Nine

Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
January, 2001


Being in the south, she never thought it could get so damned cold. This is almost worse than Massachusetts, she thought, except for the lack of snow.

Micaela Davidson bundled up against the cold wind. She was on her way to the campus health center for a check up after a serious bout of the flu. Miki missed going home for Christmas because she got the flu on the last day of classes before the holidays, and was pretty much laid up in her dorm room for the entire break.

She knew she sounded terrible when she called her mother in Andover, Massachusetts, to tell her she wasn't going to be able make it home. Her mom suggested that perhaps she and Miki's twin, Madison, could come down to Baton Rouge instead, but Miki didn't want to get them sick, too. She told her mom that perhaps it would be best that they didn't come. And, it was a good thing they didn't, because Miki ended up hospitalized for ten days when nothing she had been given to combat the illness seemed to work. When Miki returned to the dorm after she was released, classes were to start the following Monday.

There was a big box in her dorm room when she got there, sent from Massachusetts. The dorm monitor placed it in Miki's room while she was in the hospital.

Miki didn't have a roommate, as the girl she had been paired with had left LSU in October due to a death in the family. No one was going to take that girl's place, so, at least until the beginning of the spring semester, Miki had the room to herself.

Miki had opened the box from her mom, and found all her Christmas gifts, all neatly wrapped, inside. On top was a card, and Miki read it. It had been signed by both her mom and her sister, wishing her a Merry Christmas and to get well soon.

The opening of the gifts, however, would have to wait until her check-up was over. It was eleven in the morning, and her appointment was in forty-five minutes.

Miki went into the clinic and signed in. Fortunately, through her tuition and numerous fees, care at the health center was free. While she was waiting, a young man next to her said, "Flu?"

Miki laughed, "Yeah, the flu. Couldn't go home for Christmas because of it."

"I got to go home, but was sick the whole time I was there," the man said.

"Bummer," Miki said.


Miki's name was called and once in an exam room, a nurse took Miki's temperature and blood pressure, and told her that everything looked good. Soon a doctor came in and did an exam. She asked Miki some questions, and cleared her to return to classes on Monday.

Miki returned to her dorm room, and to the box her mom sent.

Miki had been looking forward to going home for the holidays. It would be the first time since August that she had seen her mother and twin sister. The three of them were very close, though that closeness had taken a lot of work to achieve. Miki remembered how disenfranchised they were when they moved to Massachusetts from Florida when she and her sister were ten years old. Miki placed all the blame for that squarely where it belonged: her father.

Through years of therapy, Miki learned that her father was a very cruel man. He was verbally, emotionally and psychologically abusive, and she overheard the fights her parents had, and the hateful things her father said to her mother, and later, to Miki and her sister, Madison. Her father even took his anger out on the girls' beloved cat, Earnhardt.

By the time her mother took the girls, their cat, and all their stuff out of that situation, Miki and Maddy hated each other's guts. This pained and concerned their mother, Nicola, to the point that, even before they had found a house to live in, she had the girls, and herself, in therapy.

Miki and Maddy learned to love each other, and most importantly, themselves, again. They were very close, and Miki soon began to take on a protector role over her younger (by twenty-five minutes) and more vulnerable sister, though Miki didn't realize at first that's what she was doing.

She turned her attention back to the box. Miki took the first present out and unwrapped it. It was a jewelry box, and inside, Maddy had placed a necklace.

Miki felt bad that she was unable to do much shopping before she got sick. She sent stuff home as she bought them, but her class schedule didn't allow her much free time.

After all the gifts had been opened, Miki called her mom at work to thank her.



On Monday, Miki was off to her eight a.m. class. Her classmates were happy to see her and were glad she had gotten over the flu that seemed to sweep the campus just before the winter break. Miki found out that hundreds of students had come down with the flu at the same time she did.

Miki was a Broadcast Journalism major at the Manship School of Communication. Her course of study would eventually lead, she hoped, to career in television news. She was on track to make the Dean's list because of her grades, and she was asked if she would be willing to be a tutor to those students who were struggling. Miki often joked that they asked the wrong gal, that it was her sister Madison, an education major at Yale, who was going to be the teacher. "She has much more patience than I could ever hope for," Miki would say.

For now, however, Miki wanted to get her studying done. Her choice of career was partly influenced by her mother's job as a newspaper editor. As a young teen, Miki was fascinated by how news was gathered, researched, and reported. That fascination only strengthened as she got older, and that led to being the Editor in Chief of her high school newspaper, an editor of the yearbook, and a summer job at one of the Eagle-Tribune's sister publications the summer before her senior year.

Miki's dedication to her studies was important to her. She decided not to date during, at least, the first year of college. She had broken up with her high school boyfriend because she was leaving for college out of state, and she didn't want her heart to overrule her educational goals. Miki wouldn't rule dating out all together, but she had some requirements of any man she dated. First and foremost, they couldn't be like her father. Though she had put nearly a decade between her and her abusive father, the memories were still too fresh, too vivid to relive if she made the wrong choice in men. Miki still had nightmares about that part of her life at times, which she didn't tell anyone, not even her mother or her sister, about.



Life at school, as far as Miki was concerned, was okay. There were lots of things to do on campus, out in town at clubs that seemed to cater to the college crowd, and for more excitement, some students would venture down to New Orleans and hang out in the French Quarter. There were friendly rivalries with students from Tulane and the University of New Orleans, and that added to the fun as well.

Miki liked going to New Orleans with her friends. She remembered a trip she took with her high school class in her sophomore year to New Orleans that Miki had fond memories of. If Miki thought about it long enough, that trip could have been the catalyst that led her, eventually, to LSU. Someone had pointed out to her on a recent trip to "da N.O." that Miki's given name, Micaela, was one in New Orleans history. That got Miki interested in the city's history, and in a book about the Baroness Pontalba.

After her classes on Monday, Miki spent the remainder of the afternoon in her room, studying and writing a report that she researched while she was still recovering from the flu.

Per her doctor's advice, Miki took the first week back in classes easy. There would be plenty of time to do other things.




Matthew DuPre walked into his office in the journalism building and looked around. He'd been gone two weeks due to having contracted the flu while visiting his family in New Orleans just before Christmas.

Matthew was a teaching assistant in the journalism school. The professors he worked with valued his knowledge and his talent. Having graduated from LSU the previous May with a Bachelors in Mass Communications, he was asked if he'd be interested in being a teaching assistant for the following term. Matthew said he'd give it a go and soon was helping prepare the curricula. He found the work rewarding, and was considering going to graduate school to teach.

Born in New Orleans on May 13, 1978, he was the youngest of eight children, and the only one to go on to college. He loved to write, and had a novella published by an independent publisher based in his hometown. He also wrote poetry, though not many people he knew were aware of it. His father thought that poets and artists "weren't right", and so Matthew kept that part of his writing private.

As he sat down at his desk, Matthew saw that there was a lot of work to be done. Mostly, it was assignments by students who had been felled by the flu before and during winter break. Matthew knew that more would be coming in because a lot of students had gotten sick. He had a list of all the journalism students who had had the flu, provided by the student health center. A name on the list jumped off the page at him. Matthew smiled, because he'd seen that particular student just yesterday at the student health center, where he himself had gone to get a clean bill of health.

Who could miss that gorgeous red hair? Matthew had definitely noticed Micaela Davidson, along with the majority of the male population in the journalism school, he knew. He thought Miss Davidson was from Massachusetts, based on her speaking voice. She had that slight New England accent.

Matthew had to tell himself not to think too hard about the pretty freshman. She probably had guys asking her out all the time, he thought, what chance would I have? What woman would be seen with a three hundred pound, six-foot-one Cajun?

He wondered if it was even ethical to ask out a student who was in a class he was the T.A. in. He'd have to look into that, just in case an opportunity came up, whether it was with Micaela Davidson, or someone else.

For now, he had a ton of work to do, and it all had to be done before tomorrow. Matthew sighed.




Miki hated being in the position of not knowing what was expected on an assignment. The prof was rather vague about it; perhaps, Miki thought, that the assignment was to figure out what was expected. She wasn't alone in her confusion, however. Several students in her group didn't seem to get it, either. Miki was nominated to go to the prof and get an explanation.

"Gee, guys, thanks!" Miki said as she gathered up her books and placed them in her messenger bag.

"The prof will take you seriously, Miki," Anita said. "The rest of us he'll see as doofuses."

"But why me?" asked Miki, confused.

"Because, darlin'," Mike said in his Oklahoma drawl, "you don't sound like the rest of us."

"Yeah," Conner concurred, "You sound like you know what you're talking about."

"Oh, that's silly…" Miki said, embarrassed. Then, "I'll see if I can crack this code so we can get a decent grade on this project. We'll meet here tomorrow at eleven, okay?"

Everyone else said okay, and Miki was off to find their professor for an explanation.

However, the prof was nowhere to be found. Another prof suggested she speak with the T.A. for the class. "Mr. DuPre should be able to assist you, Miss Davidson."

"Okay," Miki said. "Where would I find him?"

After the professor gave her directions to the T.A.'s office, she went off to find this guy. She imagined Mr. DuPre to be some grad student with no life who just graded papers.



Matthew was finishing up his work for the day and looked forward to going back to his apartment. He'd recently adopted a kitten and named her Tigger, and he liked having someone to come home to. She was three months old.

There was a knock at the door, and from habit, he called out, "Hours are posted on the door." His office hours were from ten a.m. to two p.m. and three-thirty to five p.m. It was ten after five, and he didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

"I'm sorry," Miki had called back, "but I really need some assistance, and I had trouble finding your office."

Matthew turned around and saw Miki standing at his office door. He decided that he could make time for the cute redhead.

"I'm sorry," Matthew said. "I didn't mean to be gruff. It's just that there have been students who think they can just drop by any ole time."

"Oh, I see," Miki said, embarrassed. "I should probably come back in the morning then."

"No, no," Matthew said. "It's okay. My name's Matthew. And you are the girl I talked to at the clinic the other day."

Miki looked surprised, then looked at Matthew again. He was right. He was the man who sat near her while she was waiting at the clinic who asked if she was there because of the flu.

"Yes! I remember you," Miki said. "I'm Micaela Davidson. I'm in Professor Duncan's research seminar on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He gave this assignment that was rather vague."

Ahhh, Matthew thought, you're Micaela Davidson. Good Lord, you're gorgeous…and you have no clue that you are.

"I've gotten a lot of calls and emails about that," Matthew said. "If you'd like, I could see you in the morning around nine and I can get an explanation from Professor Duncan. Would that be okay. Micaela?"

"Miki."

"What?" asked Matthew.

"Call me Miki. Only my mother calls me Micaela, and only when she's mad." Miki said. "And tomorrow around nine would be fine."

Matthew smiled, and Miki noticed it was a warm, friendly smile. "I'll see you at nine tomorrow, then, Miki."

"Okay, Matthew, I'll be here," Miki said, turning to leave, "see ya!"

Matthew waved after her, then sat heavily in his chair. And in that chair he sat for a good fifteen to twenty minutes.

Miki Davidson was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, and he'd seen a lot of ladies on campus over the last four years. A lot of them were beautiful, and all of them knew it and used it to their advantage. Miki Davidson was stunning, and she had no idea she was. She was, In Matthew's opinion, the most real person he'd met in his life.

He thought about her the whole way back to his apartment. Nine o'clock tomorrow morning couldn't come soon enough.




Miki headed back to her dorm room. She was thinking about Matthew DuPre. He was nothing at all what she imagined him to be. When she saw him at the clinic, she thought he was a fellow, albeit older, student. She had no idea he was her prof's T.A.

He was friendly, despite his intimidating appearance. When she first saw him, she thought he was going to be rude. But he fooled her. He was a southerner, polite, cordial. And, he was handsome in a rugged kind of way.

"C'mon, Miki, knock that off!" she chided herself. "You know nothing about him."

That didn't stop her from thinking about him, however.


The nightmare was back. Miki was trying to defend herself against her father's taunts and insults. He told her she was ugly, a stupid redhead like her mother, that no one would care if she lived or died. That Madison felt the same way about her. Miki kept saying no, it's not true, and her father's words kept hitting her, belittling her, beating her down.

And then, out of nowhere, a large man came out of the shadows and argued with her father. That he should be shot for treating his child in this despicable manner. Her father asked who this stranger was. The stranger turned so Miki could see him as he told her father who he was…

Matthew DuPre.

Miki awoke with a start. "Oh, my God…" she cried. She put her head into her hands and began to sob.




At five minutes to nine the next morning, Miki was waiting by Matthew's office door. Matthew arrived a few minutes later. He apologized for being late. He opened the door and let Miki inside.

She sat across the desk from him as he explained what Professor Duncan's assignment was supposed to be. Matthew further explained that the professor wasn't feeling well and may have gotten some of the details of the assignment muddled.

"At least I'm not going crazy," Miki said. "I thought I was losing it when I couldn't figure out this assignment. Now it's clearer to me."

"The prof felt real bad about that," Matthew said. "He thinks he's coming down with the flu you and I and half the campus had over winter break. I know I wasn't thinking clearly when it was just beginning."

"Me, either," Miki said, looking at Matthew in a new light. Despite the excess weight he carried, he didn't look fat, just stocky.

"I hope that clears up any confusion," Matthew said, noticing that Miki was looking at him. "Now I have to write an email to explain to everyone else what I just explained to you."

"Send that email to me, too, please?" Miki asked. "Just so I have a record of it."

"Sure, Miki, I can do that," Matthew said. Miki jotted down her email address for him. He then said, "I'll be sending that out within the hour."

"Great," Miki said, smiling at him. "I guess I better go now and let you get back to work." She turned to walk out the door.

"Miki," Matthew said.

"Yes?"

"Feel free to stop by anytime if you need any further assistance."

"I sure will, Matthew," Miki said as she walked out the door. "Thanks again!"

"No problem, Miki," said Matthew. Then, she was gone.

Oh, Lord… Matthew thought. That girl, she's done something to me.



Miki went to the library to meet her study group. She was going to tell them that the T.A. sent an email explaining the assignment, and that it was still due on the same date.

Her mind wasn't on the assignment. It was on the T.A., Matthew DuPre. Miki thought that her resolve on not dating was going to be history after the current term was over. She wouldn't mind dating Matthew DuPre, if he were so inclined.

But what would he see in me? Miki thought. I'm no prize.

Matthew would beg to differ.