Rekindling memories of Tina Turner

One benefit of living in Southern California is that one encounters all kinds of interesting people. One such person was Kelly, a mortgage broker by profession.

- BASAB DASGUPTA

I met her accidentally at an open house in the greater San Diego area. She was helping the real estate agent holding the open house. A mortgage broker is an independent business person who works with several different banks and lending institutes and can help a customer in getting the best mortgage loan.

I talked to her to understand the financial picture involved if I wanted to purchase the house. It was clear that Kelly was very astute with numbers and understood her business well. I kept her business card.

She later helped me in getting mortgage loans for two of my homes and a home equity line of credit on a third home. The year was 2005 and we were in the middle of a frenzy in buying real estate properties, which was a precursor to the subsequent meltdown in the market because of the socalled “subprime loan crisis”. Kelly and I became good friends and we used to meet every month or every other month for lunch or coffee to discuss various things including personal situations. However, I had no romantic interest in her because she had her eyes set on some very wealthy gentlemen in Del Mar.

As time progressed, I noticed a gradual change in Kelly’s behaviour pattern and mannerism. It seems that she became more irrational and almost delusional on occasions. One afternoon she showed up at my home completely unannounced with two African American gentlemen and a woman who was also African American.

After exchange of pleasantries and brief introductions, Kelly described the purpose of their visit. Those two men were Hollywood entrepreneurs and seriously planning a start-up in the music business. They were looking for investors.