“Max arrived late on purpose. He carefully opened the front door, silently made his way into the bathroom, undressed, took a shower, and then entered the bedroom. He liked to look at Maria sleeping. At first - to look. Sometimes ten minutes passed before he approached the bed. It seemed to Maria that Max wanted to make sure that she was sleeping, soundly, for real. And Maria was very afraid of upsetting him, pretending to be asleep, watching her breathing, trying to keep her eyelids from trembling treacherously. She was sleeping. She doesn't even suspect that Max is standing in the doorway of the bedroom, getting more excited every second. They never discussed this, he never asked her to pretend - she herself felt his desire and did everything to make the man she loved happy. Once she even wanted to take a sleeping pill before his arrival, but realized that, having fallen asleep for real, she would not be able to caress him, respond to his movements, as if by accident, as if obeying the magic of his desires...”