Forbidden Dream

Staring deeply into her eyes he could see the glints of gold within the green that sparkled as she smiled at him. His embrace remained relaxed around her waist mostly because it was not necessary to draw her near having done so on her on. Her hair hung around her bare shoulders as he gently rubbed his fingers slowly across her skin. Something inside him held him back from freeing the urge that was growing inside him faster than he could respond.

“Why do you hesitate”, she asked him as she kissed him on the chest.

“I’ve waited so long just to hold you like this that every moment here seems so dreamlike”, he replied as he softly kissed her on the lips.

“For both of us”, she answered and kissed him again as her hand slid up the back of his short dark hair. “Both of us”, she added as they both faded into the kiss that had waited years to be fulfilled.

At some point in time within the kiss, they realized that they had to stop before they became too carried away. Eventually, they slowly pulled away with a gentle, yet nervous, smile.

“Thank you”, he told her. It wasn’t exactly an appropriate response but he still felt the nervousness of desire rolling throughout his body.

She seemed surprised at his response and felt equally awkward in answering, “You’re welcome”.

“I meant”, he started to say as he clarified what he was trying to say. “I meant, thank you for never giving up on…us”.

She softly smiled as she grabbed his shoulders and told him, “I’m glad you waited”.

“Eternally…I would have waited an eternity”, he replied and kissed her again.

The faint sound of an alarm clock grew stronger and stronger pulling him away from the dream and back into the reality. The dream had left him feeling strange and yet, still longing just to know; what would her kiss feel like to him? Maybe soon, maybe even today, he would find out if only he had some way of being alone with her; if only for that moment.

Dreams are the images of the heart…may this dream come true and the truth of the kiss be revealed. A kiss shared where it may be had without cameras and prying eyes. A kiss between him and her and of them; given in slow, soft, passion given with respect and tenderness. It is the dream of the heart. It is the fulfilling of a simple desire so needed; so wanted. It is the moment they will have and must have. To feel each other closely as their passion burns carrying their minds away into each others arms. Still, for now, it is only a dream…their dream, his dream.

He rolled over and tried to shake the dream from his mind but his eyes weighed heavily as the dream fought to carry on. Flashes of her played in his mind but the moment of deepness had passed as he fought to wake up knowing that with any luck he would get to see her.

Work seemed to drag on and on but with every free moment he daydreamed about the kiss that remained forbidden to him; or, at least that’s how it felt. Such a deep longing that tortured him for the better part of the day. He tried anything and everything to shake the thought from his mind and just when he thought he had succeeded in regaining control of himself, she walked into the room.

His first instinct was to run to her with the kiss that danced around in his dreams, teasing him…leaving him yearning. Still, he knew he had to separate reality from the, almost childish, crush he had on her.

“How are you today”, she asked with her usual friendly smile.

‘I’d be a lot better if I could come across this desk’, he thought to himself but answered with a simple, “Ok”.

“What’s wrong”, she asked. “You seem down about something”.

He looked at her and fought back the urge to say what was really on his mind. He wanted to tell her…no, he wanted to take her. Instead, he opted for a simple, “Nothing’s wrong just feeling rundown; guess I didn’t sleep good last night”.

“Oh”, she replied as though she didn’t buy into his answer. “Anyway, I need you to take a look at something”.

‘I’m already staring’, he thought to himself and grinned.

“Okay, now you’ve gone from grumpy to grinning. You sure you’re okay this morning”, she asked as she handed him her cell phone. “Anyway, the cell phone won’t…” she said as she explained what the problem was.

It was obvious his mind had wandered away from what she was saying to him. Ironically, girls are offended when that happens but what they don’t realize is that when a guy gets around the girl of his dreams; his mind literally goes numb and all he can think about is her; not her cell phone or daily stuff but her. All he wanted to do was stare at her eyes, her lips and hair. It’s all any guy can do. It’s not so much a sexual thing as just the urge to absorb everything about her. The scent of a woman will stick with a man for the rest of his life; no wonder we’re called dogs.

“Are you listening to me”, she said with an angry smile.

He sighed and admitted only a partial truth, “Sorry, I’m still not awake yet”, and, in that he had said some truth since his mind was still locked away in the dream of her.

“So, do you think you can figure it out”, she asked trying to snap his mind back to reality.

“Computers, I can help you with all day long but I’m not really good with cell phones”, he admitted.

“Oh”, she replied as she stood back up from leaning close to him. “Oh, well…I need a new one anyway”.

“Wish I could have helped”…’myself to just one little kiss’, he said with an added thought.

She looked at him with a puzzled look and then, as if it hit her, she told him with a smile, “Dream on”, and left his little office area.

He smiled and sat back for a moment before catching himself, “Well, I better get back to work”. He grabbed up a stack of papers and started leafing through them with really no clue on what, if anything, he was actually working for.

Work went on through the day as usual with people running in and out as he occasionally stared at the clock and counted down towards closing time. He loved his job and seeing her was always a real perk to the job but work is work after all and five o’ clock was always welcomed to come as quickly as possible; unless, she was around.

“Hey, sleepyhead, did you ever wake up”, she asked as she poked her head in the door for a second.

“I wouldn’t swear to it”, he replied with a smile. She had to know how he felt just by the way his face would light up every time she came around.

“Only one more day until the weekend”, she told and added, “Think you’ll last that long”?

“I wouldn’t swear to that either…but, knowing I get to see you makes it all worth while”, he remarked with a certain nervous bravery.

“I guess it does”, she replied sarcastically. “Well, try to get some sleep tonight, will ya”?

‘If only you knew what kept me up’, he thought to himself as he smiled at her and replied, “I’ll try”.

She smiled at him and pulled the door closed but as she walked by his window she caught him still staring at her. She couldn’t help but giggle and shake her head as she quickened her pace.

Five o’clock finally came as he grabbed his stuff up and shut down the computer. “Finally”, he huffed. Just as he stepped out his door, she was walking by on her way home. He reached down and locked his door before turning to look at her. No doubt he was still embarrassed from earlier when she caught him staring at her through the window.

“Have a good night, Jacob”, she told him as she walked on by.

“You too, Linda”, he replied. The hard part was that he had always stared at her eyes and hair failing to notice the knife that hit his heart, for on her hand was a ring he had not seen before. Paralyzed by the pain of the truth he had somehow overlooked, or even thought that, his dream girl was married. Quickly, he walked up behind her and pointedly asked, “Are you married”?

She stopped and turned to smile at him, “Yea, I got married a year ago August 14^th”.

“I never noticed you were married”, he confessed.

His school boy crush became as apparent as she replied, “Sorry, but I am happily married”.

“Yea”, was all he could think to say as she walked off, never looking back.

Jacob’s head dropped as he looked at the ground for a moment. He was feeling more than just heart broken or disappointed, he was feeling like a stiff drink to help wash away how stupid he was feeling. Too bad he hated drinking except on rare occasion. Still, he knew he needed to shake it off and move on.

Jacob tried sleeping to no avail. He even judged himself to be just a little too obsessed with her and how much he really needed to pump his own brakes. Still, she never left his mind until he finally drifted on off to sleep.

Work the next morning went along with a twinge of drab until first break came along. Jacob had started out his office door to head to the break room to grab something to munch on and a drink when a burly well dressed man approached him with an attractive girl following close behind.

“Jacob, this here is Miss Rowan Sloan. Miss Sloan is new to our department so I’m trying to help her get the lay of the land”, the man explained.

Jacob stuck his hand out to shake hers, but mostly to double check for a ring. She responded in kind and told him, “Just call me Rowan”.

“Jake is fine”, he replied.

“Where you off to Jacob”, the burly man inquired.

“I was headed down to the break room to grab some stuff”, he replied.

“Good, take Miss Sloan with you and bring her back up here when you’re done”.

“Sure thing, Mike”, Jacob replied.

“Why doesn’t he just call you Jake”, she asked with a smile. Such a perfect smile as her blonde hair danced around her shoulders.

“Mike has this weird thing about calling people by their full names…I guess it helps him remember”, Jacob explained. Truth was he wanted to sound manlier by telling her Jake versus Jacob.

“Oh. So, where’s the break room. I’ve talked myself dry this morning”, she confessed.

“It’s on the floor beneath us”, Jacob replied as he motioned for her to follow him.

They had barely made it through the doors to the stairwell when Linda hit the top step. She looked at Jacob, smiled and asked, “Who’s your friend”?

“Linda, this is Rowan. She’s new on our floor and Mike asked me to show her the break area downstairs”, he explained.

“Welcome to Third Row”, Linda said as she smiled at Jacob in a flirtatious way. Maybe there was something more in her mind for him or maybe she just wanted the attention. Either way, Jacob simply smiled back at her and moved towards the top of the stair. “Jacob, I need to stop by your office here in a little bit. My computer is acting weird again and I need to get some documents printed off”.

“Sure, I should be back up in ten or fifteen”, he replied.

Rowan traded smiles with Linda as she quickly followed Jacob down the stairs. Meanwhile, Jacob listened for the sound of the door to close behind Linda before confiding in Rowan, “Linda is pretty cool but she’ll pester you to death about technology”. Maybe he said it because he still felt a bit bitter or because it was also the truth.

“Mike told me you do the tech support for Third Row”, Rowan replied.

“Yea, it’s my job to keep all the computers and such running smoothly but somehow that translates to being the floor handyman. Speaking of which, what’s your specialty”?

“Psychology, the company thinks that it would be a good idea to have a Psychologist for the employees on hand…something about a new project”, she answered softly.

They reached the bottom of the stairs when Jacob stopped quickly to turn and look at her causing her to bounce off of him. “Sorry”, he said as he helped her catch her balance. “Third Row handles the entire R&D for the company. The new project he’s referring to is classified so unless you have clearance on it, I can’t really tell you anything about it”.

“I do since they believe the project will prove taxing on the employees they felt it was vital to have me here”, she informed him.

“Cool, when we get back upstairs I’ll introduce you to the project. Maybe knowing more about it will help you with your job”, he told her and added, “Still, we don’t talk about the project off floor, okay”?

“Of course”, she replied.

Jacob smiled at her and held the door allowing her to go first. As they stepped out into the carpeted hall, a nerdy scrunched up man with glasses came shuffling towards them quickly. “Hey Boonie”, Jacob said with a smile.

“Hey Jake”, Boonie replied and leaned up close to him and asked, “Who’s the hot chick”? Obviously, he was loud enough to be heard by her.

“This is…” Jake started to reply and felt the need to ask her, “Is it Doctor Sloan”?

“Just the person I’ve been waiting for”, Boonie said. “Jake when you guys get done bring her straight to me, OK”?

“Sure”, Jacob replied. “Why”?

“It’s our new assignment”, Boonie replied and shot on through the door to the stairs.

“I didn’t know you were a part of the research”, Jake questioningly remarked.

“Me neither”, she replied just as puzzled. “Is Boonie his real name”?

“Professor Kaleb Dubick is his real name. We call him Boonie; short for boondoggle because he’s always running around but no one can figure out what he’s actually doing”.

“Yea, Mike was looking for him earlier since he’s supposed to be my first assignment”, she confided. “Still, I had no clue I was a part of the project”.

“We need to change the subject”, Jacob told her as he began walking down the hallway towards the break room.

“Yea”, she replied and followed. “So, how long have you been here with the company”, she asked.

“Four years to date”, Jacob replied. “How about you; are you new in general”?

“No, I was over in Fifth Row for the past two years”, she replied.

Jake stopped and turned to look at her, “Fifth Row? Isn’t that Psychological R&D”?

“Yea, something to that effect”, she answered. “We studied the mental development of various life forms trying to discover how creatures learn”.

“That actually sounds pretty cool”, Jacob replied.

“Yea, it was”, she answered.

Jake flashed a puzzled look wondering what might have changed and why she wound up in Third Row. Whatever mysteries belonged to her, he knew it would all come to light soon enough. “This is the break room, be warned”, he told her with a smile as he opened the door just in time for a paper airplane to come shooting past them. “Unfortunately, we have to share the break room with Second Row whose specialty is aeronautics”.

A young and plumb brunette ran over to Jake and informed him, “I applied for Third Row but Mike hasn’t said anything yet…will you talk to him…and, who is she”?

Jacob scratched his shoulder and look at Rowan who felt equally awkward in admitting she was the newest member of the group. “I’m Doctor Sloan…from Fifth Row. I’ll be working with Third Row for a little while”.

“Oh”, the girl replied. You could easily see the crack running down her heart as she turned and walked away.

Several of the geeks from second were clustered around a table as they played around with paper airplanes trying new folds and forms. “Normally, they hang out here trying new paper models until they get one they like…then, they run it through their software and test it again”.

“Sounds fun, actually”, Rowan replied.

“Yea, it is”, one of the guys replied. “Too bad they won’t let us do this in the lab or an open area”.

“Why not”, Jake asked them. “Looks like you’d be able to test wherever you need to”.

“Yea, but the higher powers say we can do all our testing on that million dollar system they built”, the scruffy older man replied. “Speaking of which, I’m supposed to be headed up your way next week. Since when does aeronautics and your guys have anything in common”?

“No clue, Bernie”, Jake replied. “Oh, this is Doctor Sloan”, he said when he realized she was there. He turned to look at her only to see her bent over grabbing a soda from the drink machine with her back to them.

“Wow, can’t wait to meet the rest of her”, one of the engineers replied with a snicker.

“Dozer, use your manners”, Bernie barked. Doctor Sloan stood up and turned just for them to see her still blushing. “Sorry Doc, Dozer is so smart he’s done shot back to stupid”.

“Its okay, Bernie”, she replied and added with a glare at Dozer, “This time”.

Dozer did some blushing of his own and apologized, “Sorry, but having to be around these guys all day makes me forget my manners sometimes”.

The door busted open as Mike came marching through in a hurry. “You guys don’t have all day down here”.

“Sorry Mike, we ran into Boonie and you know how flappy-gummed he can get”, Jacob replied.

“Either way, Boonie is ready to get started with the Doc, so you guys get a move on”, Mike barked, grabbed a soda and shot back out the door.

“He seems irritated”, Rowan remarked.

“He’s always irritated”, Bernie kindly informed her.

“We best get going”, Jake told her as he quickly rounded up his stuff and headed for the door.

Neither of them said anything as they quickly made their way back to the stairwell. Jake swiped his access card and held the door again for her. As she walked through, Rowan remarked, “At least someone around here knows how to treat a lady”.

“Yea, but girls don’t seem to like guys that treat them with respect”, Jake replied.

“Are you flirting with me”, she asked.

“No, just stating the truth. I have yet to meet a girl that can like a guy that treats her with respect. Treat her like crap and she’ll love him for life”, Jake told her casting his personal opinion on the general female populace.

“Not all women are like that, you know”, she argued politely.

“When I meet one…I’ll apologize for not agreeing to you”, he said as he started up the stairs.

“What am I…chopped liver”, she replied and followed.

Jacob reached the top of the stairs and turned back to look at her. “I didn’t mean any offense. It’s just my experiences I guess”.

“What most people believe is based on what they’ve experienced but that doesn’t necessarily make it true”, she replied.

“Agreed, but let me ask you one simple question and answer me honestly”, he said as she reached the top step.

“Shoot”, she said feeling ready for anything.

“How many guys have you dated that turned out to be jerks”?

She scrunched her face at him and knew he had her dead to rights, “Okay, so every one of them turned out to be jerks but does that make you a jerk”?

“Point taken…” he replied as he opened the door and shot on through in front of her. “Now maybe I can get a date with you”, he said fighting back a smile.

“No can do…I’m married”, she replied.

“But”, was all he could say as he pointed at her left hand. “You don’t have a…oh…guess I’m too nice, huh”?

“It’s not that…I really am married. Funny thing is, I’m allergic to jewelry”, she explained.

“Can’t say I’ve heard of that”, Jake replied feeling her explanation to be a wee bit really odd.

They both grabbed lab coats before heading over to Boonie’s lab. His fit his tall, dark frame perfectly while the one she grabbed seemed to be made for him as well. “We’ll see about getting you some lab coats from supply. In the meantime, just deal with mine”.

One of the Third Row crew came shooting past them stopping long enough to joke, “Hey Jake, your shadow is a lot prettier than you are”. He pointed at her name tag which read, ‘Jacob Hayes’, and shot on by.

“It must be hard being you”, Jake replied.

“Yea, because I can’t wear a ring I get guys hitting on me all the time”, she complained.

“Well, I’m sure he knows where your heart is and that’s all that matters right”, he remarked to her.

“Yea…yea”, she commented. “So, where’s Boonie”?

Jacob looked at her with a questioning look at first and shook the thought off to answer the second part of what she had said. “Boonie lives in his own bubble he calls, “The Hunker Bunker”.

“Hunker Bunker”?

“Yea, it’s where he hunkers down over his work and stays for days on end only stopping to take showers twice a day in the locker room”, Jake explained.

“What about a wife or kids”, she asked.

“Boonie is married to his work and his creations are his kids; it’s all he has and all he knows. Fact is, the company tried telling him to go home and we thought he was going to cry. Instead, he went ape shit on them and told them point-blank he wasn’t going anywhere until the job was done. Of course, they tried to remind him of who signs his paycheck for which he replied, ‘If I was here for the paycheck I wouldn’t be here. I’m here for the work’. They never bothered him again”.

Jacob turned the corner of some research cubicles and almost lost Rowan when she quickly backtracked and caught up to him. “He really is dedicated to his work, huh “?

“Rumor has it that he is his work”, Jacob replied.

“How so”?

“You’ll see soon enough”.

They bobbed and weaved past rows of cubicles. Some people were grinding away at their work while others seemed to have cared less whether they got anything done or not. “Third Row seems laid back for the most part”, Rowan commented.

“Yea, but looks are deceiving. The guys busting butt send their stuff to the slacker’s who in turn become the butt busters. So, while one is waiting on the other they have nothing but time to kill which usually ends up sending work my way whether it’s a downloaded game that has a virus on it or an email that shouldn’t have been opened”.

They reached a solid metal door with two slide card readers on either side for which Jake explained, “Boonie chooses which side will work and which won’t at random. Then, he sends an email to Third Row with the right one and the encoding that will allow access to, ‘his’ lab. Each work station that would need access to the lab has a code-writer. Do not forget to check each morning, first thing, before attempting to access the lab”.

“Can’t you just swipe the other side or something”, she asked.

“Swipe the wrong side and you’ll have security standing over you while you’re kissing the ground with your hands behind your head. Trust me; it took one time of me forgetting to never forget again”.

“The things I’ve missed out on”, she said with a sarcastic smile.

“Yea, just don’t forget or I will be taking pictures of that”, he replied with a small giggle in his voice. “Too bad you’re married…I think we would have really enjoyed just hanging out”, Jake told her as he swiped his card. The locked door slid open and Rowan noticed several of the, “Cubes”, poking their heads out to see past the mystery door into, ‘The Hunker Bunker’.

Jake turned and gave them a scowling look when he spotted Mike come barreling around the corner of the cubicles. “Back to work, mutts”, he barked. Everyone scattered like roaches back into the corners. “It’s about time you two decided to show up. Where’s Bernie”?

“Said he wasn’t due up until next week”, Jake replied.

“Nope, they want this party started now. Doc, you’re with me. Jake, go fetch Bernie up here, now”, Mike demanded.

“Yes, sir”, Jacob replied sarcastically. Rowan flashed a smile at him as Mike grabbed her by the arm and dragged her on inside. After the door closed, Jacob spun around and almost ran Linda over.

“New flavor”, she asked with a silly smirk on her face.

“Nope…she’s married too”, he replied followed by several resounding sighs throughout, ‘The Cubes’.

“Poor, pitiful you! Anyway, I need your help for a moment now that you’re free”, she told him more than asking him.

“Sorry Linda but I have to get Bernie up here”, he replied as he started to walk away. He could hear her make a disgruntled sound. He spun around and held out both hands as if he were weighing something and replied, “Piss Mike off any more than he stays or give a rain check to you…which, would you do”?

“Oh, you better get going…just catch me when you get back”, she said, smiled and took off around the corner of the cubicles.

Jacob hurried on past the cubicles as he made his way towards the stairwell door. He was trying his best to, not, think about Rowan. After his heart was cracked by Linda, he just wasn’t up for making an ass out of himself again and yet, every word, every gesture and her lovable smile played in his mind like a broken record.

“Stop it”, he emoted to himself. “Just stop”. He shot on through the door and started bouncing down the stairs when something hit him and he simply stopped and sat down on the steps. “Why can’t they hire just one girl that’s Ro…uh, damn, here I go again”, he grumbled as he pulled himself up. ‘Hopefully, Bernie is still throwing planes in the break room’, he thought as he popped out the door. Luckily for him, he just caught Bernie and the others coming out of the break room. “Hey Bernie, Mike wants you upstairs, now”.

“But, we just had a breakthrough”, Dozer whined.

“Well, Dozer…why don’t you go tell Mike. Maybe he’ll give you guys the time to run tests”, Jake replied sarcastically.

Dozer grimaced, looked at Bernie and said, “Sorry buddy; I’ll make sure you get the results on your desk”.

“Yea, just my luck”, Bernie replied. Him and Jacob started heading back to the stairwell when Bernie explained, “We found that by curving certain sides…well, it just works better”. Jacob ran his card as they headed into the stairwell. “So, about Doctor Sloan…think you’ve got a shot at her”?

“Bernie…she’s married”, Jacob replied.

“Damn your luck, heh”?

“Actually…yea. Linda was a crush but Rowan, she’s just cool to talk to”, Jacob confided.

“Who said anything about Linda”, Bernie asked with a giggle. “Dang man, what’s up with you and married chicks”?

Jacob turned red from spilling the beans about his secret crush and replied, “Yea, but Linda just likes the attention. Rowan, yea, I better leave that alone”.

“Don’t give up, Jake; she’s not wearing a ring”.

“I asked her about it; said she was allergic to metals like jewelry”, Jake explained. They hit the top of the stairs only to find Rowan standing there staring at Jacob. Jacob’s faced really lit up as he tried to explain, “We were just…uh”.

“That’s cool. At least you guys weren’t being perverted”, she told Jacob with a smile and added, “Says a lot about a man”.

“So, what are you doing here and how did you escape Mike”, Jake asked.

“Mike got impatient and sent me after you two. He really isn’t one for waiting on anything is he”?

Bernie laughed and answered, “Mike and patience have never met”.

“Amen to that”, Jake agreed never once taking his eyes off of her. Why did she have to be married? She seemed so absolutely perfect for him in every way. Still, he needed to shake the thought from his mind or take a chance on getting his heart broken way harder than ever.

“Too bad you’re married or you two would be great”, Bernie told her.

“Wow, you’re a quick judge of people”, she replied.

“No, not really, I just know when something feels right”, Bernie replied as Jake glared at him and handed him a lab coat. “What…time’s too short to waste”?

Jacob sighed real loud and looked at Rowan who simply smiled back at him. “Sorry”, was all he could think to say.

“Don’t worry about it”, she replied as the owner of the company came walking up. Oddly enough, he kissed her on the cheek for which she replied, “Honey, these are my new friends, Bernie and Jacob”.

The man reached out a hand to both of them and said, “You guys taking care of my wife”?

“Mr. Parsons”, Bernie said shaking his hand. “Good to meet you”.

“Mr. Parsons”, Jacob questioned looking at Rowan.

“Yea, my wife kept her maiden name when we got married. She said she didn’t want any special treatment around the office just because she’s married to the owner”, Mr. Parsons explained.

“Where’s that bunch of loafers at”, Mike yelled out as he come shooting out of Hunker Bunker.

“Sorry Mike”, Mr. Parsons shot back. “I was taking time to say hi to my wife”.

“You and Doctor Sloan are married”, Mike asked as he walked up to them. “Never would have guessed. Anyway, I’m on a schedule as these slacker’s need to get a going”.

“Mike, you’ll never change but you do get things done”, Mr. Parsons replied with a smile. He kissed Rowan as Jacob’s heart sank deeply, then he said something about being glad to meet them and walked towards the elevators on the far end of Third Row.

“Who knew”, Bernie exclaimed.

“Who cares”, Mike snapped. “Let’s go”.

Bernie and Mike took off for the bunker as Jacob stood there looking into Rowan’s eyes. “You okay”, she asked.

“Just tired of meeting the right one at the wrong time”, he grumbled.

“Huh”, she said followed with a quick, “Oh! Hey, I’m sorry but that’s on you”. Perhaps it was all she could think to say but it was true.

Jacob simply turned and headed towards the lab feeling really down and really distracted. Sure, he didn’t know her well enough nor should he actually have any real feelings for her and yet, something about her crawled into his heart whether he wanted it to or not. He tried shaking off what he allowed himself to feel for her. Still, all he had to do was bring her into the lab, drop her off and head back to his office and…’Shit, I still have to help Linda’, he thought.

Rowan walked up next to him quickly as they entered the cubicles and said, “Another time, you know”?

He felt she didn’t mean it but he appreciated her gesture none the less and replied, “Definitely”.