All I Want for Christmas is a Ph.D.

November 21st - Part 1

DeeDee stretched out her arms, hitting another warm body. Startled, she jumped up and almost fell out of the bed. She looked over to see Phyllis and Beverly laid askew on her bed still in their club clothes. She glanced down and saw that she was smart enough to take her jeans off. Rubbing her eyes, she headed to the bathroom to clean up.

When she came out, neither one of them had moved. Just dead to the world, she shook her head. DeeDee really loved her girls, but remembered that this is why she rarely went out with them anymore. More often than not, she never remembered what happened, her body hurt the next day, or both. She threw on a tank top and some sweats, then pulled her long curls up into a messy bun.

She walked into her living room and decided to make some tea. As the water boiled, she stepped out of the small kitchen to do a few stretches and release the tension in her body. DeeDee stood with her legs shoulder width apart, then leaned over and just let her body hang down with the tips of her fingers brushing the floor. She swayed side-to-side before slowly rolling back up as soon as the kettle whistled.

DeeDee chose her favorite ginger and lavender loose leaf tea, added the tea ball to her mug, then poured the water over it. Since she was working on autopilot, she recited her morning affirmations. With her cup of tea prepared, she went out onto her patio and set it down. She popped back inside to grab her laptop from her desk.

After her temporary work space was set up, DeeDee sat back on her wooden chaise lounger, then grabbed her mug and inhaled the calming aroma. She booted up her laptop and sipped on her tea. The blinking email icon drew her attention.

DeeDee opened the application and saw a few emails regarding her inquiries into other tenure-track positions. When she saw the latest email to arrive, she inhaled too deeply and started to choke as the hot tea coated her throat. She set the mug down on the small table and waved her hands as she tried to catch her breath and allow cool air into her mouth. Once settled, DeeDee looked into her apartment to see if she woke Phyllis and Beverly and whether they were nearby.

"Oh my god, he wrote back." She whispered out and pulled the computer into her lap.

DeeDee clicked on the link, took a deep breath and read his email.

"Awww, so he remembers what he wrote all those years ago -- that's so sweet. Wait, what!?! He wishes that kind of love for me?" DeeDee smiled and closed her eyes at that. "Oooop, okay why did he just say what Phyll said?" She chuckled at the thought.

"Who said what I did?" Phyllis slowly made her way over to DeeDee, who immediately slammed the laptop close.

"No one. I was just reading a story." She grabbed her tea to occupy her hands.

"Liar, what you hiding?" Beverly walked around and grabbed the computer from DeeDee's lap.

She sat at the end of the chaise and opened the laptop. Beverly waved Phyllis over and patted the area to the left of her. Phyllis looked over at DeeDee and smirked.

"He really wrote you back?"

"Now that is a story." Phyllis laughed, "Oh, he thought he sounded like a lame little virgin, too? Good to know.

"So, what are you writing back?" Beverly asked.

DeeDee sipped her tea, "Ummm --"

"You may want to ask about him skipping over the biggest part of your original email." Phyllis interjected.

"I missed that. Do you think maybe he's married?" Bev looked between the both of them.

"Hey, can I just answer the man's question first before asking about his personal relationships?" DeeDee put her tea back on the table.