All I Want for Christmas is a Ph.D.

November 21st - Part 2

Erik's tablet chimed as he finished up the dishes. He set aside the leftovers for later and went to see what DeeDee had to say.

He roared with laughter at how she ended the email. Why was she so stuck on finding out if he found the love he described? Her curiosity tickled him and now he had to decide how to navigate this conversation away from that kind of talk.

It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about the non-existent once-in-a-lifetime kind of love that he wanted. But how do you explain to someone how you never felt you deserved it, so you never went looking for it? And therefore, you don't have it.

Erik sighed and reached for something stronger than water to drink.

He took the tablet, the bottle and glass into the living room. He took a seat on the couch and cracked his knuckles and began to write his response for the Curious DeeDee. Erik shook his head and laughed again.

Erik hoped this would be enough to get DeeDee away from asking again, but something told him it wasn't over.

---

DeeDee had devoured half of the pizza and the bottle of wine. She went to her room to change out of her cleaning clothes into her favorite hoodie and a pair of yoga pants.

Her laptop went off when she returned from the back, and DeeDee jumped onto her couch in excitement. She couldn't wait to find out that he found his true life long love.

If she couldn't find it for herself, there was no reason for her to not want that for everyone else. Live vicariously through her new friend, Erik. Wait, could she consider him a friend? She scrunched her face at that rude thought and opened his email.

SUBJECT: RE: 'MgYHeArTaNdSOULa'

Hi Dee Dee,

I know you know I meant science, but I will answer one of those questions to quell your curiosity. I, also, commend you for pursuing your doctorate, and in advanced chemistry, no less.

So, it's kind of a funny story, but I never meant to leave it in there.

Fun fact about the note, it is much older than you think. I was a civil engineering major during undergrad, when I originally wrote that note and left it in the book.

It happened when I was returning all my checked out books from the library. I was getting ready to move and needed to get them all in to avoid any replacement fees that would have prevented the conferral of my doctoral degree. So, I turned all of those books in without checking them. Which was definitely out of character for me. Especially since I lived by all my written notes for both class and research.

I discovered it was missing when I went to look for it after the move. I knew exactly where it was, but I knew I wouldn't be going back to get it. So, it was just out there. Besides, I knew what it said by heart, so it was fine.

I will tell you I never expected to be discussing it years later though. It has been a very pleasant surprise.

Thank you,

E

"Of course, he would avoid the damn question." She huffed out and poured another glass. It should not be that hard to answer, either he found it or is still in search of it. DeeDee's hand stilled as she brought it to her lips. Nope, not going there tonight. She took a long drink of her wine.

She set the glass down, drew up her legs and crossed them before settling the computer on her lap. In a flurry, DeeDee's fingers danced across her keyboard as she wrote her response. The alcohol heated her up to match her current mood.