Perfect Snapshots: Episode Six: Cook for me

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Episode Six: Cook for me

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I slept well for the first time in ages. I had a message from Jasper when I awoke. 

“Once again, I say good sir, you are a dramatic bitch.” I just laughed and shook my head. He wasn’t wrong. 

I didn't have much in the way of work for the day, but I already had a plan. Hopefully, one that Bella would agree to.  

First, I got in a good workout before I decided to head into the living room. Bella was nowhere in sight, so I went to get myself a drink of milk. Lazy, I didn't see the need for a glass. As soon as I started gulping it down, my eyes locked on hers. Bella was sitting outside in the sunshine, working on her computer. Her expression was clearly amused by me.  

"Good morning," I told her happily, starting off strong with my mask in place just in case she rejected the idea. Eddie could handle it. Tony could not, and he had come out to play enough the evening before.  

“Afternoon,” she smirked. 

“Meh, close enough.” I had no idea of the time, actually. “So, you said you were sick of eating out and wanted to cook real food, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Bella cocked her head to the side slightly in confusion. 

"Let me shower, and we can run to a proper market. I'll buy the groceries if you cook," I suggested casually. Her face was instantly worried. 

“Do you have time for that?”

"Yeah. I'm going to do a little recording and editing today, but it's all at home. I need a home-cooked meal. I haven't had one in ages. Like real proper food not from a box.” I thought about her words from the day before. She had been right. I was also curious about what she would make. 

“What do you want?” She asked as if she could see into my mind. I just shrugged. 

“You're the chef. You can pick the menu. Carbs and cheese, right? I trust your tastes. Surprise me.”

“I guess we'll go to the store and we'll see what looks good.” She delicately shrugged her shoulders before closing her laptop. Bella smiled sweetly. 

Showering quickly, I was frankly shocked she had agreed so easily to it. I was literally asking her to cook for me. She was so easy going. She needed to teach me how. I needed to be so zen. 

“I might be dramatic, but it doesn’t mean it’s untrue,” I sent back to Jasper. 

Bella declined coffee at the store. I was starving, though, so I suffered through their crappy cafe food. As we walked around together, I found myself shy and unsure again. She was so intent in her shopping, occasionally looking over at me in curiosity. I knew I was being too quiet, but I couldn't seem to help it.  

She asked me questions about food, my favorite subject, and I would give her one-word answers. It was shameful. Bella kept frowning. I kept throwing things into the cart nervously, thinking about how I was going to eat it in the middle of the night. All of it was salt and sugar. 

“What about dessert?” She asked me finally. “Why don’t you pick out something for dessert for us?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure,” I cheerfully agreed. We were already in the freezer section. “Ice cream?”

“Perfect.” She gave me a quick smile, walking beside me as she pushed the cart. “Just ice cream or the whole nine yards?”

“Obviously, I want everything,” I told her with a cheesy grin, trying again to find my mask. “What flavor would you like?”

“Oh, I’m easy. I’m good with anything,” she said pleasantly. “I don’t think there is bad ice cream.”

“I bet there is,” I joked. “Why don’t I pick out a few good pints?”

Then I picked a whole assortment. Vanilla based, chocolate based, fruit, with nuts, with caramel, and cookies and cream. One of those was bound to be a flavor she liked. If anything else, I liked them all. Afterward, we got whipped cream, cherries, and a couple of kinds of syrup. 

When we got back to the house, she helped me bring in the groceries and put them away.  

“So… Uh,” I drew out. “I have some videos I need to do. A fan from Japan sent me a bunch of snacks and sodas. Would you care to join me in them? You were so lovely in the last.”

“Oh,” she sort of giggled and smiled, a slight blush on her cheeks. “That sounds like so much fun. I’d love to, Edward.”

I really liked when Bella called me Edward. I so wanted to be her Edward.

While I worked around my office, she took pictures of me. I was struggling to concentrate on taking photos of the candy bars. They were shiny, and I couldn't make them out in the photos. It was starting to piss me off.  

“Can I do something?” She asked gently. 

“Sure.”

Bella came to stand beside me and arranged the chocolates before taking my camera from my hands. She tinkered for a moment before bending over to snap several shots. When she stood back up, she showed me the results.  

"The wrappers are reflective, so you have to adjust for the glare, and by arranging them in pairs with complementary colors it leads the eye through the picture," she informed me as she scrolled through the photos. They were all better than mine by a lot. With no editing.  

“Oh, yes. That is better. I don't know much about color, obviously. Thanks.” 

Bella was genuinely hilarious in every video. Playing off of me effortlessly, she was excited to try everything, even the weird flavors. She was honest with what she thought, but in such a gentle and funny way.  

"So," she began with a little laugh as she took a sip of a peach cola we had just rated. "When I was twenty I went to Disneyworld for the first time. And Epcot at the time had this part where you could try different sodas from around the world, and it genuinely ruined sodas for me for years. So many were terrible. Horrible… Just literally cruel,” she giggled at the memory. “I didn’t drink soda for almost four years after that before I broke down and started having them every once in a while.”

“That bad?” I asked curiously. 

“There was a soda from… Oh, I don’t remember. Some South American country and I was super excited because Mexican sodas are the bomb. Like the best. I took a huge gulp, and it was like a carbonated cocktail made with reject vinegar." 

“Gross!” I laughed at her choice of description. “No.”

“I just automatically,” she stuck out her tongue. “It was terrible. Like a baby who just tried something healthy for the first time. And my husband was like, ‘did you sneak liquor into the park and not share?!' And I should have been offended that was his first thought that I was drunk, but it sounds like something I would have done at twenty because screw him, he could buy his own drinks. And Disneyworld drunk sounds like a ton of fun when you're that age," she continued to laugh, her expression playful and silly. She bobbed her head to the words, making her curls bounce. Bella looked too innocent for her story, which made it all the funnier. 

I laughed as well at her little routine she was performing for me. I covered my mouth quickly so I wouldn’t spit soda everywhere. I wasn’t sure if she was screwing with me or not. I couldn’t see this mild-mannered little woman drunk, let alone in public. Though, I was sure it was something interesting to witness.

“Should have gone to school in Sydney. The drinking age is eighteen.”

“Oh, good god no. Not having unlimited access to liquor at eighteen is probably the only reason I’m still alive. And, not a stripper in Jersey.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder in a funny way. Yeah, she was for sure fucking with me. I think. She was so good at keeping her face straight, and I was extremely gullible. 

My brain fizzled at the idea of her stripping. I heard her giggle at my expression, and I looked away, trying to compose myself. I was sure my cheeks were red hot. I gave a short nervous laugh. 

“Honestly, I’ve gone to a strip club a grand total of three times. Once out of curiosity and then twice for bachelor parties for my friends and I loathed it each time. It’s so embarrassing,” I admitted to her quietly.

“Why?” She laughed curiously. “If they work there willingly, I’m sure they wouldn’t hate dancing for you,” Bella teased. “There would be girls having cat fights over you. Hot, young, wealthy, as tall as a stripper pole...”

I laughed loudly in embarrassment, throwing my head back. “I don’t want to be aroused by strangers in public. Thanks.”

None of this conversation was going into the video. She seemed to be not bothered, and I felt like my face was on fire. I think she knew I was easily embarrassed. I could practically see the twinkle in her eye.   

"So, in private, it would be fine?" She asked me dryly over her soda before taking another drink. She was screwing with me now purposely. I was sure of it. Then she slowly raised her eyebrows. 

“The stranger part is a problem, too,” I replied. “I’m too shy for that.”

"You know, last week I would have scoffed, but yeah, I can maybe see that,” Bella said a bit disbelievingly. “Mm, I can understand that though,” she said thoughtfully. Her smile grew a little wicked. “Kudos to you to have the restraint to not screw everything that moves. I’m impressed.”

I giggled meanly and smiled at the camera as I knew who exactly was going to watching this later. “My best mate is so disappointed in me. He’s told me if he were me he’d fuck everyone. Which, I love him, but he’s already accomplishing that on his own. But, he’s right. I probably should relax more.”

It was her turn to laugh. “Honestly, good for him! Get some! Life is too short.”

“Get some diseases!” I joked. 

“Condoms exist. Oh, god. Why did I just use the word condoms in a video about Japanese sodas, Eddie? Where is this conversation even going?” She laughed, her cheeks pleasantly pink. We were both having too much fun being stupid with each other.  

I put both of my hands over my eyes and laughed as well as I pushed my hair off of my forehead. “Fuck if I know. None of that will leave this room. I swear.”

“Good,” she said with a little smile. “This one is pretty good. I might finish it. I like it. Is this the last one or…?”

“Shit. No. Hold on,” I said, finally getting back to work. It was fun just to joke around with her.

When I couldn't think of another video to make with her, Bella left me alone in my office to edit. She said she needed to start cooking anyway. When she left, I checked my messages.  

“Is there any particular reason you’re in love with her now? Or is it just in general?” He joked. 

“Well, she’s cooking for me right now.”

“Cooking for you?” He answered back surprisingly quick. 

“Yes. She’s making us dinner tonight in my kitchen.”

“So, are you getting laid tonight?” I snorted at the message. “This is obvo a date.”

“No, it’s not lol. And no. I don’t see that happening.”

“Then why tf is she cooking for you?”

"I kind of asked. She said she missed her own food, so I offered to pay for the groceries if she wanted to cook. She picked out a ton of shit. I'm excited. And I filmed some more videos with her." 

“What are you going to do when this chick leaves?” He asked me curiously. I didn’t have an answer for him. 

“I’m not sure. Beg her to stay? I know what I’m doing tonight at least.”

I worked for a long time, quickly editing the simple videos with Bella in them so I could put them up as fast as possible. I wanted to see how everyone else reacted to her. I wondered if they would love her as much as I did. I threw them up into the queue to automatically post on my busiest days. 

My flow was interrupted by the beeping of a text. I half expected it to be Jasper again or maybe one of my sisters. But instead, it was Bella. 

“The food is ready.”

After washing my hands, I hurried into the living room like an eager child. It immediately smelled delicious. Chicken and cheese perfumed the air. The wine was already waiting for us on the table with beautifully made plates. 

"Oh, my god! It smells so amazing in here! I don't even know what you made, and I'm already thrilled to eat it!"  

Bella flushed a little at my complimentary words. “Roasted chicken with a creamy Parmesan, spinach, and mushroom sauce served with crispy roasted Italian butter potatoes. And, garlic toast for the sauce. The glass of wine is the same kind that I put in the sauce, so it should pair well.”

“Goodness! That sounds magnificent!” I praised her happily. It was wildly more complicated than I had been expecting it to be. It was a full-on dining experience.

“Thank you!”

“No, thank you for cooking all of this! I'm so excited to shove all of this into my face.” I sat down and eagerly took a drink of my wine.

Everything tasted better than it smelled. It was by far the best meal any person had ever cooked for me. Even if I burned my mouth like an idiot trying to shovel it down too quickly. 

I was far too charmed by her to even think about my mask for once. She teased me as I ate. Our conversations were so easy. The way she described food somehow made me even more hungry while we dined. 

“You should learn to cook. At least a few things. You love food so much. Just seems like a natural fit. You know, even if you do hire someone else to do it for you,” she said in passing. 

"Maybe. You want to teach me?" I asked, hopefully.  

“If we had more time I'd love to. We're going to be so busy the next few days, though. You have the charity game tomorrow and then skydiving Saturday. I'm sure you'll be tired on Sunday.” Bella had a pretty little pout on her very kissable lips. “Come visit me in Queens. I'll teach you in my tiny kitchen. It is fully loaded.”

That was quite a thought. I wondered what it would be like to be alone with her in her apartment. Not for work, but because we wanted to be together. I would willingly do whatever she wished if I got the chance to spend time in her kitchen. 

“What would you teach me to cook?” I asked her curiously as I stabbed at the salad. Even the dressing was homemade. 

“Anything you wanted.”

“I'll make a list before I come to visit then.” I smiled at her. She grinned in return. I so wanted to reach over and kiss her in that moment of silence that followed. 

I instead decided to eat my feelings. At least it was delicious. It was so easy to devour.  

"I thought you didn't like to indulge when you're working," my mouth commented without my permission. I instantly regretted it. Bella stopped what she was doing, and I could see a hot embarrassed blush crawl up her cheeks. Fuck. 

"Oh. I don't normally, but I didn't even think about it. I just went into hostess mode like I would for my friends. I'm sorry." 

Well, something good came out of that. I could barely breathe out the words, “does that mean you think of me as a friend?”

She looked down at her empty plate, biting her bottom lip before glancing up at me with her pretty eyes. “I mean... yeah. I guess I do. You're so friendly and easy to be around. If that's okay?”

"Why wouldn't it be okay? I feel the same, to be honest. We've gotten tattoos together. It's kind of a serious step in any friendship. I think. I don't know. Perhaps." I couldn't find the words to tell her I wanted to be more than friends. But, she was there for work, and I didn't want to be the kind of creep who would push himself on a woman in this situation. I had embarrassed her with wine, after all. I glanced at the clock. I wanted to give her all of my attention. "I think I'll stop editing for the night. It's a busy day tomorrow." 

“Did you finish what you need to?” She asked me curiously, her face almost seemed sad though I wasn’t sure why.

"Oh, yeah. I make a lot more videos than I post, actually. Kind of save them up for a rainy day. You know, if I'm busy or sick. Or, just not in the mood. Or traveling or working. So, I'm always way ahead when it comes to my video content for my channel. I just enjoy editing, too." 

“How many fully made unposted videos do you have right now?”

“About forty.”

“Wow!” Her eyes got big in surprise. “That's so many. How often do you post online?”

"Daily. I know it sounds like a lot but most of them are just little videos. Quick ones I did alone in the house. Lots of food ones and lists. Video game playthroughs. The big ones I film with Seth and Tyler go up pretty quickly, usually. Within the month. But, I also film ahead for holidays, too," I explained. Honestly, I usually had more videos than that lined up, but I was working a lot lately.  

“I guess that makes sense. Do you ever make a video you don't post period?” Bella asked curiously. She was so full of questions. I liked them. 

"Mm, they generally get posted. If I don't think it's amazing, I throw up two a day up, one as a bonus episode. I also have a private video diary, but I don't ever show that to anyone, and I don't intend to. It's just for me." I didn't mean to tell her the last part. I wanted to take it all back.  

"My pictures are my diary. I don't mind showing people, though. They don't understand the memories behind them." Her smile was so encouraging as she shared this part of herself with me easily. I felt exposed to her, and she was perfectly accepting. And she had no idea. It obviously came to her naturally.  

“I can see that,” I whispered. 

We held each other’s gaze for a long hot second. I saw as her chest began to rise and fall more quickly before she shook her head. Bella finished the rest of her drink in one long gulp as she looked away. 

Maybe she felt the heat, too. 

"So, would you like to have ice cream sundaes by the pool with me?" I asked, hopefully. 

"That sounds like an extremely effective pickup line," Bella deadpanned, but I could see her teasing in the shape of her mouth. I couldn't help but laugh. She called me out perfectly. 

“You are not wrong.”

“Handsome Youtuber used obscene wealth and sugar. It was super effective,” she smirked as she made the Pokemon reference. 

Oh, if that were only true. 

"No, it's not! I've been single for bloody months." My mouth began to run away again, and I couldn't stop it as I got up to make us our desserts. Two big glasses of wine and I was already buzzed. "I guess if I just wanted a shag, it would be one thing but I'm not comfortable with it. I've not even been on a proper date in months. What would you like in yours?"   

“Fix it however you like, but with extra cherries,” she replied before surprisingly taking my picture. I had almost forgotten about her camera. “How long has it been, if I may ask?”

"I had a blind date to a Fourth of July party at a work friend's place. It was dreadful. I've met a bag of rocks, who was a better conversation partner." I was mad at Seth for a week after that bullshit. Awkward as hell. “No personality.”

When I brought her the ice cream, she took pictures with a slight giggle and a cheeky smile. She looked excited to eat it too, though.  

“What about you? Last date?” 

“I've not dated since my husband passed.” She shrugged. “Dating is tough everywhere, I guess.”

Fuck. Why do I keep picking bad topics? What the fuck. Of course, it wasn't since her dead husband. I was extremely curious about him, though. I wanted to ask her so many questions.  

“What was his name? Your husband? If I may ask.”

"Aiden Levi Zucker. Doctor, actually. Dr. Zucker," she said, almost wistfully with a sigh. Then she forced a smile.  

“You didn't take his last name,” I said automatically. 

"No, I was kind of using my name professionally by then. Working and in school, and it would have been so hard to change everything. I didn't mind his name. But I kinda think he liked it, to appear more liberal to his friends in that sense. He was a professor of anthropology," she explained to me as she mainly ate the cherries from her ice cream. "His friends could be such judgemental assholes. I had a thicker accent then, and they thought I was stupid trash. They weren't afraid to let me know in their own special ways. And, they probably thought I was a gold digger, too. Not that Aiden would have told me if they thought that." 

What the actual fuck? Rude judgemental cunts. 

 “Just because of your accent?” What the hell is wrong with her accent? It was sweet and charming. I loved it.

“I was much younger than him too, but I don't know. Well, people are just terrible sometimes. My friends all loved him, though. He was a good man.”

I decided to ask a different question and offer up some of myself in the process. “What's your full name? I don't know your middle name. Mine is Anthony, by the way. Edward Anthony Cullen.” I wasn’t ready for her to meet Tony yet, I think. I wasn’t sure I ever would. I liked being Edward with her. 

“Isabella Marie Swan.”

I had forgotten that she had said her name. I didn't realize it was actually her name, though. "Oh... I thought you were just joking before with the beauty queen bit. Are you named after anyone? It's a pretty name." 

“I don’t know. It's a really common name, especially now. My mom picked it out. I don't know if I am or not. Never got to ask her. I'd love to ask her a whole lot of things actually. Mainly like what the fuck, but eh. That's life, I guess. Wholly unsatisfying with its lack of answers,” she complained with a little sigh in her voice before shaking her head to herself. 

That was another question I wanted to ask. 

“What happened to your mom? You said she died when you were five. Was she sick?”

Bella's face dropped for a moment before it morphed into what I realized was her mask. Her voice was perfectly calm, and even as she spoke the most horrifying thing I had ever heard. "Oh, um. No. Not exactly. She was an addict. She overdosed on heroin while driving and rammed into a power pole at fifty miles an hour. She shot up right before she started driving. Did it in a Sonic parking lot and rammed into the pole about fifty feet away."  

FUCK. I actually gasped loudly. 

 “Jesus! I'm...That just... sucks. My god! Oh no. How terrible. I am so sorry.

She seemed to be not upset for some reason. Instead, she indulged curiosities she couldn't possibly have known I had. She showed me the scar on her cheek like a fond battle wound. "It's much fainter than it used to be, but that's how I got this." She traced her finger over her skin. I had noticed it before, but it was very light. "A no parking sign went into my face. I broke several bones, too. Went through the glass. I was in the hospital in a medically induced coma for a week. Good times.”

I think I might have choked on my tongue for a moment. Then my outrage set in. 

"Oh, no. And you were just five? You were in the car, though? She took drugs with you and drove while high? I know I smoke weed, but I'd never drive ever, let alone with my little helpless daughter in the car. I am... Gah. I don't even know. Angry and sad. I want to go back to give little… well smaller, you a hug. You've lost more people before you were even a teenager than I have in my entire life. Even my grandparents are still alive and in good health. One of them moved to Australia to be closer to my parents and the other fucked off to Ireland to retire just recently,” I blathered on. 

“Where are your parents and grandparents from originally again?” She asked, changing the subject for both of us. I was glad to let it be changed. 

“Father's Scottish and my Mum's English. They met at Uni. They moved down under for my mom's work. She was a lawyer and now a retired judge.”

“Impressive.”

“Yeah, but it means I got away with literally fucking nothing growing up,” I told her honestly. Bella just laughed. 

"I couldn't either, but that's because my grandmother was a strict Catholic who made me go to church several times a week. She filled every second of every day with something to keep me busy. Idle hands are the devil's playground, you know. Too busy to be too bad." She then made the sign of the cross.  

“I didn't realize you were Catholic.”

“I'm not anymore. I was just raised in the church. And, went to a Catholic school. And, worked at a church for four years. But I haven't been to church in years now. I've been to temple more recently than that.”

“Temple?” 

She gave me a small smile as she ducked her head. “Aiden was Jewish. We had a little Jewish wedding where you stomp on the glass and everything. I went to my niece's Bat Mitzvah about a month ago. Because there is nothing more adult than thirty thirteen-year-old girls trying to figure out how to dance to a DJ who stopped listening to music in the early 2000s surrounded by your ancient relatives.”

I laughed as I could very clearly imagine it. “I don't know. Sounds fun.”

"It was. Great food, too," she replied before she pushed the rest of her ice cream in my direction. She had picked out the dozen or so cherries I had put it in for her. I wouldn't turn it down. I was still nervously eating. It didn't stop my mouth, though.  

“So, are you Jewish then?”

"Atheist, actually. So was he, but we went for his mother. It made her happy, and he was all about his family. Which was one of the reasons I loved him so much." 

So was I, and I could understand doing that for one’s family. 

"I miss my family. I'm the youngest of five. I'm the only boy, too. I'm really close to my sisters. I talk to them every day through text practically. I miss seeing them almost every day, though. And, my nieces. I've got seven nieces, and I used to babysit them all. Well, one of them was only born very recently. That's the last time I saw them. When the new baby, Ava, was born. So, two months ago. My parents have been driving the new mother up the wall," I explained to her. I hated not seeing her growing up. I got sent pictures nearly daily, but it wasn't enough. I wanted to help Irina as much as I had helped Tanya, Carmen, or Sasha.  

I was admittedly not sad about not being around my insane and bitchy mother. Irina had been fighting with her all week, and they were both fit to be tied.  

"Wow, seven. I just have the one technically. She is a sweetie, though. I used to babysit her, as well. I'm glad my in-laws let me hang around, but I've always felt out of place, even if they've only ever been kind to me." 

"My sisters would love you. They'd fawn over your pretty hair and your pictures. I actually bought one of them, and my mom, one of your prints as a gift. From your website. Before you came here. For their birthdays coming up," I blurted out and just kept talking. I meant just for my mother's birthday, but I didn't want to keep spewing at her. It didn't matter anyway. I was still feeling the wine. She seemed embarrassed again.  

“Oh! That's so nice… I have pretty hair?” Bella asked me slowly. 

Hell, might as well be honest with her... 

"Yeah. Those pretty ringlets of yours. They'd want to know how you do it. Ask for all your magical secrets. All their hair is board straight, and I don't know how many hours of their lives they've wasted trying to make it curly," I laughed a little as I thought of my sisters fighting over the bathroom mirror.  

"I wash and condition my hair and then comb it... and then let it dry into whatever ungodly mess it feels like creating that day. Sometimes it's ringlets, sometimes it's a fro. It's a chance game. Sometimes I blow dry and straighten it, but I didn't bring any of that with me. I forgot them. Photographers aren't really supposed to be the ones being looked at anyway," she said as she glanced up from under her eyelashes. She might have been a free spirit, but she could be shy, too. Bella hid behind her camera just like I hid in front of mine.  

“Fair enough.”

“When will you see them again? Your family?” She decided to change the subject again. 

"February, sadly. Around Valentine's some time. Everyone is coming together. My parents are going on some kind of crazy month-long cruise at Christmas, and I work pretty solid until then anyway. It's the longest I've been away from them." 

Sad about missing my siblings, over the moon about missing out on that stressful family function. 

Bella made a disgusted little face. It was almost the same as the one I made when I heard the news. “A month-long cruise? That is too long on a boat.”

"I agree, but it is their retirement money they're wasting," I said as I started to clean up. I had run out of things to eat and needed to do something with my hands. Bella began to gather the items left on the table. "Thank you for all the amazing food and the company tonight. And, the videos earlier, too." 

"I had a great time, and I'm glad you enjoyed the meal." Her smile was so easy and warm.  

"I think I'm going to have a smoke. Would you like to join me?" I asked, hopefully. I wasn't ready for the evening to over with yet.  

“Um, actually I should probably get some work done myself before heading to bed. Again, thank you so much for today. Dinner was exactly what I needed.”

“Me, too.”

I was starting to think Bella was precisely what I needed and not just for the day. 

I watched her retreating form with a little sigh. Well, it wasn't a perfect evening. It wasn't my best performance. Then I remembered I wasn't performing for her. I was being myself. But, she didn't seem to be upset about how the evening went. Talking about her tragedy didn't seem to bother her. Maybe she needed to talk about it. Perhaps she just needed someone to listen. 

For a brief second, I wondered if I could be exactly what she needed, too.

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