Melissa

Melissa, a character in the Foreign Affairs book, is Your Character's mother and the current President of Rutherland. Her last name is choosable and dependent on what is chosen for Your Character. Although she is first mentioned in Chapter 1, she makes her official appearance in Chapter 3.

Appearances
Melissa's appearance is dependent on which of four character models is chosen for Your Character. She wears a black blouse under a white blazer, with a handkerchief colored with Rutherland's national colors in her pocket. She also wears a simple gold necklace with an opened circle pendant.

Personality
Because her career is centered around public approval and public votes, Melissa is very concerned about her reputation and by extension, your reputation. It is no secret about the animosity shared between the citizens of Rutherland and the country of Ardona, despite the fact that it has been two centuries since the Rutherland Revolution happened.

She is the woman behind the international Peace Summit.

Foreign Affairs

 * Chapter 1: First Term Jitters (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 2: Political Partying (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 3: Revisionist History
 * Chapter 4: Champagne Socialites
 * Chapter 5: Horse Race
 * Chapter 6: Gesture Politics (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 7: Bipartisan Showdown (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 8: Smoke-Filled Rooms
 * Chapter 9: Fallout
 * Chapter 11: Fishing Expedition (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 12: Bully Pulpit
 * Chapter 13: Mending Fences
 * Chapter 14: Whistle Stop
 * Chapter 15: Witch Hunt (Mentioned; Physical Appearance Determinant)
 * Chapter 16: Swing Vote

Your Character
"I know you've had to sacrifice a lot for my career. When I was your age, I was living my life, not being a paragon of grace and dignity."

- Melissa to You

You are her child whom she wants to follow in her footsteps. However, you are undecided and at a crossroads in your life, which only allows her to persuade you to attend Vancross Institute in an attempt to nudge you towards politics. Melissa has been President of Rutherland for two terms and is currently campaigning to be re-elected for a third. This infers that you have been the First Child of Rutherland for approximately 8 to 14 years, having the country watch most of your teenage years and your childhood. In fact, you remember a time in your childhood when you begged Melissa for a little sibling and put it on your wishlist for Santa. Melissa tried to explain to you about babies and "special hugs" shared between two consenting individuals, and you started giving everyone hugs. An ambassador's son burst into tears because he thought you had gotten him pregnant with a special hug. You two also share a memory of when you were six years old and your mother was doing a press conference with the Governor of Honover. You surprised him by wandering over in front of the cameras to offer him a piece of birthday cake.

When you were young, possibly in kindergarten, your mother made you a brown bag lunch to take to school. You found she had packed you a single charred hot dog, very wet carrot sticks, and four containers of yogurt with no spoon. You had to use the hot dog as a spoon. When she was running for President of Rutherland the first time, which happened when you were beginning high school, she and her team stopped by your school to pick you up. The principal convinced her to do a quick photo op and it took longer than expected, so when they rushed off to a rally, they accidentally left you behind at the high school.

Although you love your mother, you share Dionne's feelings that your parents don't really know you. Melissa has used personal milestones of your youth for political capital in the past, not considering your feelings or what you'd really want. The last few years, you feel as if she has been too busy with politics to even say goodbye to you on the phone. Despite this, she is also shown to be respectful and supportive if you identify as transgender or non-binary.

She is concerned about your relationship with Blaine Hayes. Even if you and Blaine are "just friends", it doesn't take a lot for an innuendo or false rumor to spark and it appears the majority of Rutherlandians are quick to anger with the slightest mention of the word "Ardona". They would feel that you (and by extension, Melissa) are betraying your beliefs by befriending the enemy. She is also wary of Blaine because he/she is the son/daughter of the Prime Minister of Ardona, and she worries that Blaine may be using you as a tactic from his/her father.

When the truth about Winston's involvement in your scandals is revealed, she apologizes to you again. If you successfully made allies with your classmates, their parents tell your mother that you've made a positive impression on their children. When you decide to make your private relationship with your love interest public, she supports your decision.

Winston Torres
Winston is Melissa's political advisor. He has been present for her political career at least since her first campaign for presidency. Although she states in Chapter 16 that she has been working towards the peace treaty for her entire career, it appears Winston decided only recently to sabotage her campaign since he could not convince her to go to war with Ardona during the previous two terms.

Lewis Wright
Lewis is Melissa's opponent in Rutherland's next presidential election.

Other Looks

 * -|Face 1=

Trivia

 * For her character models, character model 2 and 3 resemble different versions of Mom from With Every Heartbeat; character model 4 resembles Loretta Crandall from the High School Story: Class Act series.
 * If the default surname is kept, her child and she will share the same surname as Bishop Monroe from the Desire & Decorum series and the default surname of Rival Matchmaker from Ms. Match.
 * Her first name is revealed to be Melissa in Chapter 8.
 * The name Melissa is one for girls of Greek origin and means "honey bee".
 * In the same chapter, she is revealed to be widowed.