Chapter Three.

When Victoria got out of the taxi, she immediately saw a crowded group of people. They were all gathered around a bright yellow ribbon stretched across the alley. Several uniformed police officers asked passers-by to stand back and not interfere with the investigation, here even a few reporters managed to get there. Victoria walked around the delegation and took her dog tag out of the jacket pocket she always carried with her. They moved aside for her to pass and the journalists' questions flew in the back:

“Comment the situation!”

"Was it a planned murder, or did it all happen by chance?"

"Did the perpetrator have accomplices or did he act alone?"

"Maybe it was suicide?"

"Tell me what you think about it!" Do the police already have leads?”

“Last week, a victim of a manic rapist was found in the park, are these two cases connected?!”

Victoria rolled her eyes, trying to isolate herself internally from these annoying voices. He searched the crowd for a familiar face. It was this person who recommended him for a new position, and it was this same person who, jointly, was his current boss. The alpha's tall and majestic figure was a little further away, next to the man there were also two short boys of identical height. When Victoria got a little closer, he was able to determine that the young men were omegas and, judging by their clothing and free conversation with management, obviously his new colleagues, who he would do well to meet.

“Carlos!”

"Oh, Victoria, are you home yet? Alright, so let's finish now, you can help us.” Carlos turned and smiled at the woman, inclining his head and holding out his hand in greeting. “I'm glad you managed to escape, and I'm sorry you had to take a break from business. How is your son?”

“Absolutely obedient and quiet child.”

“Did you throw a tantrum?”

"Not without this," Victoria grunted, turning to two other people who were also wearing work vests. “Nice to meet you. Victoria Romanov, the new head of the Main Investigation Department.”

“Viktor Nikiforov,” the man smiled good-naturedly. “I’m from media management.”

“Yuri Plisetsky, and I am an assistant in the same department, I recently got a part-time job.”

Victoria's face tightened in surprise.

“So that's what you meant when you said there weren't enough people. Of course, I understood that there could be few employees, but that there should not be?”

“You said you would invite a witness with you.”

“Yes, Louis will drive here now. He texted me that they were in traffic, it will be in five minutes.”

“You drag your husband with you into such an atmosphere. As soon as he arrives, I'll need to apologize to him.”

"He's the only one who can stop me from throwing up," Victoria spoke slowly, frowning and looking over to where a man covered in a plastic bag was lying on the asphalt. “What happened?”

“It looks like he threw himself off the roof, but we were asked to verify that everything was planned,” said Carlos, taking a notebook from Viktor's hands, where he managed to write down the testimony of witnesses. “These two interviewed the locals and said this man has been here every day for the past week. He constantly came to pick up the flowers at the end of the street, and then he went to the restaurant, which is located in this building on the second floor. Today, he apparently mixed up the floors and happened to jump from the last one.”

“By any chance?”

“The waiters and bartenders who got to know him the last few days said he always ate alone, clearly not expecting anyone to join him. And his mood was never depressed” Carlos started to list, looking at the records. “Everything, of course, indicates that he could have fallen, but we also went through his things and found a phone. This guy didn't even bother to block it.”

"Are you implying that he left a suicide note and walked around so happy because he finished all his suicide preparations?"

“Yes, no suicide messages were encrypted there, but this week your contact lists in the phone book were only family members, whereas last month it was completely empty. According to the database and documents, he has no irregularities. We don't judge. He's not married and doesn't have kids, but as his credit history shows, this guy took a lot of money. I don't know if it's for him or someone he wanted to help, but only he has a three-month delay and is blacklisted. Collectors are looking for him, calling his guarantor, who is also at large. This man apparently decided to boo this past week and spend the rest of the money on himself and a wonderful dinner before he dies. He called his family, talked to them and said goodbye like that.”

“He put on the form that this is a work colleague, but the loan was taken out more than a year ago, he doesn't work there anymore, and this guy has changed residence. I have no idea who they were to each other, but they definitely weren't related. Maybe lovers? Viktor looked up from his notebook.”

“Then it makes more sense why he took such a large sum,” said Yuri. “Sure, enough that guy asked him to get money on the credit, they drank half of it, and when he assured that they would pay the whole amount with him, the signature was already there, the credit history was started, and the lover disappeared from the scene, without leaving a trace”

“It’s strange, if he were a lover, this man would probably run after him” Victoria thought, taking the phone when it started to vibrate in her pocket. “At least that's my logic. If I'd been tricked that way, I would have found that bastard and pulled all his teeth out, and not let these things take their course. Probably just coworkers, and he put him on as a guarantor because they were on good terms. Look at the name of the office where they worked. There is a possibility that the plot was like that. There were two guys. Both worked and were well paid. Then there was the idea of ​​​​buying a car and a house, for which he needed money. Banks don't give out that much unless they see a decent income, so this guy probably had a good salary at the time.”

Victoria dropped her silence and held her hand up, calling Louis to her so he could notice her. At this time, Viktor beside her looked at the top of his notes.

“Yeah, the waitress said the guy looked young. Now her whole body is disfigured, but I can look at her passport.”

“I’ll take your word for it” Victoria waved at him. “He’s young, where can a young man earn so much? Did he work in some high-paying industry?”

“His last job was a regular stockbroker. They don't earn much” replied Yuri while checking the documents they got.

“So my train of thought made a little sense. If he had a good education, he would not have entered such an industry, besides, he is young. Ambition gets out of you, but when life gets a black streak, you fall apart. Certainly your first job and company were not clean. Big salaries, tax evasion. It will be necessary to look at the documents of those years. He took the money, thought it would always be like this, and didn't worry about a thing. He mentioned a coworker as guarantor, who must have been just as much of a brat as he was, and when the firm went bankrupt and closed, they were left with nothing. One went one way, the other the other, and all ties were cut by themselves. And they had to survive, money is not taken from heaven. In the end, after a good life, he ended up in such a place. if he was older he would think twice about the consequences, but he had nobody and nothing. The guy just broke and he didn't find a better way out than to participate.”

Louis made his way through the crowd, which gradually began to thin out, and thanks to the fact that Victoria had shown the police officers controlling passers-by that this guy was with them, they let him through. The man stopped beside everyone and quickly kissed his wife on the cheek.

“Hey. Well, what have I missed?”

"Long time no see," Carlos smiled, shaking the other man's hand. “Nothing interesting, your wife is just playing Sherlock Holmes.”

“Hey, I was just guessing. These are just conclusions at first glance, judging by all the superficial facts collected. If we dig a little deeper, maybe there is another explanation for everything that happened” Victoria began to reason. “I would also look at the footprints on the roof. It's summer now and the weather is windless today. If he jumped from the top, there might be traces.”

"Footprints on what?" Yuri was surprised. “On hardened cement?”

Carlos chuckled as he shook his head.

"No, blondie," the man replied. “Roofs are almost never cleaned. It's always very dusty there.”

“Oh!”

"Go check it out." Carlos waved to the entrance of the building, placing the keys to the roof in Victoria's hand, and he himself approached the corpse, which was still lying on the sidewalk waiting for the arrival of the court of medical experts. “Viktor, come here. Look at the intestines.”

"Ugh." The platinum Russian shook his shoulders in disgust. “When you asked me to come with you, I didn't think I'd see something like this. Why are you dragging me to check this dead body and not Victoria? She is an investigator. This is her specialty. My job is to scribble out her annual reports.”

“Yuri, you come here too.”

“Me? But I don't want it either! Mr. Victor is right. Because we?”

Carlos turned to the Russians and said seriously:

“Because Victoria can't stand the sight of blood and decaying human flesh. She's going to start throwing up, and I only got my boots two days ago.”

{...}

Victoria, along with Louis, entered the building and headed for the stairs, starting to climb and inspect each floor. In the elevator, the evidence would definitely be noticed and already handed over to the police, but on the flight of stairs they could go unnoticed, so the woman chose this path.

“How was school?”

"That girl didn't want to take him at all, can you imagine?" the man was indignant. “You saw, Damian is very much out of the picture. You cannot stay with the boys, because they will annoy you because of their dominant and difficult personality and will try in every possible way to overtake you, thus triggering a collective struggle. It is also impossible to stick it with the girls, because, on the contrary, when they mature, they will hang around your neck and will not want to learn”

"And how did it go with the supervisor?"

“When Damian talked to her, she calmed down a bit, but I still didn't like her. She judges by the child when she has not seen him in person. The director said that he would accept it without an interview, and only with this lady there were problems that I had to personally visit her office. It seems to me that even if our child commits the slightest offense, she will immediately appoint him to visit a school psychologist.”

"Is there one there?"

“How was I supposed to know? Even if there is, Damian is absolutely sane and harmless. Of course, I do not deny the fact that he can fight or somehow scold another child, but ... this is normal, isn't it? Or did I forget how to understand children?”

“You’re right, and I agree with you” Louis smiled, caressing his wife's back and continuing to climb higher. “After all, that was to be expected. Everything couldn't have gone so well.”

"One of your tantrums with moving stressed me out a lot, and then with school." The woman sighed, looking at her husband. “I don't like that he keeps asking to go home, and today, when he met Vittorio and kind of talked to him and befriended him, he still”

"Who is Vittorio?"

“What...? Oh, by the gods, I forgot to tell you!” Victoria slapped her forehead. “A boy. Damian had stumbled upon him when he'd run out of the house in the morning. Nice guy, he went to accompany you home after school. I told him where the keys were, so when you get there, make sure everything is ok there and they trashed our living room. The TV was worth all my last paycheck.”

Louis started to laugh.

“How old is he?”

“Vittorio? Hmm... Twenty... I think about twenty years. Maybe nineteen? More or less. I do not know exactly”

“What?! You let a strange guy you don't even know keep your child away from you?! And so calmly told him where the keys to our house were?! You are crazy?!”

Victoria climbed the steps above and jumped another flight, going up to the next floor.

“I know where he goes to school and I know he lives nearby. I also know his name, and I also let him hold my phone.” The woman started to curl her fingers. “I have his fingerprints, which I took while riding in a taxi. I also got his phone number. We can run it through the database in case there is some offense behind it. If he decides to steal our child, we have too much information on him. Don't worry.”

Louis shook his head in shock.

“Besides, when we were crossing the road, he took Damian by the hand. He's definitely a good person.”

“Oh, well, he took your hand.”

“What it was? Not every person will show concern for someone else's child.”

“It doesn't matter how many years pass, and you're still examining how people will behave around our son.”

“By the way, in this way, many people who interacted with Damian passed the test. And he was more than successful. For all these years, our son is alive and well. And now he's probably having fun with a new friend. Oh, and here's the door. Did you notice anything along the way?”

“No.” Louis shook his head. “Do you have the keys?”

Victoria took a small key from her pocket, waving it in front of him.

“I always have everything. I'm ready for any situation. I even have a pack of condoms in my pocket.”

"I'd give you a medal for your self-confidence."

"My ass deserves better treatment," the woman said indignantly. “You must pet and massage her, you soulless beast.”

“Yes, I understand, go ahead.”

Louis laughed and pushed his wife onto the roof, narrowing his eyes. After a darkened room, bright sunlight hit them. The weather was still perfect.

{...}

“Aaachooo!~”

Vittorio rubbed the bridge of his nose, ready to sneeze again. He carefully examined the shelves in the room, wondering how so much dirt could accumulate on them.

“It's so dusty in here,” the Italian whispered as the child dragged him along. “Listen, Dam, are you sure we could have come in here through the back door? Is the owner at home?

“He probably just sits around all day and doesn't do anything.”

"I think we'd better go, we shouldn't go into a stranger's house in the first place."

“Chayson is not a stranger. I know him.”

"You know him," protested Vittorio, sneezing and sniffing again. “I’ve never even seen him. To be honest, I didn't even know anyone lived here. Never in this house or sign of life here, I didn't know there were residents in this house.”

Damian snorted as he dragged the boy by the hand to the right door of the office.

“It is clear. Look how dirty he is. He never hired a housekeeper. He also yelled that I was evil.”

"Did he yell at you?" 

“Yes. Last time I broke his phone.”

“What?”

“I accidentally stepped on it when I was running away. He tried to catch me and deliver me to my parents,” said the boy. “I just asked him to give me temporary shelter and some food. Can you imagine how bad it is? Not surprisingly, he's still alone and won't even leave his room. Who wants to associate with such a person?”

“With every word you speak, I get more and more scared, let's go, huh? Why did we come here? It was a bad idea,” Vittorio lamented softly.

“There's so much dust in here that even I can't smell anything. Also, there's a lot of smoke in your room, and it takes away someone else's scent.”

“Smoke?” Vittorio asked. “You mean cigarette smoke? Chayson smokes? Do you smoke in the presence of a child? He is definitely a bad person, let's get out of here right away.”

"But we're here!"

The Italian didn't have time to come to his senses, as Damian was already opening the door for him. As soon as it opened, a faint aroma of freshly smoked cigarettes actually hit his face. The room was bright, the window next to the table where the man was sitting was ajar, allowing the room to ventilate a little. When Vittorio saw the man in all his glory, his appearance was very different from the one he had managed to picture in his head. 

Chayson barely reacted to the presence of others. He raised his eyes, raising them to a level higher than the laptop's screen, and, seeing the top of Damian's head, who, like the owner, was already running around in his office, began to massage his own temples, grinding their teeth in despair.

"Hello Chay! You didn't close the back door again” the boy started, running to different shelves and taking books from them. “This is Vittorio, he came from Italy, he is an artist and his parents are looking for treasures. Cool huh?”

Vittorio stepped sheepishly to the spot, catching the disgruntled gaze of cold blue eyes on himself, and raised a hand, beckoning.

“Hello.”

“What. you. it is. doing. here?” Chayson said in syllables, stretching in her chair and cracking her neck. "Didn't I tell you the way here?"

Damian turned to the voice and blinked.

“How can I forget the way here? Your house is right next to ours.”

"Little bastard..."

Chayson started to curse under his breath, and then grabbed Damian by the scruff of the neck as he ran a very close distance away from him, and lifted him off the ground, rising out of the chair with him.

“Get out of my house.”

“Chay! Be hospitable! Then you'll never find a mate!”

Damian dropped the books from his hands. They immediately fell to the ground, and the adult man just calmly stepped over the formed pile and gnashed his teeth, thinking that now he would have to rearrange them alphabetically. Vittorio quickly ran to the door where the man was going and tried to grab the child.

“Okay, okay! We're already leaving! I said it was a bad idea! You and I weren't even invited, it's pretty obvious the owner won't be happy to see us!”

“You're in the way here. Get out of my way!”

"Don't offend Vittorio!"

Damian, in Chayson's hands, began to wave his arms in different directions and growl menacingly at the man, which caused him to stop and lift the boy higher. So his eyes met, and the boy bared his teeth even more. The man laughed softly, smiling.

“You should try to protect yourself first, you stupid little thing,” Chayson snapped. 

Vittorio swallowed hard, realizing it really was best to get out of here as quickly as possible. He knew what it meant to deal with strong and especially tall men. Those in a fit of rage could hit anyone and hold his body with one hand so that the bones broke in different places. Such an opponent is clearly too difficult for them, so the only right decision would be to retreat and raise the white flag.

However, when Vittorio had already decided to speak again about how they invaded someone else's territory without permission and should leave him, Chayson suddenly lowered Damian to the ground and took a step back with a deep sigh, crouching down and starting picking up fallen books. Once the danger had passed, Damian dusted himself off and straightened his own shirt, running over to the man and starting to help him. The child seemed completely calm next to the adult, as if he wasn't the one who had just been kicked out of the house.

"What do you want those books for?" the man asked, looking at the cover and seeing drawings of buildings on it. “It is very difficult to read. You still won't understand anything.”

“Vittorio wants to design a roof. We don't have nice tiles in our houses, but when I visited him, I noticed that some of his books had beautiful drawings of old houses.”

Damian got up and ran towards the Italian, holding one of the books in his hands.

“Safe.”

Vittorio looked at the design printed on the front. There really was a very nice tile. The Italian's eyes widened in surprise. So that's what the boy meant when he said he would show him roofs of different and very good houses. Turns out they were pictures in her neighbor's books.

Chayson finished picking up the scattered papers and walked over to the Italian, placing the rest in his hands.

"And why do you need to draw roofs? Do you have a fetish for them?

Vittorio nearly dropped all his books on the floor again.

"You... Don't say those words in front of a child! He'll remember everything, and then his parents will bayonet me”

“That's your business.”

“I'll say it was you, not Vittorio, who taught me.” Damian rushed to Chayson's leg and held her sweatpants taut. “So what is a fetish?”

“Damian, forget that word.”

“Is when”

“Are you serious about explaining this to him?”

Chayson shrugged calmly as she walked away from the two and sat down at her desk again.

“Someday he'll know anyway.”

"But not at ten!" Vittorio was indignant and went a little deeper into the office, sitting in one of the chairs against the wall. 

Damian ran and sat on the next one, and then, shifting, he jumped again and ran to the table where Chayson was sitting, forcing the man to step back and, for the first time, sit the boy between his legs.

“What are you writing?”

"Like a guy and a girl...”

"Just dare to finish!" 

“…tell each other stories about how much fun they had in the past,” Chayson finished. “Vittorio, what did you think I was going to say, hmm?”

Vittorio pursed his lips and lowered his eyes in resentment as he began to scribble a quick sketch in his notebook.

“Funny Italian,” the man drawled, starting to stroke Damian's hair. “Well, what fate happened for your path to cross with that treacherous brat?”

Vittorio looked at the man and bit his lip, smiling suddenly.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It's just that you're like one of those movie villains petting your black cat right now. Add evil laughter, turn off the light and the picture are perfect.”

Damian peered out from behind the computer, like a kitten called by its owner. The hand on top of his head froze.

“Wow,” Vittorio continued. “Is it really a guy and a girl talking about the past?”

"No, it's a blank page," Damian replied. “Chayson, do you have no inspiration? Vittorio, Chayson is a writer, but nobody reads his books.”

“Hmm?”

Chayson rubbed her fingers painfully at her eyes.

“I'm going to give you a nice smack on the back of the head… I have to write a romantic scene, and the page is blank because I have absolutely no ideas. And FYI, my books are being read! It's just that lately, when all I've been doing is writing detective stories and thrillers, the interest has shifted to the clichéd novel. The editor wants me to finish writing at least one cute novel. But these melodramas... I wasn't cut out for that.”

"But it's not that difficult," Vittorio said in surprise. 

“If it's not difficult, then sit here and write this crap, but I'm going to dinner.”

“What are we going to eat?”

“Us?” Chayson gasped, getting up from her chair and taking Damian under her arm, handing the laptop to the Italian with her other hand.

“Where are you taking me?” gasped the child, trying to escape the grip, but the man held him tightly and so calmly, as if he were carrying not a living creature, but his hand luggage. 

“Hey, stop! Where are you taking it? His mother will kill me if anything happens to him!”

Vittorio jumped out and followed the man along with the computer.

"Do I look to you like some kind of kidnapper?" Chayson murmured softly as she moved towards the kitchen. “Besides, if I were a kidnapper, the last person in the world I would kidnap would be him, it would be easier to kidnap you.”

"But why are you taking him with you then?"

The man only stopped when he walked into the kitchen and sat Damian down next to him, leaving the boy dangling his legs over the counter. When he turned and met the Italian's eyes, he simply shrugged.

“When there is a child in your house, he must always be in sight. If I had left it there, it would have broken another thing of mine. And I have enough bills to spend this month anyway.”

Damian smiled guiltily.

“I'll tell Dad to buy you a new phone.”

“I already lied that you didn't do anything. Do you think it would be rational now to tell him the truth?”

"Ohhhh, you lied to Daddy…" Damian whispered, looking at the man with a haunted look, as if he were an alien. “Even I would never do that. Adults are so cool.”

Vittorio and Chayson looked at each other at the same time and started laughing at the top of their lungs.

{...}

Victoria stretched and yawned sweetly, covering her mouth with her hand. She, along with Louis, had landed near the private sector and they decided to walk the rest of the way. Some clouds appeared in the sky, which slowly spread over the couple's heads and turned into white ripples. When a curve appeared in the distance, and area number eighteen was already visible, the woman again did not resist and opened her mouth wide, yawning once more. Louis glared at her and lightly jabbed a finger under her ribs.

“Stop it or I'll start doing that too.

“Yuri ended up yawning so sweetly at the station that I couldn't resist. He infected me “Victoria snorted, pouting innocently. “You have to heal me, don't princes save their princesses?”

"And where is the princess? Because you are the opposite of one.”

“Rude.”

She pulled her keys out of her pocket and checked her phone for new notifications.

“What are you going to do about this case?” Louis asked, moving his feet lazily.

“Hmm? No idea, there was no trace of anything peculiar,” replied the woman. “Obviously, the police will close the case for lack of further evidence, and when the relatives show up, they'll offer cremation. Well, or if they insist, they will hand over the body, and there they will themselves arrange the funeral as they see fit.”

"And the maniac Carlos was talking about? Will they leave it to you too?”

“We're not detectives, but if things get really bad, we'll probably be asked to join the investigation as well. Meanwhile... The police are acting on their own, and we have to recruit new staff.”

 

"I'm not surprised everyone left the last boss," Louis snorted. “Remember when a few years ago, Carlos came to us and told us how things were going in his business, I was shaking. It is surprising that the department at that time was not disbanded.”

“But at least something good that Vladimir was able to bring into our lives.”

“What are you talking?”

“He raised me, but not as an employee, but immediately as the head of the department.”

“A department where you don't even have subordinates.”

“It's just details, dear.”

Louis laughed, shaking his head. They both crossed the lawn, cutting a corner instead of going up the gravel path to the house, and stopped on the porch. Louis pulled the door handle and was surprised to find it closed.

“I thought you said Damian was going home.”

“I just got a message from him, look.”

Victoria approached her husband and showed him the phone's screen, on which the highlighted text of the notification that arrived a few minutes ago was visible.

" Mom, we're next door!"

he cooks very poorly compared to you ( ╥ ﹏ ╥ )

Vittorio kicked him out of the kitchen

Louis and Victoria looked up from the phone and looked into each other's eyes. After that, the couple slowly, as if an injection with a special relaxant was injected into the neck muscles, turned their heads towards the neighbor's house. A few seconds passed before one of them spoke.

"How long do you think he'll be there?"

"We probably have twenty minutes to spare, don't we?"

"By all logic, we need to go get him," Louis whispered. “We should be good parents and not transfer responsibility to other people. Especially when we're both free.”

“On the other hand… Chayson and Vittorio didn't call me to pick you up.”

Victoria gripped her husband's side more tightly and continued with a languid exhalation:

“I'm a terrible mother, but when will I get that chance again?”

"When you speak in that voice, I can't resist you... Please don't do that. Let's go get it.”

"Mmm…” Victoria purred slyly and rubbed herself against the man's body, forcing her husband to take a deeper breath. “Noo... I have a route to a more interesting place...”

“Vic...”

“Come on, love.”

Victoria bit the skin on her husband's neck and he sucked in more air through his nostrils, straightening up sharply and straining every muscle in his body.

"Where's that stupid key?" Louis grumbled as he rummaged in his pockets and finally took out the key. 

The woman, chuckling softly, leaned back against his strong back and lowered her hands around her hips, stroking the skin through a thin layer of fabric.

“Don't be nervous, calmly let the key go into the keyhole, and then gently turn it one hundred and eighty degrees, and then do it again and again, and...”

“You're not helping me now,” Louis snarled, opening the house and pulling his wife behind him; His hand gripped the tight knot of his tie, and once they were inside, the woman kicked the door back open.

The pupils in Victoria's eyes clearly filled the entire iris, making the man swallow loudly. She raised her hand to her neck and loosened her poisonous red tie, and Louis at that moment smirked, turning and meeting her eyes.

The man took a step forward, whispering hoarsely:

“Don't tease me, let's go to the bedroom.”

She quickly came to her senses and reached forward, pulling her husband up the stairs. The first door on the second floor of her house belonged to Damian. Her room was now open and empty. Further down the hall was the parents' bedroom and, at the very end, the bathroom. The two entered the room, and Victoria immediately slammed the door, hearing the lock click. He fiddled with the doorknob a few times to be sure.

"Close the windows too."

“Come on, Damian isn't going up to the second floor.”

“It still gives me goosebumps how many times he somehow managed to get into the room when we were halfway there. Better be sure.”

Victoria burst out laughing and went to the window. Their son, when still very young, really had a strange ability. No matter how the parents closed the bedroom doors to devote time to each other, he still mysteriously penetrated and interfered with them in every possible way. Victoria nearly turned gray for the tenth time from such an unexpected visit, and for the next few months, until Damian was older, they were forced to leave him in class or with a neighbor while they left for a motel themselves.

Their bedroom in the new house was a square room that contained a large double bed, a closet, and a rather long dresser along the wall. Next to the window was a door that opened onto a small balcony. It didn't connect to Damian's room, but Louis, learning from bitter experience, bolted all the windows tightly, locked the door and closed the curtains, plunging the room into relative darkness.

Louis looked around, scanning the room.

"Do you think there's nothing left for him to get in here?"

"He won't walk through walls."

"But what if!? Sometimes I'm afraid of his ability...”

Victoria smiled and waved her hand at her husband, Louis walked backwards to the bed and sank onto the edge.

"By the way... do you really have a pack of condoms in your pocket? Why did you need them?”

“Carlos asked me to buy them for him.”

“Poor Carlos…” Louis smiled. “So many years have passed, but he hasn't made any progress… Okay, come to me.”

"I won't let you hit me or I'll have to stop,” the woman purred. “I don't want the same thing to happen the last time.”

Louis whimpered again, and Victoria started stroking his hair and earlobe in an attempt to calm him down.

"I didn't... I didn't do it on purpose, you know...”

"I know," the woman agreed. “We can really kill each other during sex. So now, let's keep calm...”

“Y-yes, and I... I want to say something silly now...” Louis approached his wife's neck and placed kisses all over her skin while squeezing her hips with his hands and helping her in circular movements in his lap. “Will it get in the way?”

"It doesn't matter…" the woman breathed heavily, closing her eyes and moaning softly, enjoying the sensations. “Tell me…”

"Hmmm... I want to impregnate y-you..."

Hearing these words and request, Victoria laughed and immediately brightened up, roaring happily:

"We can try, love...”

{...}

Carlos stretched in his chair, flexing his neck and rising from his seat. The hour of eight in the evening was approaching, and all the servants had already gone home. He was the last one in the building and was already finishing writing the copy for the job advertisements. He provided everything needed. More positives and less negatives, like the fact that the bathroom in his office was unisex, since he only had one. And that week's cooler, they never bothered to fix it. In fact, it was worth buying a new one, but the accounting department still did not want to give money, so all employees had to go out, cross the road and buy drinking water in the store. 

Carlos left the office, noticing that at the very end of the hall, behind a translucent booth, a familiar crown stands out. The man opened a malicious smile and went to the owner of a beautiful platinum hair. Once the distance between the men was decently reduced, Viktor looked up from the monitor and gave the boss the middle finger.

“Suck it.”

“Here?’

"Not me, you idiot!"

Carlos continued to smile happily and approached the Russian almost closely, looking at what he was doing so late on a Sunday.

“What are you doing?”

"What did we say about personal space?"

“That does not exist.”

“No! Viktor abruptly pushed the man away from him a few steps back. “For you to be close to me when we are alone, don't come close!”

“Well, Victor. The more you resist, the more I like it.”

"If you love resistance so much, go find another man!"

“Oh no, I'm not that masochistic.” Carlos smiled. “Let's go on a date, you like me. Don't you dare deny the obvious.”

“You? Wake up” Viktor huffed, going back to work. “Why are you still here and not gone home? You yourself released Victoria in the afternoon and said there was nothing more to do today.”

“She had nothing to do, and thanks to the fact that we expelled Vladimir from here, I became the boss of this entire sector” Carlos leaned against the translucent barrier. “I sat down and organized the papers so that Victoria would be placed on the staff list as quickly as possible and she would not have problems and delays with her salary.”

“A considerate friend, that is.”

“I can also be a very considerate match.”

"Did you write ads?"

"Yes," Carlos spoke slowly. “Look at the mail. I hung a sample hanging from drafts. If you approve, tomorrow it will be possible to publish.” 

Viktor started clicking on links and opening new windows. As the text floated before his eyes, he skimmed through it quickly, shaking his head.

“I think it's okay. But you realize that when people start doing interviews, you're going to have to say we're having some inconvenience at the office, right? And about other jambs related to working hours.”

“Victoria will say.”

“Victoria?”

“Yes, we'll both get it together, and she's a lot better at delivering bad news than I am.”

The Russian shook his head, rolling his eyes. He made the final adjustments to the statements they were collecting today and sent them as attachments to the head of the local precinct so they could double-check everything and decide for themselves whether to leave the case pending or close it for good. After that, Viktor finally finished his work and stretched out in a chair, stretching his stiff muscles. The Russian yawned sweetly and got up from his seat, realizing that Carlos had been looking at him the whole time. 

"Do I have something on my face for you to be staring at me?"

“You're beautiful, why can't I look at you? Come on, you only stayed here because of me.” Carlos smiled, patting his chest with his hand and proudly straightening his shoulders. “As soon as the previous boss retired, everyone resigned with him, and only a few people in the whole building, including you, stayed and didn't dare leave. And to be more precise, then specifically under my command only you remained.”

Viktor huffed and hit the off button on the CPU, waiting for his computer to go to sleep.

"Finished your rant?" 

“Let’s go to the movies.”

“Go yourself. I stayed because only I can control you and make you work!” The Russian lifted his nose in displeasure and brushed his loose hair off his shoulder, poking the man in the chest with his finger and walking past him, heading towards the locker room. “I'll be here tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning, and God forbid you wake me up early saying it's life and death danger again!' You don't pay my overtime!”

Carlos chuckled softly and shoved his hands into his pants pockets, following her receding back and graceful curves of her hips with a hungry gaze.

{...}

When Victoria brought Damian into their room, the clock was showing ten o'clock. The boy was sleeping in his mother's arms and didn't want to let go of her neck. Louis left the bathroom and entered the bedroom with a towel over his shoulders, and upon seeing the scene, his face twisted into a grimace, becoming furious.

“What is that?”

"Calm down, go wake him up."

“Why the hell did you bring him here and not put him in your room?” the man shouted angrily. “Get him out of here. You promised it would only be one night!”

“Come on, two nights still won't change anything” Victoria started to clap her hands cutely. “Look how cute he is when he sleeps. He's so tiny, I want to hug him before he grows up.”

"Go sleep in his room. This room is ours!”

“Only two nights. I promise this will be the last.”

Victoria crossed her hands in a pleading gesture, and seeing the kneeling posture, Louis could only wave his hand and let Damian sleep with them again in the same bed.

Early in the morning, Louis had a big nest on his head and was trying to press the buttons on his son's black shirt, while trying to understand what Victoria was shouting at him from the kitchen. It looked like she was saying that she would have to stop by the store tonight to buy some meat. Damian was making a disgruntled face and was trying his best to convince his parents not to take him anywhere. Naturally, this was unsuccessful. Both of them ignored all of his attempts, so now the boy was even more pissed off than before. Louis yawned with his eyes closed and buttoned the last button while adjusting his clothes.

"Was the color of this uniform specially selected for a funeral service?" murmured the boy, moving away from the sleepy father and going to the hallway mirror.

He scrutinized himself from all sides, and although the uniform fit him perfectly and fit in every way, just decorating the child, Damian was still dissatisfied. Victoria looked out of the kitchen and threw a bag with a package beside her son, quickly starting to put her shoes on.

“Come soon. I won't give you breakfast, but I will give you money. You go to the cafeteria and buy a snack” the woman put her hand in her pocket, extending two crumpled bills to the child.

Damian took the money and stuffed it into his bag. When Victoria noticed that her son wasn't in much of a hurry to get his boots on, she spat on her own preparations and pulled the boy towards her.

“Accept your fate.”

“I don't want to go there. Can I go to Chayson's house?”

“Chayson is not your friend; you go there to be nosy because you want to be” replied the woman. “He is an adult and works. You shouldn't go to him so often and distract him from business. If he wants you to come to him, he will call you himself.”

"But Vittorio said yesterday that he was coming to see him today. Why can he and I can't?”

“Because Vittorio is also an adult and will certainly come to help you with something.”

Damian sniffed as he picked up his bag from the floor and slung the strap over his right shoulder. He leaned against the wall now and watched fully as his mother was leaving. Louis at that moment still deigned to open his eyes and approached both of them.

"And you had to wake me up so early? How can people wake up before ten and look so wide awake?”

Victoria laughed and patted his cheek.

"Sleep as long as you like, at your pleasure."

"Mmm…" Louis yawned again and rubbed his face with his hand. “I have an appointment at eleven.”

“Well, then sleep until ten, and then pack your documents and leave. Do you want me to call to wake you up?”

"Call me if you want to hear me whine."

Victoria smiled as she straightened her red curls and looked at herself in the mirror. In a few seconds, she was already completely ready and assembled to leave. Turning to her husband and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, the woman gathered her things and waved Damian out, opening the front door. Louis muttered something to them at the end, and then closed the door back, clicked the lock, and slowly marched into the bedroom, returning to the interrupted dream. 

Mother and son approached the car and Damian climbed into the backseat, placing his backpack on his lap. His crossed arms and furrowed brows told him that at any moment, if anything bothered him, he was clearly ready to unbuckle his seat belt and jump out of the car. Victoria got behind the wheel and started the engine, pulling out onto the road. Looking in the mirror, she saw the full tragedy on the child's face, so she laughed.

“Damian.” The woman shook her head as she turned the wheel. “You will not go to the gallows. It's just a school.”

“I don't want.”

“I remember when we sent you to school for the first time, on the contrary, you ran there with your eyes shining. You loved spending time with your classmates so much that you didn't want to leave. And he studied with such zeal. Your father and I were so amazed that you were such a good student that we didn't believe it at first. I thought you were just cheating or using cheat sheets.”

“Learning…is interesting.”

“Especially calligraphy, right?”

Damian didn't answer. He just sat and looked out the window, watching the sky as they gradually exited the private sector. Drab houses have been replaced by small restaurants and huge skyscrapers. The sun was rising over the horizon, painting the entire sky a beautiful purple. His car stopped at a traffic light, and while the green light was on, pedestrians quickly crossed the intersection.

Victoria turned to her son and patted his knee, reaching for the leg.

“Well, what are you doing? I'm sure you will love this school. You know, they have all classes combined, and if you want to go to senior after the middle link, you just have to move the building to a neighboring one, not transfer to another school. Very good?”

“Isn't it great,” the child insisted stubbornly. “I want to go home.”

“You're not going there anyway, no matter how much you pity me here.”

“But why?!”

“Because how do you imagine that?” Victoria pressed the accelerator pedal and they moved forward. “We didn't just move. From my current job to our latest apartment, it's a four-hour one-way trip. Imagine that there are traffic jams in the morning and in the evening. That's at least an hour more than the total travel time. I spent ten hours a day driving. Is very. We just can't go back, you know? It's not comfortable. Everything close by. It's five minutes to your school by car and half an hour to my work.”

Damian understood everything perfectly in his brain, but he's a kid, and a kid misses his friends he's known for over six years. Of course, it's hard for him to say goodbye to them and start all over again. So he just frowned even more and muttered:

“Well then, leave this job.”

“HAHA HA! Very logical. And who will pay our bills? You?”

“Oh no.”

“Well, then the conversation is over” Victoria smiled and parked beside the gate. “Look how many people are here. And all of them can become your new friends. I remember that at that school you were in the mechanics group and even managed to make friends with several high school students.”

Damian pushed up in his seat and looked out the window, seeing students gathering in front of the car and coming from all directions towards the school, the sports field. 

“I remember. But I only participated for a month. The mechanics are not that interesting.”

"I agree," the woman nodded. “Maybe here you choose a group that didn't have in that school? Did I tell you about the veterinary group? You can apply there. You asked us many times to have a dog as a child.”

“You said I'm your dog.”

"You're our talking dog." Victoria smiled and turned around, reaching for the top of the child's head and rubbing it several times. “Come on, run. You are a smart guy. You will quickly get used to everything and join the team.”

Damian huffed and scowled as he tried to smooth his hair back and failed. Thick, brown strands protruded in all directions, which made Victoria feel even more touched. Her son is a pure charm. Even when he was angry or dissatisfied with something, Victoria still wanted to hug him and squeeze him properly. Damian pulled the bag with the package towards her and opened the door, getting out of the car. He waved his hand at his mother and remained still, following the car with his eyes. 

As soon as the car with the woman was out of sight, the child snarled and marched up to the entrance, surveying the territory. His eyes flicked from one student he met to another. Victoria was right. In fact, there were not only junior and middle managers. High school students would also pass by this building and head from it to the large neighboring building, which was in the distance. All the children carried bags and folders on their shoulders, some also carried bags, which probably contained a physical education sheet, along with lunch boxes and shoes. Damian was already regretting that his parents couldn't give him homemade food to take away today. He never liked to eat canteen food, and his parents always insisted that he buy hot meals, 

The boy slowly rearranged his legs and moved forward. When his eyes met someone else's, that person stared at him in surprise for another minute, and then waved his hand. Damian snorted. Think about it. Well, he has heterochromia, what's so shocking about that? He didn't like it anymore when, precisely because of this peculiarity, everyone tried to be his friend. You see, this is very unusual and beautiful, and you should definitely have such a friend in your contact list, just to brag to others that he is their friend. Damian never spoke to these people for very long. No one will tolerate this. It was important that the boy be friends with him because he is Damian, not because he is Damian who has heterochromia and one eye is green and the other blue.

The boy reached the gate and saw everyone gradually gather in the stadium. The children created perfect columns and prepared for the solemn raising of the school flag, which marked the beginning of a new school week. Damian exhaled and decided to change course. He entered the school building, went to the locker room and found his name on one of them. The boy changed his shoes and, picking up his bag, went to the nearest window, from where he could see the stadium. He wasn't a coward and he didn't hide because he was afraid of a new environment. It's just that now he didn't want to be here so much that, he didn't want to come to this school and he doesn't want to study with his new classmates, so why would he share such important moments with them? 

Which is why, when the music came on, he simply grunted under his breath and turned around, starting to walk towards the cabin. He passed the guard post and the small revolving turnstile, seeing that two people were already standing beside the large white screen. One of them was slightly taller and the other was about the same height and age as Damian. But what was the boy's surprise when these two turned to him and became like two drops of water, similar to each other. There really wasn't much difference between them.

One was younger, the other older. Two boys. One smiled at him, while the other kept a neutral expression. Damian slowed his pace, ending up beside them.

"Hi," the boy said softly. 

Damian nodded at him.

“Hello.”

“You're Damian, right?” The taller one stepped forward and bowed. “Nice to meet you my name is Nate, second year high school student, and this is my brother Oberti. You will go to the same class with him, to which I will now accompany you. You are very lucky. I myself once studied with such a teacher. He's very kind and fair to everyone, so I'm sure you two will love it here.”

Damian nodded again.

“Yes.”

He glanced at Oberti, but he was still dead silent. The boy mentally snorted at that. His mother seems to be wrong. If they're all like this Oberti, then Damian definitely doesn't want to go and tomorrow he's going to stay home, tying himself to his bed with a rope.

Nate turned his head towards the boy, and seeing that Damian was looking at his brother, he smiled. 

“Don't pay too much attention, Oberti isn't very talkative, he's just arrived from abroad where he's been undergoing special training all this time. Therefore, he is still not used to interactions and behaves coldly.”

“OK I understand.”

Well, if that's the case, then Damian isn't so angry anymore. The three left the hall and headed towards the stairs, starting to climb to the third floor. As soon as the flights of stairs were left behind, two children and a teenager began to walk down the hall that Damian had visited yesterday. They passed Silva's door, and the boy followed with a bored look on his face. Nate stopped right in the corner, pointing to the right office door. Right next to him was a plaque with the class number "5-1". Oberti opened the door without further ado and hid behind it, going inside.

“Well. Good luck Damian! See you around!”

Nate waved at him and turned, heading back the way they'd come. Damian followed the teen's back as he left, and when his hand was almost on the closet doorknob, Damian suddenly pulled it back and quickly backed away from the door. 

What will happen if he skips class today? He can't go home, because his dad is still there, and he's only going out for a little while, and he has hours until four o'clock. Going to Chayson isn't an option either, and he doesn't know where Vittorio lives. He could run away to his university and spend his breakfast money on a bus ride, but now, unlike school, the university doesn't work. So Damian has nowhere to go. Just wandering the streets. he will be stopped by some policeman and brought back because of the school uniform, so what's the point of leaving the school grounds?

Damian tried to think faster, but not noticing anything, he just turned and ran away. In the end, if you can't get out of here, you can hide in the bushes and stay hidden until the end of class. Teachers are definitely not going to let this go unnoticed. They will let a day or two pass, but on the third day they will definitely call their parents and inform them that the child is missing classes. And that's it. Everything is working out! Victoria and Louis will finally understand that they will not be able to influence him in any way, why not take time off from work every day to accompany their son by the hand, and then sit next to him in every lesson to make sure that Damian does not run away? Of course they won't! From this follows only one conclusion. Your parents will admit how bad it is for your child here,

This plan was perfect.

{...}

Damian threw his bag into the shoe closet and quickly ran outside. Immediately after his feet touched the asphalt path next to the porch, a bell rang overhead, and after a few minutes, beside the boy, the area finally cleared of the annoying voices of children and teenagers. Damian took a deep breath and stepped forward. He decided to go through all the territory himself and at the same time not burden Nate with a tour later. Although the guy was only in his second year, high school is still high school, and everyone there must study well and not be distracted by these classes. His father told him more than once that his son, while classes were going on, shouldn't miss school having fun with his friends, because he has weekends and holidays for these activities. And then his parents' eyes widened when their son ranked first among all elementary school grades in academic performance. After that, Damian didn't know if he could break the rule in the future, but right now he didn't think much of it. 

He has a full year of elementary school before passing the midterms, then the finals, and finally moving up another notch. No one will call him a high school student anymore, and people will begin to perceive the boy as an adult. 

As Damian turned the corner and walked around the large, convex outbuilding, he found himself hearing a noise. 

He stopped, listening, and started walking as quietly as possible. His inner senses were heightened to the limit, and the boy, after a few yards, went behind the bushes, dropping to a crouch and beginning to crawl. If predators prefer to hunt this way in the animal world, now Damian has definitely tracked his antelope. This very antelope turned out to be a guy. He sat down, and diligently tried to do something. Judging by the sounds and his labored breathing, and also by the tool that glinted in his hands when the sun hit it, he was trying to unscrew something. Damian peered harder, eyes narrowing. The wall leading to where they ended up was missing joints and seams. Smooth concrete surface however right where the guy was trying to unscrew there was a hole.

But the question remained. Why does he need a tool? To unscrew the grate? But what is the reason? The hole is so small, even Damian couldn't get through it if it was open. Suddenly, the same guy who had been busy with his meticulous work all this time raised his head and looked Damian straight in the eyes.

"Are you really trying to hide?" the high school student snorted, pursing his lips in a smile, exposing his pointed fangs, looking like vampire fangs. 

Damian shrugged, fingering the leaves on the bush.

“You have a good reflex.”

“Or you who really don't know how to hide.”

The boy laughed again and clucked his tongue as he walked away from the boy and went back to his task. When this young man didn't say anything else, Damian decided he could go over. It no longer made sense to keep a distance behind the bushes. As Damian closed the distance between them, he noticed something he hadn't seen before. The guy was still wielding a screwdriver, unscrewing small screws and throwing them into the grass next to him, and right next to him on the other side, there was a large box covered with a thick gray cloth. From under the fabric a swarming sound was heard, which suggested that something alive was hiding there. Damian became even more incomprehensible to the whole situation.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?”

“Well…” Damian tapped his chin with a finger, furrowing his brows in thought. “Are you opening the vent?”

“Exactly.”

“But why? And what's in that box?”

“If you're that interested, open it up and take a look,” the guy snorted impatiently.

It seemed that this young man didn't mind at all. Both were in school uniform, black pants and shirt. The badge with the school's emblem was emblazoned on the front of his chest, and naturally, this high school student should have understood that by acting so recklessly because he was caught at the crime scene, Damian could easily report him. The boy walked around the guy and crouched down, pulling the thick fabric off one end of the box.

“Destroying public property is not legal. Daddy says you can't do that.”

"Are you daddy's girl?"

“I'm not a girl.”

“I don't see that. Come on boy, look at me.”

Without any warning, the boy abruptly grabbed Damian's chin in his hand, turning the child to face him and starting to examine him carefully. The boy naturally did not like such an attitude towards himself and tried to escape, but in this position he could not compete with a person much older than him. Damian shook his head convulsively, in response to which the fingers on his face tightened, causing even more discomfort.

“That hurts! Leave me!”

“And what eyes, just look at yourself” the guy smiled, continuing to look at the boy. “When you grow up all the girls will throw themselves on your neck. Ah, what an injustice of life, huh? Hey little one, who are your parents?”

Damian frowned, confused.

“Humans?”

“No, your idiot. Who are they? Models? Actors? Former band members? Why do they have such a handsome son, huh?”

Damian jerked back and was finally released. He immediately began opening and closing his mouth, massaging and flexing his jaw. This strange guy's grip was very strong and hard. But his behavior was still very incomprehensible. First he smiles, then he starts complaining about life and blames Damian. Are you sure this guy is okay? 

"By the way, I've never seen you here before. You're new?”

“Yes.”

“Which grade are you in?”

“I was assigned to class 5-1.”

The boy suddenly and abruptly turned towards Damian and clung to him closely, nearly colliding with the child's forehead. The high school student stretched his lips just in a crazy smile.

“5-1? Seriously 5”1? Ha-ha-ha-ha! How lucky you are, this is Jasper's gang! Hey, do you want me to take you to him? By the way... Why aren't you in class?”

“And you?”

“Me?” Guy smiled. “I’m walking.”

"And why are you so happy about it?"

"The same reason why you're here so happy and won't leave," replied the boy. “Come on, see what's in the box, and then help me, since you're staying here.”

Damian wrinkled his nose in disbelief, then turned and pulled the fabric from one of the four corners. It turned out that it was not a box, but a cage. And in this cage there really was a living being. And not one. There were at least a dozen sleeping chickens tightly packed together. The child's eyes immediately lit up with joy and he fell to his knees beside the birds, supporting himself on top of the cage with his hands.

“Chickens! So cute! Can I get them? Where did you get them?”

“Where I got it doesn't matter anymore.” The guy unscrewed the last screw and tossed the heavy cast-iron grate aside. 

He clapped his hands, thus cleaning the dirt, and for greater cleanliness he rubbed his palms on the surface of his trousers, getting up and approaching the chickens.

"Do you want to cuddle? Aren't you scared? They can peck you.”

“Only roosters peck.”

The guy smiled wider.

"Okay, come on, help me up."

Damian, still mesmerized by the sight of the plump, fluffy chickens in front of his eyes, jumped up without any protest and began dragging the cage towards the open vent in the wall. They installed it in such a way that the door that opened the birds was firmly attached and directed towards the common building. Therefore, as soon as they move the valve to the side, all these chickens will not run in different directions, but will fall and run further, scattering throughout the pool where the swimming lesson was now taking place.

“Hey boy. What is your name?”

“Damian. And who are you? You look older than me.”

“Of course, I'm older than you. I'm in the third year of high school. I'm graduating from here this year” the guy smiled. “My name is Chris.”

Chris calmly walked away from the cage for a few steps and swung his leg, kicking it causing the chickens to instantly wake up and panic. Damian flinched and recoiled at such a harsh sound. Immediately after, Chris didn't stay still and quickly opened the door, allowing the birds to escape through the gap. It didn't take long for the boys to be silent, when from the windows that were high up and ajar, a man and other children screamed.

Chris smiled harder, leaning his head back with his chin high and allowing himself to stay that way for a while. From the outside, it looked like he didn't pull off a dirty trick, but won some especially valuable prize. Damian recovered from his slight daze and came to his senses, realizing what they had just done. His eyes widened in horror.

"You... Why did you do that!? We will be scolded!”

Chris lowered her head and winked at him.

“They'll scold you only if they find you.”

“What are you talking?!”

“You're a fool if you stay here like this. And an even bigger fool if you're going to help everyone get them. Follow me.” Chris turned and waved his hand, calling the boy to him. “There's a low window on the other side. There will be a better view from there. Let's see how these little ones entertain everyone there.”

Damian stared at the departing boy in amazement as his feet turned to stone and froze to the hot ground. He didn't even know what he was doing. And now it's all over that he's become an accomplice in all this fuss. All he intended to do was spend this day in silence, hiding in the school grounds, but becoming a bully wasn't part of his plans. Damian swallowed hard and looked around fearfully, afraid that the teachers were already on their way and were about to catch them both. There was nothing left to do but quickly take off and run after Chris.

The high school student smiled in satisfaction as he found the little one next to his leg.

“Don't shake like that. I just had a little fun.”

"It's bad to do this! You got me into this too!”

Chris shrugged, not caring at all. He threw his hands behind his head and walked calmly around the covered pool area with the boy. Damian refused to be in such a light mood, so he continued to get angry:

"You should be ashamed of yourself! Daddy says only good things should be done!”

"Didn't I do a good thing?"

“What?!”

“Damian, how cruel you are. I gave these chickens freedom. They were languishing under lock and key, and now, by one of my kind gestures, they have found their will and now play happily and run around for their own pleasure. Is it not a good deed?”

Damian blinked in surprise, not knowing what to say. All he could do was start stammering with indignation:

“You… Yes, you… Yes, how you…”

Chris laughed softly. They reached the window, which was actually not that high, and the high school student quickly grabbed the boy by the arms, throwing him up and helping him to the windowsill. After that, he quickly got up on his hands and settled down next to him. Two pairs of eyes looked inward and the guys clung to the glass. The chickens have overcome all the obstacles that separated them from the school children and are now running all over the pool area. Several of them even fell into the water, and the teacher and the janitors tried to fish them out. His feathers flew across the room and Damian couldn't help but smile and chuckle softly.

Chris shifted his gaze to him and patted him several times on the back as he jumped abruptly from the windowsill.

"Come on, Jasper is waiting for me, I'm coming."

“What?! Damian turned abruptly and looked at the taller one helplessly.”

Although it was not high here, it was still scary for the child to jump.

“Wait a minute! Where are you going?! Are you going to leave me here alone?!”

"Are you three years old?"

“No but…”

“Well, then you'll find out for yourself,” the guy dismissed. “Although… If you jump out and can outrun me into those bushes over there, I'll take you to a very interesting place.”

Damian frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're trying to trick me!"

"I'm not," Chris smiled. “I won't even run, but I will walk at a brisk pace. And there? Accepted?”

{...}

Louis licked his lips as he watched a woman in a classic black suit and small half glasses peruse his portfolio, which he had placed on the table a moment ago. When, after a while, the last page was turned and all the pictures were carefully studied, her stern look and furrowed brows were replaced by a calm expression on her face. Lilith smiled and pushed a clear bowl towards the man, which contained small chocolates.

“You can eat.”

“Oh, um…thanks.”

Louis also smiled politely, and as he still didn't know if he was hired or not, he continued to act extremely cautious, afraid of scaring his potential new employer. In fact, he has five more interviews lined up this week, but this was his favorite spot on the overall list. Louis really wanted to be accepted. So when the girl offered him sweets, he decided that was a good sign. Taking one of the chocolates in his hands, he began to unfold the foil, placing the candy in his mouth and immediately biting into the coffee nut with his teeth. 

Lilith chuckled softly, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Louis, don't be nervous, you're done” the woman waved her hand and tucked her loose hair behind her ear. “I must say, I'm surprised you came to us for an ordinary designer post.”

“Why? Does my job not suit you?”

"On the contrary." Lilith pushed closer the folder with all the works and sketches that Louis had designed and sewn in his entire life, and chose a fire red dress that was in the section of dresses for festive ceremonies. “I wouldn't refuse to wear this, and I have very scrupulous taste. Your work is simply wonderful. And I'm surprised you chose our company. With your portfolio, you must work for some well-known brand, not here. Have you heard about our design developments?”

“No.”

"So maybe you heard about us from friends or relatives?”

Louis shook his head as he took the second piece of candy and popped it into his mouth, feeling more relaxed and at ease.

“No. I didn't hear anything until yesterday.”

"So..." Lilith blinked, resting her chin on her hand. “Are you interested in something in our company? Do we have something that others don't?”

“Mmm…” Louis thought about how to better and more formally disguise his next sentence, but then decided it wasn't worth it and blurted out directly: “Your work schedule is free and the hours can be distributed as you wish. In other offices, hours are normal and... so, above all, I would like to speak with you.”

Lilith's face tightened in surprise. What she didn't expect was that a place could interest people with these criteria.

“Are you serious?”

"I'm an owl," replied the man. “It's hard for me to get up in the morning. I was usually yelled at for my constant absenteeism, which is why I have such a huge portfolio and lots of work. I changed companies a lot, and although they liked my work, they didn't want to put up with my constant absenteeism.”

“Wow.”

"Exactly," the man nodded. “So… it doesn't really matter which company I work for. The main thing is that I do not have to work according to templates, but I develop sketches and designs myself, and also so that the working day does not start in the morning. But, of course, if you don't hire me, I'll have to go to another position.

Lilith raised an eyebrow at the thought of all the information about her new employee. In fact, she didn't lie. All of this man's work was amazing. The woman gave candidates a great deal of indulgence, but it seems this man was unnecessarily indulgent. What fabric textures, what additional accessories, what elegant cutouts and what different ways to design new styles in extraordinary models. Louis is definitely one of the designers they are looking for lately. 

Lilith got up from the table and smiled.

“Louis, actually, the free work schedule that was listed on the website is old information.

“Oh, oh...” the man followed the woman, leaving the office and finding himself in the studio's main and working areas. “Then”

“I'm not done.” Lilith smiled. “Ad text was probably copied from the old one. The fact is, we give a free schedule and personal control over schedules not just to designers, but to lead project managers who oversee an entire group of subordinates. I think you understand why. Thus, we pay more money for this position.”

"Understood." The man nodded, walking forward.

The two passed the tables, each surrounded by semi-transparent dividing barriers. Some of the young women who were engaged in tailoring looked out of the corner of their eyes and walked over the man's entire figure, letting out languid sighs. Louis paid no attention to this, he and Lilith walked away, stopping right at the end. There, in the corner behind the computer, was a beautiful middle-aged woman who is currently using 3D modeling to create a new design for a dress in Photoshop. As soon as she noticed the presence of other people nearby, she looked up from her work and turned away, shaking her head.

“Louis, meet one of our main designers and head of the latest children's clothing project Lilian” the woman pointed at the girl. “Lilian, this is Louis, I would be happy if he could analyze the general progress of the work with his help. I'd like to get him to us, but I also need to make sure the layouts he's drawn aren't fakes. Louis, I think you understand me.”

"Yes, of course, but…"

“Right now?”

“Is it necessary to do it on computers?”

Lilian and Lilith looked at each other and Lilian said:

“Sorry, but how are you going to make clothes then?”

“I have mannequins at home. It's much more familiar working with them and… So somehow the clothes feel more alive? I don't know... I've always preferred mannequins or live models. Do you only work on computers?”

“Of course not… it's just that in the early stages of developing a sketch and general image, it's much more convenient.” Lilian smiled. “We take people's measurements if the work is made to order, and then we combine our ideas, present the client with how the look will look, and only then do we start working with fabrics and tailoring on mannequins.”

“Louis, don't you know how to work in professional programs?”

The man awkwardly scratched his neck with his hand, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“How did you work before? In the last five years, all large and medium sized companies have switched to computer and modeling programs.”

“I was asked to continue in the same spirit, and while I was doing the job, the rest was unimportant.” The man smiled. “Of course, if that doesn't suit you, I'll have to look for another job, it's just… I won't hide it, but it takes a lot of time and effort to learn how to work on these programs, and in the last ten years I haven't had that time. Got out as best he could.”

Lilian smiled softly, and then her eyes dropped to the man's right hand, where the ring was. 

“Oh, I definitely understand you, but in the end.” The woman rose from her chair, and when she rose to her full height, she reached Louis to her shoulder. 

The woman walked around Louis and placed her hands on his broad shoulders, pushing the man and making him fall into his chair, where she had sat and worked earlier. Lilian moved to the side and began to close unnecessary windows, after which she opened a new document and set the necessary parameters there. Louis followed his actions, and his head gradually began to spin. For as long as the man could remember, he never liked the computer science and programming classes he took at university. Victoria always helped him deal with this game in later courses, and she herself sat nearby and grumbled that he was completely incapable of using technology. Now, when they obviously wanted to teach everything in a new way, the Russian already felt sorry for this sweet woman.

“Here, look here.” Lilian took her hand off the mouse and started pointing at the little icons with her finger. “This is the easiest Photoshop program. Here are brushes, here is a special tool for retouching. In the window on the right you can apply shadows. If you click here, you can change the scale as you see fit. Here's the outline. You can do it as a normal selection or click on this arrow and do everything manually. It's not as difficult as it sounds. I'm going to teach you.”

Lilith was on the other side of the man and snorted in satisfaction.

"In that case," the woman began. “Lilian will show you how and what they use in their work. She will tell you how everything is going with us here, and I think that later we will talk again and discuss everything. If everything works out for both of us, we can assign her a project with a trial period, and if she's successful, she'll be replaced by another lead designer. Only people with experience are missing. Recently, there have been many customers with velvet twists, and we cannot fantasize about the desired design and please them. 

“And the timetable? No free time?”

Lilith thought about it and looked away.

“If it's really unbearable for you to wake up too early while you're on an internship, then how about changing the time? You can arrive at ten, but you will have to leave later. And, if there's a lockdown, you'll have to stay late. Will this help?”

Louis smiled gratefully and let out a sigh of relief.

“For sure.”

“Then I'll see you after lunch. Good luck Louis.”

Lilith turned and left quickly, once again hiding behind the office door. The man relaxed in his chair and his shoulders slumped visibly, but then Lilian brought him back to a world of stress and pain when she laughed and pointed at the monitor screen.

“Come on, try it yourself. And I will watch.”

{...}

Two men and a woman sat down at the table and laid out a new batch of letters for which Victoria had kindly bought them at a nearby bazaar on the corner. Time dragged slowly, the first candidate promised to come to them for an interview only after lunch. So now Victoria, Carlos and Yuri were playing, doing whatever was required of them to work early in the morning. 

Yuri arrived a few minutes ago. He came to bring some papers that the accounting department handed over, and when Carlos and Victoria invited him to the game, the Russian simply couldn't bring himself to refuse. That is why Yuri sat next to the elders and periodically shuddered at any noise outside the door, afraid to look at her. Viktor really didn't like it when they shied away from work, and since they were in the same department and sat at neighboring desks, Viktor could miss him and show up here at any moment.

"If you squint like that, you'll stay like that forever," Victoria grumbled, handing each of them two cards. 

"Does anyone believe that?" Carlos asked.

“My son believes.”

“Well, it's Damian.”

“What are you trying to say? That he is stupid and naive?” Victoria was angry.

"No." Carlos threw a few small coins in the middle, confirming the deposit. “It's just that Damian will believe everything you tell him.”

“How old is he?” Yuri asked looking at his letters.

Victoria slowly reached into the main deck and laid down the first three cards, starting to study them and see if he made any of the combinations. So far, everything has been relatively good. She has a pair of queens, and if another ten and a king come out, she has a straight. The woman happily tossed in a few more coins, causing Carlos to laugh but support the bet.

“How old is your son?”

“He'll be eleven this year.”

"Wow, how old are you?”

Victoria laughed and winked at the boy as she bent down to reveal the next card.

“Trust me, you don't want to know the answer to this question.” The woman chuckled. “Let's assume I'm always eighteen.”

“Pfft, you looked worse at eighteen than you do now.”

“Oh, come on, I wasn't that bad.”

"It was, it was, who are you arguing with?" Carlos looked at the eight fallen and decided to jump, as well as everyone else.

Yuri looked at the last open queen, and when Victoria threw a few more into the general pile of money, he threw the cards away.

“Did you study together? the young man asked.”

Victoria revealed her combination of three, and Carlos growled as he threw his cards into a pile.

“We went to high school together when we were sixteen, but then we were at different colleges. At that time, when I met her, in her first year of high school, Victoria was already with Louis.”

“Louis is your husband, right?”

“Yes. Lost, Carlos.”

Carlos dutifully began collecting and shuffling the cards.

“Is your last name your husband's? Romanov?”

“Not registered, just presented.”

“By the way, I wanted to clarify everything,” said the youngest. “If both are married, shouldn't they have the same last name? My mother took my father's last name when they got married.”

"That doesn't always happen," Victoria replied. “I introduce myself with my husband’s last name, Romanov, so as not to attract attention, but his last name was not registered in the registry office in place of mine on our wedding day at my request, I decided to keep it that way, but the children keep it the surname of both parents, as well as Damian. But we never call him by his full name, it's too long, you know?”

Yuri shook his head.

“So, your husband's last name is of Russian origin, is he Russian? Or...”

“He's Russian, yes.”

"Oh, where was he born?"

“Moscow.”

Yuri was silent assimilating that answer.

“Now I'm curious about your last name, why would it draw attention?”

“It's from a noble family in Scotland, more specifically my parents' surname, I need to keep it confidential.”

“Oh, I think I understand. My mother and I have my father's last name. Dad was terribly surprised when he found out that I was just like him. He thought that since I would have my mother's personality like I took after her looks, but I got into fights constantly, and always fought with guys three times my size.”

“Hah, yeah… Damian isn't particularly conflicted, I sometimes wonder what kind of misfortune awaits us during his puberty.” 

“Oh-ho-ho. You promised me to film this moment” ​​Carlos smiled.

“Why are you filming?” Yuri asked in surprise, picking up two cards again and pleasantly surprised that both were aces.

Victoria furrowed her brows, carefully examining her own and tossing in coins for the first bet.

“Damian isn't particularly conflicted, but he has a strong personality and chances are he's a troubled teenager. Carlos wants me to film his first psychotic break or fight.”

"But isn't that good?" Yuri was surprised. “My father always told me that it is good for a boy to be dominant and always win in fights.”

“That's not cool, your dad looked like he was teaching him to be a bully.”

“Why?”

“People like that nobody can stand to be around.” Victoria shrugged and Yuri swallowed hard.

Carlos laughed out loud.

“Há-há-há-há-ah! Oh, I can't. I'm really looking forward to this moment. It's so fun. It's just that Damian is so… He's such a cute kid, and then he stretches out and becomes this tall skinny guy who beats everybody up.”

“It’s not funny!”

Victoria bumped into Carlos, who was still whinnying instead of playing cards, and slumped back in her chair, looking at Yuri.

"But admit that your biggest concern isn't whether Damian gets into fights, it's whether he gets into some girl." Victoria glared at Carlos.

"Shut up, you useless old man!" she snorted angrily, wondering if breaking the chair that was sitting on Carlos' head would be too much damage and if she would be trapped for too long, choosing to take a deep breath and calm down instead “Besides… No relationship until that he is eighteen!” 

Yuri cracked his fist and Carlos rocked in his chair, squinting.

“Oh-oh... Said the one who fucked half the district in her first week in Poland.”

“Shut up!”

“Serious?” Yuri was surprised. 

“Sure, seriously, look at her” Carlos threw a pen at the woman “That was before she met her future in-laws and met Louis, because after they met, ho-ho-ho! What were those two.”

Victoria rolled her eyes, looking at the fact that out of all the combinations, she only had a maximum of two pairs here.

“What happened? Did they fall in love right away?” the youngest asked.

“Yes, and how.”

"Inwardly, I've always liked him," Victoria objected.

“That's why you broke two of his teeth, right?”

“You broke two of your husband's teeth?!”

“A friendly fight in youth happens to everyone. When his family took me in, we didn't get along with each other initially.”

“This friendly fight has dragged on for two years,” Carlos whispered, leaning closer to Yuri. “All they did was fight about everything. I once found them sitting together side by side in the same auditorium, all the seats around them empty. And when, in the middle of the lecture, one of them ran out of a pen, and tried to ask the other, Louis slapped her across the jaw right in the lecture, and she responded in kind. Our poor lecturer, he wouldn't let the two of them into the audience again.

"Well, why did he pinch my hand? By the way, I'm still offended.”

“Do you remember how you asked him for something back then?”

“I always asked politely, that wasn't necessary.”

“Give me your pen here, or it will end up in your anus, that is definitely a very polite phrase. I will always use it from now on.”

Yuri laughed.

“Hey! I did my best! I was young, how else was I supposed to show signs of attention?”

"Well, I don't know," Carlos chuckled to himself as well, shaking his head. “How about asking him out?”

“And I invited! Remember when we had a spring festival?”

“But you just walked by, shoved him in the shoulder, and after you'd done a good job of punching each other in the face, lying in the grass, and when I dragged you out, you yelled, 'Don't you dare come to the door. cinema tonight at 7pm!" 

“HA-HA-HA! What? Don't you dare come?” Yuri wiped her tears. “How can that be considered an invitation? More like a threat.”

"So, he came." Victoria crossed her arms triumphantly over her chest.

“Serious?”

"You just don't know these two," Carlos replied. “They did everything against each other. So, it stands to reason that if Victoria told him not to come, he would.”

“Oh-oh... And how was it?”

“Let me remind you… I think we…”

"I think you've gone completely insane…" A low whisper cut through the office, and Viktor's chilling horror, cold, dark aura wafted from the half-open door.

 

Carlos slid a little off the chair, but Yuri had already managed to completely hide under the table by this time. Victoria swallowed hard and tried to remove the letters, but Viktor in the doorway only got angrier. For the first time, the woman found the usually friendly, smiling Viktor now so scary as to make her knees tremble. 

“Viktor, listen, we were just… we… We're here, uh… So, off I went.” Carlos jumped up and walked quickly to the second door, which allowed him to step out of the office into the hallway. “Work, business...”

“CARLOOOOOOS! I WARNED! NO GAME AT WORK!” 

“Run!”

Carlos jumped out of the office, Victoria was quickly distracted and threw a large folder of papers at Viktor, which he caught and slowed down, and Yuri, taking advantage of the older Russian's momentary confusion, jumped out of hiding and ran after Victoria and Carlos, running away.

"Spread out!" 

“Like this?!” Carlos was horrified. "He's going to run after me!"

“CARLOOOOOOOOOOS!”

"Ah-ah-ah! Victoria, don't you dare leave me!” 

“Yuri, run over there, and as soon as I run after you, close the door immediately!”

"Understood!"

“WHAT?!”

“CARLOOOOOOOOOOOOS! I WARNED YOU! I WARNED YOU, WHERE ARE YOU RUNNING TO?!”

"Hurry up, Yuri!" 

“I almost!”

“Traitors! Yuri! In fact, I'm your boss!”

"Excuse me, Carlos!" Mr. Viktor is scarier now! It's every man for himself!”

“What!?” 

“CARLOOOOOOOOOOOOS!”

Viktor quickly chased them all down the hall, gradually closing the gap. And as soon as Victoria and Yuri disappeared behind the door, forcing Carlos to press her by inertia with his whole body and hit her in the face painfully, Viktor, angry and burning with rage, overtook him. The Russian abruptly grabbed the taller man by the ear and dragged him away.

"Shit... Viktor!" Viktor! Vitya! That hurts! Baby, let me go!”

As soon as the last sentence left Carlos' lips, Viktor got even angrier and pinched the other's ear with his fingers.

“VIKTOR, YOU ARE EVIL!”