused for effect. Jess was clearly having an effect on him, he thought. "So I squeeze myself into it, just as the door opens."
She clicked her fingers. "That explains why you weren't there!"
"Yeah! Well, while Jess and Ms. Pepper were talking, I realised how insanely dusty it is behind her filing cabinet, and I had to fight sneezing for a good minute while they had a natter." He laughed.
"Well, I'm sorry I was courteous." Jess added, with mock offense.
"Anyway, after they left, I waited for a minute and then bolted out the door." He finished. "I felt like I was gonna pass out, to be honest."
"Wait, what about the USB?" Xeno asked, worried.
"Oh no, you're right!" Haiden smirked and produced it from his shirt pocket. "Don't worry, it's right here." He said with a sly grin.