Maxwell was exhausted. As soon as Camille lay down and closed her eyes, sweat dripping down her body, he smiled with satisfaction and turned to go to the bathroom. But he froze.
Suddenly, Maxwell felt his world collapse, and it was as if he had lost something he had earned with a lot of dedication and love. He felt that he had broken something that could no longer be repaired.
Standing in front of him, sucking her thumb, and with the other hand holding a large teddy bear, which was dragging on the floor, while thick tears fell down her face, was Tayme. Her eyes made her emotions transparent. She was feeling ruined.
Camille realized something was wrong and sat up in bed to see why Maxwell was standing naked in the middle of the room. When she saw Tayme, her face burned. She tore the sheet off the bed and hid her nakedness. She had completely forgotten about the connecting door between Tayme's room and her parents'.
"Tayme..." Maxwell started to say, but didn't know what to say. With his hands, he hid his penis from his daughter. "Since when have you been here, my child?"
"I came after you, as soon as you went upstairs." She said with a broken voice.
Maxwell was still in doubt as to whether she had seen or heard anything.
"Daughter... You mustn't enter Daddy's room without knocking."
She looked at him with the same look he had seen Andrey give him. A look in which he could no longer hide anything from her. And her next words confirmed Maxwell's greatest fear.
"I saw and heard everything." She said as if guessing his inner doubt. "And I hate you. Don't you ever touch me again!" The girl said, and ran out the same door she came in.
Maxwell turned around worriedly and looked at Camille.
"What do I do now?"
"She's only three. She'll forget soon enough."
"I hope so, because I love her too much."
"If you want, I don't mind if you go back on the plans you made for us. I'll stay here."
Maxwell detected the presence of hope in that sentence, but decided to ignore it. He needed it.
"No. Everything will be as we agreed. I just have to find a way to make Tayme forget what she saw here today. She's not old enough to... I protect my children from seeing things like this on television, and I control what they can see on the internet, and I show it to her myself... I've ended my daughter's innocence. She'll no longer be able to see me as her hero, as she always used to..."
"Calm down! She's only three. In an hour's time she won't even remember it."
"What if she doesn't forget?"
"You can convince her it was just a bad dream." Camille said and put on what was left of her uniform. "I'm going to change and go downstairs, so as not to arouse anyone's suspicions. I'll ask one of my colleagues to come and help me pack your things and your wife's things."
"I don't want you doing that kind of work anymore."
"I have to Max. Or they'll suspect us. Then, in the States, we'll do as you wish." She said and headed for the door, surprised that Maxwell was standing in front of it, blocking her passage. How had he gotten there so quickly?
"I'm not finished with you yet, Camille."
"Sir... I... I'm very sore and..."
"Maxwell held her tightly by the shoulders and stared steadily into her eyes.
"You'll forget what's going to happen now."
Camille looked surprised, but paralyzed, and he released her and began to walk around her, while his hands sporadically touched some part of her body.
"Are you really going to do what you just said?" He asked, stopping to smell the scent of her hair.
"No."
"I wondered... What did you intend to do?"
"Run away."
"Why?"
"Because I think you're going to use me like this forever."
"You didn't like it?"
"At times, I liked it."
"But..."
Her eyes began to water. She couldn't stop the words from coming out of her lips and realized that this thing wasn't a human too late.
"But I don't like feeling pain."
Maxwell stopped behind her and moved the hair away from her neck. He smelled her scent and soon Camille closed her eyes and felt something like two thin needles penetrate her neck. Although it hurt at first, it gave her a good feeling, one of relaxation and well-being.
Maxwell released her and turned her around so that he could look into her eyes.
"You love me and you're coming with me to the United States. It's the best opportunity that's ever happened in your life, and you're not going to miss it."
"Yes, sir."
Maxwell smiled and snapped his fingers and watched as she woke up, as if coming back from a dream.
"As I said, Camille... Maybe you should stay here until things settle down with Tayme..."
Camille stared at him as if trying to remember something and suddenly she did.
"I'll go with you and help you control your little girl." Camille said, and left before he could object to her decision.
Maxwell felt all his sleep go away. He went into the shower and then put on his clothes with a gloomy look on his face, pretending not to see that Camille was there in the bedroom, with another young woman, packing. He decided to go downstairs to see if he could find Tayme and if she had forgotten what had happened.
As soon as he entered the room, he didn't notice anything different about the twins, Jenna or their mother. Tayme had his toy rifle and was playing with his brothers as if nothing had happened. But when he greeted everyone and sat down on the sofa next to Suzy, they all started talking at the same time, excited about the trip they were about to take. All except Tayme, who kept his back to him.
Maxwell talked to their mothers and they decided to leave after dinner. Jenna advised them to do this so as not to arouse suspicion. Each car would leave with two of them, and an hour apart, to make sure they weren't being followed.
While they were talking about what it would be like to go back to their homeland, Camille and the other employees entered the room to let them know that everything was ready.
Just then, Tayme approached them and pointed his rifle at Camille. Everyone laughed, thinking it was a joke, except Camille, who was facing her and could see the look of hatred she had never seen in a child.
"When I grow up, I'm going to kill you." Tayme said and let the toy fall to the floor, and left the room without looking back, or even showing that she heard her grandmothers calling her back. She went to her room, where she locked the door between the rooms, as well as the door to the corridor, and jumped onto her bed, thinking.