like glitter & gold

sylvester / thirty / ceo

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

as she looked at him and saw his grin; she couldn’t help but grin as well. she liked the way how his grin had that much affect on her. she nodded her head as he told her to get to know her better. after all .. if they will end up having a baby it wasn’t a game. they had to be sure about it. “if you’re wondering if i got a crazy side; yes i have,” she teased him once more only to lighten their mood. once he mentioned she hadn’t had anything just yet, she nodded her head and grabbed a small piece of bread as well. “tell me … what makes you want to start a family so soon?” she questioned. of course; valeria knew her biological clock was ticking. her mother reminded her way too often. but she just wanted to know what his reasons were. she grabbed the bottle of wine that he had ordered and poured some in for him and then poured some in for herself as well. 

sylvester chuckled. “i could have guessed that,” he retorted. “maybe your crazy and my crazy will match up.” he listened to her next question, then nodded as he considered it, chewing slowly on his mouthful of bread. “i guess it doesn’t seem soon to me,” he finally replied. “sure, i’m only thirty, but some of the people i went to high school with have two or three kids by now,” he pointed out. “i’ve always wanted to be a young dad. full of energy. able to keep up with my sprogs.” he shrugged. “plus, i kind of ... have achieved most of what i wanted to, professionally speaking. this seems like the next step.” he took another olive, raising an eyebrow before he popped it in his mouth. “what about you? have you ever thought about having a family?”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

as soon as those words followed from her boss’ mouth, she couldn’t help but giggle softly. “you really did want to leave work at work don’t you?” she teased him. she let her tongue slide across her bottom lip. “so all of this is just because i’ve opened my mouth and told you straight up what i thought about your plans?” she questioned. being completely open with him. “i’ve always been told to shut up; but when someone tells me to talk … i can’t stop,” she grinned. the wine was now kicking in for sure. “so you got that spark from me, huh?” she questioned. but still; she didn’t answer him. she knew he was asking her the question; if she wanted to carry his child. “i mean …. first when you told me to stay behind at the end of the meeting i thought you were going to fire me - but look at me now,” she teased him, staying quiet for a little while before thinking through what he just told her. it really sank in. “but ehm …. i should probably … think about it, hm?” she mentioned. 

sylvester had always known he was an intense person — it was one of the reasons he only had a small selection of close friends, rather than a wide circle. he was simply too much for most people to bother with. he knew he was doing it again, being full on. but he wasn’t about to pretend to be someone he wasn’t.

“of course, of course. you barely know me. i barely know you.” he paused, a grin twisting his lips. “i wasn’t suggesting we go procreate right this instant. i’d like to get to know you a little. let you get to know me.” he reached over to grab a piece of bread, smearing some dip on it. “please, you haven’t even touched the starters. have something.”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

it took him a little while before he mentioned it. he wanted a big family. just like hers. she giggled softly and nodded her head. “well … be careful with what you wish for,” she mentioned teasingly. but as soon as he dropped the bomb on her. she finally manager to put the puzzle pieces together. leave work at work. he wanted someone to carry his child. she went silent for a second. she’d always have something to say but now? she completely shut down. not sure if she got the hint right. “someone to - carry - your child?” she questioned once more. did she even heard that right? she wasn’t sure if this question was directed to her but it sure did feel like that. “well … did you find someone?” she bursted out before she fiddly started to play with the empty glass in front of her.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Sylvester felt like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. Not that he regretted saying it — he prided himself on his honesty and his straightforwardness. He’d rather say it and get a bad reaction than hide things. But that didn’t make having the words out in the air between them any easier.

“Uh, well ...” He shifted back in his seat, wine glass resting loosely in his hand. “Not yet. I’ve met with a lot of women, but I’ve never felt that ... spark.” He grinned. “I’ve always been someone who operated on gut. I trust my instincts. And, ever since you told me what you thought of our latest show, my instincts have been telling me one thing.” He paused, shifting forward again, looking at her intently. “You are exactly the kind of woman I’d like to be the mother of my child.”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

as she saw him first taking a sip of his wine before he answered her question; she noticed the hesitation. it really broke her heart to see him in this kind of position. meanwhile she had always seen him from his chair back in the office and his eyes didn’t look at her the way they looked as of right now. she really wanted him to know that she wouldn’t judge him for pouring out his heart to her. she could sense he was afraid and holding things back. she gently leaned over; pushing away all the thoughts she had about him before. she gently reached over for his hand. kind of hesitant, too. after all …. he was her boss. “hey … i know it must’ve been hard for you and i’m sorry you had to go through that … but if you ever want to talk about anything, just let me know?” she questioned him. she knew too well about not being able to pour your heart out. even though she has such a big family; they were constantly on her shoulders and it was getting heavy. she knew how it was to walk with weight on your shoulders and carrying it in your heart. “i’m glad to hear that, though. everyone should have at least someone to talk to,” she mentioned before she let her thumb gently brush over the back of his larger hand. she gently let go of his hand. she nodded her head at him. she didn’t really want to brag more about her family and make him feel bad. “family is important to me,” she just said. “but tell me, what do you want your future to look like?” she questioned softly. wanting to have him think about his future instead of his past. his past was a part of who he was now and it was so beautiful to see that he worked through so much obstacles to grow to the person he was now. 

Sylvester was used to people making empty assertions of how they were there for him, how he could depend on them — all while looking for what they could get. But there was a sincerity about Valeria that he found impossible to question — she seemed so genuine, so open and true. It was endearing. And scary, in a way. He hadn’t expected to be so convinced of her so quickly.

And he definitely hadn’t expected the topic of the future to come up so soon. He could say something vague, he supposed — make some noise about wanting a family at some point. But then when (there was no longer an ‘if’ in his mind, which was terrifying) he wanted to suggest his plan to her, he would have to admit he had been thinking about it all along.

Besides. He’d never done things by halves.

“Well ...” He was still staring at where her hand had been touching his, still feeling the imprint of her fingers. “I want a big family. And I want to start soon.” He looked up at her, his eyes suddenly very serious. “I honestly ... This is going to sound weird, and it’s why I wanted to leave work at work. But I’m looking for someone who wants to ... help me start that family.” He swallowed. “Someone to carry my child.”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

the way he listened to her story, caused a small smile on her lips. it showed that he was actually interested in her story. “i do. we’re really close with each other. my aunts, uncles, cousins and their children are close to us as well. they’re everything to me. i wouldn’t know what to do without them,” she told him in all honesty. the soon as the gorgeous man mentioned he was just only child and he was taken care of by his nannies, she felt like as if someone pulled on her heart string. a wave of sadness. “i’m sure they’re really proud of you - i mean look at you!” she tried to lighten his mood. “you’re now a successful man,” she pointed out. when he soon started about children, the corner of her plump lips curled up once more. taking another small sip of her wine which caused her glass to be empty now. he was so open and honest with her. slightly nodding her head as a sign she was listening to him. “if there’s something i would want to avoid it really must be that, too. i would want to raise my children by myself and wouldn’t want to be a bother to anyone. don’t get me wrong for saying this, really. but you know … i love the fact that i’ve siblings who i can lean on and i honestly wouldn’t even know what to do if i hadn’t had them in my life,” she told him. “how’d you actually do that?” she suddenly bursted out; the liquor in her system was now taking more of her control. “lean on someone? trust someone enough to share everything with?” she questioned. clearly, he wanted to talk to pour his heart out to her and she really wanted to give him an opportunity to do that. 

This was often the moment of the conversation where Sylvester would ask more questions about the other person to deflect interest from himself. It wasn’t that he was hiding anything — he just wasn’t usually comfortable speaking about himself. He was aware of what people thought of him and never wanted to give anyone any more ammo than they already had.

But Valeria ... She was different. He’d suspected as much, and this lunch was going a long way towards proving him right. She wore her heart on her sleeve, not letting the arbitrary rules of society stop her from speaking her mind, from showing emotion. It made him want to open up to her, to share with her. And this, in a way, was what he’d been looking for — a connection.

“I ...” Syl was a but stymied by her question, honestly. He reached forward to pick up his wine glass again, taking a deep sip. “I don’t think I really opened up to anyone until ... college?” He shrugged. “I insisted on living in the dorms, even though I didn’t have to — I wanted the experience.” He grinned. “My room mate was a guy called Douglas. He picked away at me until I finally start talking about my emotions. He’s still my best friend now.” He took another thoughtful sip. “The way you talk about your family ... that’s what I want. A massive clan of people who love each other and look after each other.”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

in her eyes; he really had changed (in a good way). if someone would’ve told her he’d take her out for lunch she wouldn’t had believed it. but now here she was. having lunch with her boss. “my family? she questioned. “yes i grew up here; i have six siblings and sadly, i’m the oldest of them,” she grinned. “i grew up with my grandparents taking care of me. my parents would go to work and they’d make sure we provided from everything. so really i’m trying to do all my best to give everything back they’d have done for us for years,” she told him. being all honest with him and opening up about her family. whenever she talked about her family; she could really talk for hours. “they mean everything to me,” she mentioned and took another sip of her wine. “this is really good by the way,” she smiled. “and you? what’s your secret,” she smirked, teasing him a little because of his position.

The picture Valeria painted of her life was a foreign one to Sylvester. He was an only child, the pride and joy of the Kowalski clan, his every whim catered to. He’d never thought about owing his parents anything — he was too busy trying to make his own path. He felt a pang in his chest, a longing he’d been wrestling with for a long time now — a desire for a family that behaved like a family.

“It sounds like you have a really close family,” he replied, taking another sip of his wine as he considered her question. “Well, that would be telling,” he teased, lowering his glass again. “But I’m an only child. My parents live down south, that’s where I was raised.” He shrugged, reaching out to grab an olive and pop it in his mouth. “They were always pretty busy when I was a kid, so I was mostly raised by nannies. Something I’d really like to avoid with my children.”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

as he asked for the whole bottle, she raised a brow. they had to get back to work after lunch and she wasn’t sure if she’d able to get back to work after a drink or two considering she gets tipsy really fast. she didn’t say anything about it, though. a little fun couldn’t hurt anyone. 

as he glanced over at her and shot her a smile, she smiled back at him. it was weird to actually go on a lunch with him because she didn’t really talk much with him directly but with his assistant. when he mentioned to leave work at work. she was kinda getting nervous by it because she had no idea what he meant with that. “yeah, yeah sure of course,” she nodded her head. 

as soon as they got served and their glasses were filled with wine, she thanked them once again before leaving. “so tell me, what do you want to know about me?” she chuckled softly and grabbed her glass of wine and took a small sip of it. 

This was probably one of the weirder things he’d ever done. For a few months now, Sylvester had been “speed dating” women, but not for romantic reasons ... He desperately wanted to be a father. After long consideration, he’d reached the conclusion that the best path forward was to engage a surrogate. But he didn’t want to just pick someone from a book at an agency — he wanted someone he could meet, could get to know. He didn’t know Valeria well, it was true, but he found her to be a hard-worker, quick to speak her mind, and had obviously good genes — all things he definitely wanted for any child of his.

“Uh, well,” Sylvester stalled, taking a sip of his wine. “Did you grow up in the city? What’s your family like?”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

he was a gentleman and she definitely took a note of that. he was perfect. maybe a little too perfect which caused valeria to question some things in her head. it was impossible to be this perfect, right? him always in his suit, deep blue eyes, his sweet manners … she snapped back to reality once he opened the door for her once again. she walked past him with the biggest smile on her face; she couldn’t help it. she passed him by as her heart suddenly started beating faster against her chest. 

once they had gotten to their table; valeria’s eyes wandered around as she was mesmerized by the way how the restaurant looked like. again ; too perfect to be real. if this was a dream she really wished to not wake up from it. she only looked at sylvester as he questioned if she wanted to join him. wasn’t it too early for a drink? well that must probably be a rich thing she didn’t know about just yet. “sure, i’d like to,” valeria said as she gave him a small nod before looking at the other male. “thank you,” she thanked them.

When Valeria agreed to the drink, Sylvester looked up at Alec. “Perhaps just bring us a bottle,” he amended, taking the menu the other man handed to him. “Thank you.” The maître d' nodded and thanked them, taking his leave to pass instructions on to their actual waitperson.

Sylvester took the moment to look back at his lunch companion. He smiled, suddenly finding himself a little stuck for the right words. “I hope you don’t find me too forward asking you to lunch like this,” he explained, reaching forward to fiddle with his napkin. “I was rather hoping we could ... leave work at work, and get to know each other. As people. If that’s alright.”

He paused again as their server came over, placing a platter of appetizers before them and then pouring two glasses of wine. He was thankful, in a way, for the interruption — but he was eager for Valeria’s reply.

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

after she told her boss she’d be back soon after dropping her stuff off at her office she also quickly made it to the bathroom the freshen up herself and to apply some more of her makeup. once she was done she quickly made her way back to him; not wanting him to wait longer. while she walked back she messaged her co-worker that she’d go have lunch with him ‘to probably discuss things,’ she quickly added to it. as soon as she got back to sylvester she gave him a small smile. “ready to go!” she claimed and her facial expression went kind of shocking as he dropped the name of one of the most expensive restaurant in town. and they were only having a quick lunch. “really? we could’ve totally gone to a more … basic place, too,” she questioned with a small smile. she couldn’t even imagine going there; she would feel too guilty towards her family knowing she had way too many people to feed at home. besides getting a reservation at the restaurant was impossible and he had done that within ten minutes only. but really; should she even be surprised? 

once they made it to the restaurant her dark big eyes scanned around. it was even beautiful outside and she was sure it was even prettier inside the building. she looked over at sylvester to make sure he was also ready to walk into the restaurant. she couldn’t believe she was actually gonna enter this place. but there she was; having lunch with her boss.

It dawned on Sylvester a little too late that perhaps Valeria would have preferred his second favourite lunch place — the hot dog stand opposite the office. When he didn’t feel like running into people who would surely report back to his mother about how he was looking and what he’d ordered, he always went across the road, grabbed a couple of hot dogs, and took a walk in the park. But he was used to trying to impress people, and given what he was already thinking about asking the woman about, he definitely wanted to impress her.

He debated extending his arm to Valeria and then figured that might be crossing the line — he hadn’t yet established that he wanted to be having lunch as peers, not as employer and employee. He didn’t want to give her the wrong impression, or lead her to believe he was attempting to use his position to seduce her or anything.

Syl held open the door of the restaurant for her, smiling at the maître d’, Alec, who had become something of a good friend over the years. He reached out to shake Alec’s hand, clapping him on the back with his other hand as the shorter, dark-haired man led them to Sylvester’s usual table. It was near the back, offering some privacy, but with a beautiful view of the chandelier.

“Can I start you with some drinks today, sir?” Alec asked.

“Well, I’ll have a glass of that exquisite Merlot I had when I was last here.” Sylvester looked over at Valeria, his eyebrow raised. “Would you care to join me?”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

she didn’t really see sylvester that often besides their meetings; but now she was really glad she did. and just as he mentioned he liked her idea, the corner of her lips curled up into a soft smile. “really? oh well … i’m really glad you do,” was all she could say. but inside - she was kind of relieved that she hadn’t gotten into any trouble. once he started typing on his phone; she gathered the rest of her stuff so she could drop it off quickly and have a lunch but as soon as he questioned if she would like to go on a lunch with him, she was quiet for a little while. her coworker was gonna tease her for the rest of the year for her going out with him on a lunch meanwhile she was the one saying he’s probably such a player. “yeah sure, sounds nice,” she ended up saying as she nodded her head slightly. “i’l just drop my stuff off at my office and come back to you in a few minutes,” she told him.

By the time Valeria returned, Sylvester had already ordered a town car to meet them below and take them to his favourite lunch spot, where he’d just called and made a last minute reservation — despite the fact that it was usually booked out weeks in advance. This was the kind of thing that made up his regularly life; he never paused to realise it was unusual, or incredibly privileged.

“We’re going to Ambiance,” he said, naming a very expensive restaurant a few blocks over. It was a short enough distance that they could walk, but he was a fan of efficiency, and the car would get them there faster.

He ignored the curious looks of his employees as the watched him walking with Valeria — everyone knew this was the time he went to lunch, like clockwork, every day. He rarely, if ever, took people with him — if he did, it was usually some actress or model he was dating.

When they got out the front, Syl waved the driver off and opened Valeria’s door for her himself. He gave a slight bow, indicating to the seat inside. “After you.”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

she was actually surprised that he was so interested in her opinion. were her looks really that obvious? or had he been staring long enough to know how she was really feeling about the meeting? she didn’t know - and probably would never get to know an answer to this question. 

sure; the reality dating shows were really people’s number one on their lists but it just wasn’t unique anymore. it wouldn’t be enough to make it into the news. they had to come up with something else to catch people’s attention and actually want to get a subscription to his platform. “since people seem to love all those reality things; we might as well have people fly out to other people or like families to see what kind of living they have. they could talk about the issues. show them the issues and the way how they handle things. maybe this person who’s flying over to those families could be even celebrities which will catch a lot of attention, too. let them stay there for a couple of weeks and face the difficulties. this way we can give them a change and a chances, too,” she told him about the idea she came up with recently. 

Sylvester pondered on her words for a moment, turning over the possibility in his mind. In all honesty, he hadn’t expected her to come back with a decent idea — he’d expected her to be the kind of person to suggest another supernatural teen drama or something equally tedious. But this idea ... It had real merit.

“I like it. We get a host — or a series of hosts — and send them to somewhere where their fame, money and looks don’t matter ... Somewhere they can find out what real life is like.” He entirely missed the irony that he, himself, was probably a person who would benefit from being on such a show. “It has a lot of potential. I’m going to talk to the team about it — and you just got yourself a producing credit.” He pulled out his phone, typing out a quick note. “On another topic entirely, would I be able to take you out to lunch?” he asked, glancing up from the screen to seek out her eyes.

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

every woman who worked at the company had a crush on mister i-know-it-all. that’s what his name was in between her and her favorite coworker. this was one of the reasons why she never really spoke about her real feelings towards him. he was hot; that for sure. but there was no way she’d want to be with someone as wealthy like him. even though her mother and grandma would really love nothing more than her to get married to a rich man and become a housewife who takes care of her five children. 

she got out of her thoughts once her boss asked her a couple of questions. did he notice?! was she in trouble? the last thing she needed was getting fired and her to look for other jobs. “i – i eh … the meeting was great, really. i just thought we could make a couple changes but y’know …. i wouldn’t want to be rude and interrupt you,” who even was she to interrupt them anyway? she was just an assistant. but hey - since he was asking her about her opinion the only thing that would be right is her to be honest with him. “well … i mean; another dating tv show, really? there’s tons of them already online. if y’d ask me; they’re kind of cliche right now,” valeria answered his question. 

Women had always talked about him. Men, too, but mostly women — evaluating him. He was rich, he was relatively good-looking, he was single ... It was a magic combination. But the problem was, Syl had never been interested in women who were interested in him — primarily because most of them had dollar signs in their eyes, or were too intimidated by his forthright manner to be themselves. This applied outside of the dating realm, too, and he was no stranger to the way his employees spoke about him. But it was one thing to gossip in the break room, and another to speak up to the man himself.

God, did he hope Valeria was as honest as she seemed.

His face split into a real grin as she finally told him what she really thought. Privately, he agreed — as soon as Love or Money had been pitched, he was already bored of it. But there was a reason their streaming platform was filled with reality dating shows. People loved them. The drama generated press, which led to more people signing up. So as much as he’d love to greenlight the next Breaking Bad, he always ended up playing it safe.

He leaned forward, clasping his hands together as he studied her. “So, what would you suggest we make instead?”

[sylvesterkowalski]

vclleria‌:

she had almost been late for work as her younger-brother took her car this morning without even asking. she was pissed off just because this wasn’t the first time he ever had done this. she had already a lot of weight on her shoulders to carry and she couldn’t have her being late as well. her family was depending on her. especially since she was the oldest of her siblings. sometimes it felt better to be at work than at home. 

valeria made notes of the whole meeting; although she tried to use her own words as she wrote down what people were saying and suggesting. this way it wouldn’t take too long for her to write something down and later on she’d make a clean report of it. once their boss told them they were done with today’s meeting she closed the laptop and gathered her stuff until she heard the same voice telling her to stay meanwhile everyone was leaving. all she did was just nod her head before she looked up at her co-worker who she would always have a chat with. her co-worker giving her a grin before leaving the room. did she had gotten herself in trouble? did he hear what her opinions were about him that she really didn’t meant? “is there anything i can do for you?” valeria asked. 

Sylvester liked Valeria. Despite what many of his employees thought, there wasn’t much that happened at the company that he didn’t know about. The walls had ears, so to speak. He knew she and some of her co-workers didn’t entirely approve of him and the way he conducted business. He wasn’t upset — on the contrary, he found it refreshing, in a way. His entire life people had sucked up to him. It was time to see if Valeria was one of those people.

“Yes, you can explain your reactions during the meeting we just had,” he replied, his voice even and his smile easy. He wanted her to be unsure of his feelings, unsure if she was in trouble or not — that was the only way to get a real response from people, he’d found. “Do you not agree with some of my programming decisions?”

[sylvesterkowalski]

The meeting had already dragged on considerably longer than he’d budgeted for. One of the reasons Sylvester had gotten to the position he was in was because he ran a tight ship — he got up every morning at 5, hit the gym for an hour, and was in his office ready for the day by 7:30 at the latest. He hated to waste time. He could feel it, ticking against his skin, like a heartbeat running out of pulses.

“That’s enough for today, guys,” he said, almost cutting off one of his executives as the man desperately tried to suggest the same reboot of a nineties sitcom Syl had rejected five times already. “Go do whatever it is I pay you to do. Valleria, would you mind staying behind?”