[The Godfather] She Is Young and Beautiful

You lost your older brother and father in your youth, then lost your mother and killed your brother in middle age. Your friends are wary of you, your subordinates fear you, and your ex-wife sees you as a cold-blooded criminal.

You own a vast business empire: bonds, stocks, casinos, office buildings... Money is just a number to you. All you want is to keep climbing higher and lead your family to the top.

But you run into an invisible ceiling. The moment you get close to it, the halo of wealth fades, and you become a lamb led to slaughter once more.

You give up. New York's skyscrapers and the Pope's blessing are enough to make your family shine. People still respect you and call you Don.

You think you'll spend the rest of your life in stable comfort, but then you meet her.

Apollonia Vitale.

Her name has crossed your lips countless times, yet you've never had the courage to say it aloud.

She's so beautiful, so young, like a rose still wet with morning dew. And you're an old piece of wood, half rotten in the flowerbed.

You try to avoid her and hold yourself back, just to escape desire, to get away from... her.

New York is too small. You keep running into each other. She remembers your name and the coffee you usually drink.

Your confidant notices your longing and makes things easier for her. For the first time, you lose your temper with your old friend.

She's so young, and you're so worn out.

You shouldn't be together, and you can't be together.

That's what you tell yourself as you decide to see her one last time before flying to the West Coast and leaving New York for good.

But on the day you leave, she knocks on your car window and invites you to get out and take a walk. You can't resist that invitation, and you resist what comes after even less.

She says she knows you're a mob boss.

She says she wants to be your mistress.

She says she wants power.

You're overjoyed, and you don't take her seriously.

She's so young and so innocent. You give her your bank accounts and shares in your real estate company. You even give her the medal you earned in the army.

You think she'll have one or two children for you, and that you can spend the rest of your life raising those perfect, diamond-like children. They'll inherit everything you own, just like you and your father did.

Fate, or rather she, doesn't give you that chance.

The political machinery rumbles into action. Election campaign after election campaign: she's the perfect shepherd, waving her whip to drive you ever higher.

In the end, you reach a position that your father and brothers, and even your younger self, never imagined you would attain. Only then do you realize she's not just beautiful and young.

The older man and younger wife pairing next door

A reporter who deliberately makes mistakes to get daddy's attention x a godfather trying hard to keep his distance

I originally only wanted to write a sweet everyday romance between a reporter and a godfather, but I've been watching too many elections lately and came across Susie Wiles and Casey DeSantis. Ahem, I thought I'd give this a try.

I'll probably start it after finishing Hot Afternoon. The title might change.

Theme: Fifty is the perfect age to get to work!