Chapter 1 Three years later

For the past two years, Elise had lived with four other female college students off campus. The two story Victorian house was very large and stark white.The outside of the house had four huge pillars in front, a wrap around porch, an elevated turret connected to the unused bedroom, and dormer windows on the other three bedrooms. The historic house was surrounded by immaculately kept gardens and landscaping that showed the wealth of its owner. Inside the crown molding, stone fireplace, intricate wooden staircase, and beautiful pine wood floors gave the home a high class but homey feel. Andrea’s father, Richard McPherson, was a real estate mogul in the area, and owned and remodeled the house they live in. The house had two bedrooms on the lower floor and four more bedrooms upstairs. The downstairs full bathroom was attached to Andrea’s master suite with a ½ bath off the living room for guests. The second full bathroom was upstairs at the top of the staircase, and all the girls except Andrea used that bathroom to do most of their personal cares. Andrea decided who lived with them and handled the monthly rent and expenses and all the roommates paid her. Elise was lucky enough to have met and shared a dorm room with Andrea their freshman year of college. The two girls had been fast friends ever since. It always amazed Elise that Andrea McPherson came from money, because she was one of the nicest, most down to earth people Elise had ever met. Andrea was about 5’4”, was a book worm with a sugar addiction, had reddish brown hair, green eyes, freckles across her pail skin, and perfectly straight, bright white teeth. Andrea’s major, Business Administration, was chosen and paid for by her father, so she could one day take over the family business. Andrea is double majoring with Creative Writing as her second degree.

Working was not a necessity for Andrea, so she was able to take more credits per semester as well as taking as many summer classes as she could to shorten the amount of time it took her to finish her degrees. For extra credit, Andrea had helped with the college newspaper for one of her writing classes. Andrea’s passion is writing, and she continues to volunteer with the college newsletter. Of course Mr. McPherson is not aware of Andrea writing for the newsletter, because he would likely see it as ‘wasting time while you should be focusing on your Business degree,’ since he had made that very comment to Andrea many times in the past about various things. Basically anything Richard didn’t see as making money or furthering her education was in his opinion, “A waste of time!” Andrea and Serena (another of the roommates), should graduate about the same time. Andrea’s Business Degree would be finished this spring, so she was planning to walk in the graduation ceremony with the other seniors in her house. She would then finish her second degree in the next year, but would not walk again unless she chose to pursue a Master or Graduate level degree. Either way, Andrea planned at least one more year of college before she decided what to do with her degrees. Unfortunately, Richard was much more excited about the idea of Andrea taking over McPherson Real Estate someday than she was. Secretly, Andrea would either like to become an author or a college English Professor. Andrea has no siblings and she feels pressured to take over for her father and keep the family real estate business going. Gwendolyn (Gwyn) Anders, like Elise, was in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program. The two had synchronized their schedules at college and work and rode together as much as possible to save money and ‘help decrease the carbon footprint left on the earth anytime valuable resources were used’ in Gwyn’s words. Although the two girls were fast friends, they could not be more different in appearance. Where Elise was average height (5’6”) with a muscular, slightly curvy build and dark features, Gwyn was petite in stature (4’11”), and had blond hair and blue eyes. Since Gwendolyn was very environmentally conscious and owned an electric car, she generally drove. Both she and Elise worked as CNAs while attending college, to make ends meet. Neither young woman was lucky enough to have independently wealthy parents to pay their way. It was okay though, because they were both gaining valuable experience in the #1 ranked healthcare system in the nation. After all, Rochester, MInnesota was the healthcare hub of the USA. Anyone going into the field of nursing or healthcare of any kind, would be silly not to work at this clinic if possible. Every experience Elise acquired she saw as one more thing to pad her resume with. Being seniors, both girls were very focused on graduation and what came after. Elise never could quite figure out how Gwyn had time for a boyfriend between college coursework, working out at the gym, and work. Gwendolyn had met her boyfriend Charles (Charlie), sophomore year. Charlie and Gwyn had been exclusive shortly after and both seemed oblivious to other people when together. Elise was happy for her friend, but couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy every time she saw them together. Gwyn and Charlie were always smiling, laughing, bantering back and forth, and displaying some form of affection toward each other almost every second they were together. If Gwyn’s family weren’t strict Southern Baptists that tried to control her every decision, her and Charlie would no doubt be sharing an apartment. Gwyn’s family has convinced the couple that to do so would mean they were both going to, “burn in hell!” So instead of living together, he is usually at our

apartment anytime ‘Lyn’ is; Lyn Charlie’s pet name for Gwendolyn. It’s almost like Charles Adams III is another one of our roommates. Thank goodness he is likeable. Serena Brown is a year younger than the rest of us but filled the vacancy created when Jennifer Kowalski became pregnant and had to leave our wonderful house to get an apartment with the father of her baby. We won’t discuss the shotgun wedding that occurred as a result of the unexpected pregnancy. Time will tell if Jennifer and Thomas will last, but their son is absolutely adorable. Serena is a Business Administration major, the same as Andrea. In fact that’s how Serena knew about the opening before it became an opening, and moved in the evening Jennifer moved out. Serena owns her own online boutique and sells items that are in high demand like masks, gloves, and other healthcare supplies. Serena’s minor is in Healthcare Management. Serena is from Missouri and came to Rochester to specifically get experience with the #1 ranked clinic and hospital’s business and accounts departments. Serena has big dreams, is a very serious student, and the most organized person Elise had ever met. Serena is about 5’11”, has skin the color of mocha, stunning hazel eyes, and was a very talented athlete in high school despite her serious goals and 4.0 GPA. Many people think Serena is rather haughty, but the truth is she always has her eye on her goals. Very rarely does she let her hair down and do anything just for fun. Serena strives to become a CEO or CFO or maybe even expand her own business and own her own medical supply company someday. Serena is a junior, so has a little more time than we do to figure out her future. Our last roommate is Kali who is named after the Hindu Goddess of Destruction. Kali is originally from India, although after spending several years in the USA, she has lost a lot of her conservative Hindu traditions. Kali is dark in color; she was gifted with beautiful black hair that although usually pulled back, is quite long. Eyes so dark brown they are almost black. Kali is about 5’8”, which is taller than most of our other friends except of course Serena. Kali really enjoys bright colors and rarely dresses in anything plain. When Kali first moved to Rochester, she was still wearing a sari everyday to college and around the dormitory. As time went on, her clothing became more American but the bright, rich colors remained. Kali will occasionally still wear her sari on Hindu holidays as a sign of respect. It seems in Kali’s opinion, the more gold she can adorn herself with, the better. Kali loves to dance and her bedroom is decked out in the style of Bollywood. The first time I saw Kali’s bright colored bedroom, I was speechless. I grew up in a low, middle class family and we lived rather modestly. Kali has never known modesty as her family is quite rich and deals in fine goods and high end fabrics in India and across the world. In fact, she is studying International Trade and Business and promised us, her friends, “no other countries can compare to the beauty made in India.” Kali bought us all beautiful pillowcases made of fine silk last year. If the pillow cases were an indication of the products Kali’s parents sell, I have to agree they have superior products to those I've seen previously. Since the Hindu religion doesn’t recognize Christmas, we simply had a holiday party in which we exchanged gifts and respected everyone’s beliefs. Because Kali is so fond of gold, the four of us went in on a gold necklace for her that has a delicate Ganesh charm. Since Ganesh is the remover of obstacles, we wanted him to bless her and help her along her path as she finishes her degree and attempts to expand her parents’ business internationally. Kali is hoping to open an American branch to her parent’s fabric supply store and use them to supply the goods and

fine fabrics that are otherwise nearly impossible to buy in the US. Kali has begun to work on gaining dual citizenship in the United States and in India. Since she was born in India, Kali already has citizenship there. When she first moved to the US, Kali’s parents were under the impression she would marry a nice Hindu man here and gain citizenship that way. Marrying to gain citizenship was not in Kali’s plans. Kali is very stubborn and independent and has yet to meet a man that lives up to her standards. She has made it very clear she does not need a man to be successful and is competent and independent enough to be just as successful here, as her parents’ store in Mumbai. Kali has many male friends, but none that she would consider a life partner. If Kali had stayed in India, her parents were considering an arranged marriage for her with one of their competitors' sons. The marriage would have allowed them to merge their businesses instead of competing against one another. Kali came up with an alternate plan, as she explained to her roommates late one night as they sat talking. Kali’s plan she presented to her parents included perfecting her English, moving to the United States to get a college degree, using that degree to open a business in Minnesota, and expand her parents business from Mumbai to America. Kali had not mentioned the arranged marriage at the time, but focused on the growth she could bring her parents’ business and the financial gain such a move could bring. Kali’s parents were impressed by her business sense, liked the expansion idea, and agreed to send her to America. Time will tell if Kali can gain United States citizenship, meet Mr. Right, and successfully advance the business.