BASICS »
Name: Nadia Elena Franco
Nickname: Nadi, Nads, Dia
Birthday & Age: April 30th, 1989 & 35
Hometown: New York City, NY
Length of time in Briar Ridge: Recently arrived
Neighborhood: Briar Ridge Hills
Occupation: Congresswoman, Rep for New York
Gender & Sexuality: Cis female & bisexual
DIGGING A LITTLE DEEPER »
trigger warnings: infidelity, pregnancy / infertility / conceiving issues.
Growing up in New York, born and raised, the socialite had always been reminded of her roots. Her father, a former senator and career politician, told her the stories of his family's immigration into the US from Cuba. The reasoning being for a better way of life, one filled with more opportunities, especially since her father had big dreams and lofty goals.
Poverty and inequality had hit her father hard when he was growing up in the big city. He'd watched his parents struggle with juggling multiple jobs and vowed to make his family proud, to pave a better life for them all. Emilio was born to be in public service, a natural leader and go-getter, he was involved within his communities and schools starting all the way back to middle school.
After exceptional performance in school and being a star athlete he had his pick of universities. He studied business and law then pursued a career in politics so that he could work towards change. Not just toward and for the country he'd grown up in but Emilio hoped to return to Cuba some day.
With that sort of foundation and Emilio marrying his high school sweetheart, Nadia had been set on a path since her birth. She had the best schools and the most exclusive programs to be offered. There was also quite a lot of expectations and demands on her shoulders to live up to what her parents wanted for her.
Thankfully Nadia was naturally gifted with a high IQ and had an amazing record in the top schools she was put through. She had her pick as well when it came to universities, plus the added advantage of being from a prominent family. It wasn't anything she abused, Nadia wasn't fond of the attention being apart of New York's high society brought. Life felt like it was under a microscope. Being young and a teenager wasn't freeing for her because any mistakes she made hit the newspapers and were gossip about town.
At Columbia Nadia majored in economics and went onto law school. Her focus was corporate law because she too had been primed for a political career by the not so subtle insistence and pushing of her father. Though, before she entered the world of politics she worked at one of the top law firms in the state and paid her dues.
Usually she didn't give relationships the time of day. Somehow they would slow her down or her partner would end up disappointing in one way or another. Nadia had never been easy to sweep off her feet. Likely because she was used to getting what she wanted for herself rather than waiting on a gentleman to swoop in.
Funnily enough that was exactly what eventually happened when she met Alexander Caldwell. She'd rebuffed him at first, in a friendly way, but his charm and wit were too much to deny and she not only fell hard for the man, Nadia ended up marrying him. They were the talk of the town and became a favorite among the newspapers and society. Young and beautiful and seemingly perfect, they were hard to resist.
However, behind closed doors things weren't as perfect as they appeared. Nadia and Alex struggled to conceive and start a family. It hadn't been until she'd gotten married that she realized just how much she'd wanted to be a mother and have a family. Something she thought her husband wanted too. Then the constant let down of a negative pregnancy test began to wear on them.
Naturally she blamed herself. Something was wrong with her. Guilt and the pain of each negative test really wore on her and brought her down. A large part of Nadia mentally and emotionally checked out of her marriage, and in general she felt for some time she had only been going through the motions of her life. She campaigned and won, even got re-elected, and served on capital hill. But Alex felt distant to her.
Sometimes she'd look at her husband and overthink that she saw relief that they weren't getting pregnant. As much as she shut down Nadia also felt Alex pull away. He wasn't even too sneaky about his affair. She didn't do anything about it, didn't react, though she knew after the first night. There was a numbness that kept her from reacting and falling apart.
The marriage was over. There was no turning back from where they'd drifted away from, especially not infidelity. What made it all worse was their personal business blasted all over the gossip columns and it being a constant mess in her face.
Through the divorce and beyond she threw herself into work. Women's rights and immigration being her biggest platforms. It was the easiest way to ignore the pain of all she'd felt she'd lost.
Eventually Nadia heard that Alex possibly had a child and the news tore her chest apart. Again, it reiterated that she was the reason and the failure, but it killed her to know his affair had gone that far. That he'd made those things happen with someone else rather than trying harder with her. She had her secret, a false positive one time that had given her all the hope in the world, only to be devastated that it hadn't turned out to be real. Something she never told him. She also had never shared with Alex that she'd talked to her doctor about surrogacy and fertility treatments. Of course, it didn't matter anymore.
After finding out from Alex's father where he'd gone Nadia made her way to Briar Ridge to see for herself if it was true. Did her ex-husband really have a child with someone else?
WANTED CONNECTIONS »
I’m pretty open here! With Nadia being born and raised in New York I would love any possible New York connections. University connections if any characters went to university in New York, or Columbia specifically. Anyone she could have met through corporate law. Close friends of Alex's that she might have met. She's new to town so I’m happy to plot anything beyond!
