Alessandra

Political Science major by day, accidental companion by night that’s how my story started.

Growing up bilingual in a household where words carried different weights depending on which language they were spoken in, I learned early that communication happens simultaneously on multiple levels. This linguistic duality taught me to decode unspoken signals, to understand how desire and intention can hide beneath casual phrases. My parents’ marriage was my first case study in how people can be drawn together across seemingly incompatible systems of understanding their love visible not in grand gestures but in the small adjustments they made for each other daily.

College was expensive. Three jobs barely covered rent in my shoebox apartment. When my roommate suggested companionship, I laughed. Me? The analytical girl who color-coded her planner? But she persisted. “You see through people,” she said. “You understand what they want before they do.”

After graduation: DC. Legal research. A proper career with business cards and benefits. Problem solved. Or so I thought.

DC wasn’t what I expected. Beneath the marble and monuments lurked a city of tightly controlled desires. I excelled professionally my talent for pattern recognition translating perfectly to legal precedents and policy analysis. But I felt increasingly hollow, analyzing cases about human experiences without experiencing humanity myself. My hands would sometime ache for real connection as they moved papers across my desk.

The catalyst: a fundraiser at the Kennedy Center. Crystal champagne flutes and practiced smiles. Then him. A former client from my college days. Our eyes connected across the predictable hors d’oeuvres. Recognition. Something electric.

“I’ve never found anyone who understood me like you did,” he said later, voice low against the orchestral background. “You saw me.”

Read the rest of my story on my website and make sure to check out my blog!