Chapter 38

Nikki's turn:

"You look utterly charming," Dan said. "If I saw you for the first time today I'd have gotten hit by a thunderbolt and fallen hopelessly in love with you."

"Too late," I said. "You're already in love with me."

I was dressed to defend my dissertation. Simple black low-heel pumps, a brown pleated skirt, a white blouse with a sort of flouncy bow at my throat. I had my hair trimmed last week and today I paid a little extra attention to making sure it was brushed to seamless perfection. It's the look I've always had, even when I first met Dan.

Cindy and Kim were my minions today, on the road to pick up refreshments. Since Cindy did a spread from the Desais yesterday, today I picked what Dan assures me is as authentic a layout of wares from a good German Bäckerei as he's found in the South. Alan added a large thermal carafe of HIS coffee, arguably the best in the Community.

I had my new backpack with my computer and the revised final version of my dissertation and a selection of colored pens, just in case.

And Cindy had already survived. It's my turn.

I let Dan drive. Walked into the building, met Mizz Aneeta. She scanned me from head to foot.

"Nikki, dear, you LOOK like you're winning."

"Mizz Aneeta, today's the day that I get to prove you were right, bringing me here."

"I've never doubted that, Nikki," she said. "Are you ready to do this?"

"Never better than today," I said.

"Let us go, then."

Into the abyss. Three of the people seated around the table were familiar faces from Auburn. The other two, well, one was somebody we'd worked with from Los Alamos and the other - in his words – an interested party – from MIT.

And Mizz Patel. Okay, in this context, let's cut the crap. It's Doctor Patel, even though she's in the Engineering Department and my doctorate-to-be is in physics.

I take my place at the head of the conference table, offset just a little so that everybody can see the large screen on the wall.

"Esteemed colleagues, I am Dominique Granger. Shall we begin?"

Doctor Embert stood. "You expected me to lead this, did you not, Nikki?"

"Yes, ma'am. Be gentle." I smiled. Inside my head something clicked. I've been here. It might not have been a dissertation defense, but this was Nikki Granger getting ready to sell something to clients who wanted to see it.

"First, you'll note that there are only five of us here. I am frankly ambivalent about that. Everybody, all the professors you've baffled for the last three years, knew of this event. I suspect that most of them just assume, based on seeing you in action, that this doctorate is a given."

Doctor Greene from MIT spoke. "You should've been at MIT, Nikki. Not to denigrate my colleagues at Auburn, but I would have enjoyed observing you over a period of time, rather than our teleconferences. Alas, you're a Southern girl..."

"Cajun, actually," I corrected. "Even worse."

"Yes," Doctor Embert injected. "So, we've read your dissertation. Give us the live version."

I started, "Define the universe and give three examples." And I started my PowerPoint presentation. "Not really. As you know, we're looking at nano-tunneling in power semiconductors modulated by cross-discipline energy inputs."

It's as much ceremony as exam, really. There were a number of pro forma questions, causing me to flip through several auxiliary presentations for answers. I do GOOD PowerPoints. I learned from mentors who sat through too many bad ones. My slides are brief and serve only to emphasize what I'm saying. I show pictures of my lab work and the graphs of the data that come from it, and I end up with a listing of successes and possible uses for my excursion into this application of technology.

After an hour of this, a length of time MUCH longer than a sales presentation, I suggested we take a short break.

I stepped out into the hall. Cindy. Grinning. "Well???"

"Sales meeting," I said. "Right?"

Giggle. "That's what I thought. See you in a bit." I went back inside. Had a tiny little éclair, or whatever it is in Bavaria. And a few sips of coffee, black, bouncing my tastebuds between the chocolate and the Arabica.

The committee trooped back in and we picked up again. A few more slides, a few more questions, a few more answers, then Doctor Embert stood again. I saw Mizz Aneeta smiling. I got this.

"Mizz Granger, your dissertation is accepted without reservation. Consider this a successful defense."

"That's what Spruance said at the Battle of Midway," Doctor Tansley, my Los Alamos friend, said just loud enough for everybody to hear.

"Yes, but Spruance didn't pursue Nagumo, either. Are you sure you have no questions?"

"Well, Tansley," Doctor Embert said, "You've just been Nikki'd."

He looked at me. "Really, Nikki? That's a detail in a big war."

"My husband's grand-dad was in the battle. I did a history paper on it. You, sir, have just made that effort worthwhile."

He laughed. "Hannalise, give the lady a doctorate. Nikki, you and that little redheaded thing you hang around with, I'm gonna want you two to visit us this summer."

"Let Uncle Sam foot the bill for that roll of red carpet," I giggled. "So I did okay?"

"Show of hands," Doctor Embert laughed. "Everybody that thinks Nikki did okay..."

I surveyed the room. All hands raised.

"There!" I squeaked. "Now I feel validated as a woman."

Male hands got shaken. Doctor Embert and Mizz Aneeta got hugs. Mizz Aneeta and I walked out.

"You've ordered your robes, have you not?"

"When you read my paper and I didn't get a frantic phone call, I thought that such a thing might be prudent," I said.

Cindy came bouncing up to meet us.

"Well? You did it. Now what?"

I looked over at Mizz Aneeta. "Would you and your husband join us for dinner? We can get Grandma Desai to do us something very celebratory."

"Delighted," Mizz Aneeta said. "Six?"

"Six will be perfect."

"We'll see the two of you there. We'll be easy to find."

"As always," Mizz Aneeta said. "Ever since you first graced my office."

Cindy and I walked out into the sunlight together. "Wow!" I said. "We did it."

"Yes, we did. Indeed. And it'll be Doctors Cindy and Nikki and the Department of Munchkin Magic, a division of Auburn University." I looked around. "I guess Dan's stuck at the office?"

"Yeah. Somebody's lost some major equipment. He was on the phone trying to talk to Jason about which tech needs to go out."

"Figured. Still, I'm glad you showed up. This is mostly your fault, you know."

"Me?" Cindy squeaked. "Nope," she countered. "You and me ... I really felt lost when Doctor E told me to go for the doctorate and she didn't tell me she was going to tell you."

"I would've been the same way," I said. "We really ARE sisters."

We got in her car. I strapped in and tossed my head back against the headrest, squinching my eyes shut. "Gahhhh! Cindy! It's OVER! We're not students any more. Never, ever, ever again. NO more hurdles!"

She backed us out of the parking slot and turned onto the street. "Just go ahead and allow yourself the moment, sis! You know you'll NEVER stop learning."

"I'm taking a break," I said.

"Oh, don't," she giggled. "Come with me 'n' Dan. We''re going to Arizona to get our multi-engine ratings next week."

"You've been studying."

"I'll give you the books. We can have a good old-fashioned skull session."

"Speaking of session," I said, "I'd better send a message. You know everybody's dying for the word..."

I sent the message. Immediate results. Congratulations. Sent another about celebratory dinner.

"We're gonna need more than the Desais," Cindy said.

"The pavilion," I replied. Our new community neighborhood has a pavilion. "I'll call Lopez and tell 'im we need a banquet setup."

Lopez is our new groundskeeper. I know – how stereotypical, a groundskeeper with a Hispanic name. He's third generation Alabaman, though. First name is Henry.

"Not Enrique," Alan asked when we interviewed him.

"No, just Henry. Great grandfather was Enrique when he came to America."

"But you speak Spanish?"

"Si, senor," he laughed. "If I hire temporary help, I need to speak Spanish."

He's actually headed for a position as 'physical plant maintenance' supervisor. We're just about big enough. I know that if I call him, he and his assistant will have tables and chairs arranged inside the pavilion for us.

I make that phone call. And, "Henry, bring yourself and your wife and the little ones." I can see the smile.

"Now call Grandma Desai and tell her we need half a spread. And we'll call the barbecue joint for the other half."

A couple more phone calls. "Grandma Desai, of course we want you there. You're OUR guest!"

Then I flop back again. The drive out to the new community is a bit further than the original iteration, but I seriously want to go HOME. Dan will be there after four-thirty, by which time I will have had a quick shower and right now I'm arguing with myself about being completely naked and meeting him at the door or being dressed.

The dinner was lovely. I have more family here than my mind could ever imagine, right up to BERT!

Bert, yes, little shy, stares at his shoes while he's talking, husband of equally introverted Kara, steps up in between me and Cindy at the head of the table with a box in his hands and in his hillbilly best says, "Can I have y'all's attention?"

The absurdity of this move on the part of Bert was sufficient to shut down conversation.

"I owe a lot of my life to conversation with Cindy and Nikki. They kept me from runnin' off into the woods when Kara and me started hangin' together. Now they make us part of this family, so I think I need to give 'em gifts on this special occasion." He flipped the lid up on the box. "Cindy, and Nikki, since y'all's doctors now, I wanna give you yer first stethoscopes!" Then he tossed in that little lopsided grin that turns Kara inside out.

"Bert, you need killin'," I laughed. "Kara, can't you do SOMETHING about this man?"

Kara giggled. "I dunno, Nikki. He gets worse and worse each day."

I saw Bert smirking next to Kara, and yes, he is getting worse. Or better. Both of them are. And it's a good thing. Bert graduates in a month or so and he's already getting ready for his new job. Kara's hanging around for her master's in music – "Because I LOVE music, okay? And my husband's an engineer, so we won't starve."

I'm looking around at a room of smiling faces. I elbow Cindy. I'm beginning to think that she's psychic. She looks at me. "Yeah, I knowww. Now what do we do?"

Well, okay then. Step one was cleaning up after ourselves when the party wound down.

Step two. Take Dan home, ever so grateful that when the door closed behind us, it was he and I and we have the house to ourselves and we're both happy and we're both in love and he's liquid oxygen to my liquid hydrogen and the fire burns hot. STILL hot.