CHAPTER 62

BUILDING BRIDGES AND DECKS

"Do you want me to sleep downstairs?" Jason quietly asked Dianna when she got inside the bedroom, back from her quick shower. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, not sure what to do.

"I told you, I'm not angry Jason" Dianna said, walking to her side of the bed. She was wearing a silk nightdress that Jason loved, in a slighty silvery color, very simple, but it made Dianna look like a fairy in it. Ethereal.

And now, with her sad demeanor, Jason was feeling more stupid by the second for acting like a spoil-sport.

"It doesn't feel like it. You can't even look at me" Jason points out, bitter, but Dianna simply lays on the bed, but turning to him.

"I'm not. I'm just thinking" she said, sincere. "And I'm really ashamed for bringing Alana to our discussion. But believe me, I'll never, ever, want to make you feel guilty about her" she told Jason, and he leaned on the bed, coming closer to her to listen.

"I really love how supportive she was with you all those years, and I hate that you still feel so guilty about your marriage. But I can't meddle, like I did with you and your therapist. I still got to work on that. Sorry" she stated.

Jason swallowed, feeling more guilty now. Dianna seemed extremely sincere, and now he felt ashamed for saying that she consciously tried to make him feel guilty about Alana. Jason was stinking of guilt, and he didn't know what to do. Dianna obviously noticed it, and got up from the bed, to sit closer to him.

"Jason, I'm just telling you to not feel guilty, and there you are, feeling guilty. Stop it. It just makes it worse. I told you that I was wrong too, because I knew that talking about Alana would hurt you, even though none of that was your fault".

"I can't" Jason confessed, with a shaky voice, "I can't stop this guilty feeling. I know what I did wrong. It's on me" he gestured, with a heavy heart.

Dianna decided to try a new approach, because she didn't know what else to do.

"Ok, then. Tell me something that I did wrong with you or anyone else, that I should feel really guilty about" she calmly said.

"What? Why?" Jason sat straight again, indignant. "No".

"Ok. I'll go then. I'll start with a recent one. I feel guilty for that time when I kissed Jared" she pointed out.

"But, you said you were thinking about me, and Emma" he said, confused.

"There were other ways, probably. I still kissed the tall blonde young and hot soldier that you hate" she gestured pointing to Jason.

He squirmed on the bed, uncomfortable. "You think he's hot?" he asked, suspicious, and Dianna nodded. He was more uncomfortable now, but he sighed.

"You said you had to make me break up with you. That you wouldn't have the strength to break up with me yourself" he gestured to her, reasonably explaining.

"Jason, I rubbed my body and exchanged saliva in front of you with-"

"Stop it" Jason cut Dianna off, annoyed. "What the fuck, Dianna. What's the matter with you?"

Dianna gave him a wise look, smirking. "So, was I wrong?"

Jason exhaled. "Yeah, maybe you were, okay?"

"Do you forgive me? Now that you know how sorry I am, and that I was trying to do something for your benefit?" Dianna placed her face closer to Jason, with wide fairy eyes.

Jason swallowed, melting. "Yes. I do. I forgave you, I told you. But it still annoys me, obviously".

Dianna chuckled, disarming Jason completely, and crawled on the bed to him, while he watched with wide eyes. She straddled him on the bed, and Jason was completely confused, but not complaining, at all. He wasn't even breathing.

"Do your prefer that I live my life now without guilt about this subject, and maybe have sex with you, or would you be happier if I continued to blame myself all the time for kissing that guy, and stayed taciturn and whined about it?"

Jason glanced down at his lap, then at Dianna's chest, then back at her face. He knew she was teaching him a lesson, but he was focusing on something else now.

"I don't whine" he said, indignant, when he finally registered her words.

"You do" she stated, "and it's quite annoying. So much, that I don't want to have sex with a whiner, no" she harshly said, getting up from his lap.

"Wait" Jason touched her forearm, "I got the lesson. Yes" he promised, with pleading eyes. "Now please, can you sit back on my lap with your hot shiny nightdress? You won't even have to take it off" he offered, naughtily smiling.

Dianna gave him a tired look and laid back on her side of the bed. "No, thanks. I'm not angry with you, but I'm still not in the mood for sex" she stated, and Jason let a small drop of guilt come back to his heart. "Turn off your lampshade when you're back from the shower. Goodnight".

The drop of guilt turned to a waterfall as soon as Jason stepped into the shower, and he barely got out and dried his body and was already texting Ray and Sonny. And the rest of the team too. He needed manpower, stat.

"Good morning, gorgeous" Jason seductively greeted Dianna as soon as she stepped out of the stairs. She was surprised when he woke up before her and was already cooking something. He didn't sleep in until too late, unless he just faced a sex marathon like the other night, but Dianna also usually woke up early to freshen up before he did. Now she came back from the bathroom and was confused because Jason had three pans on the small stove.

"Good morning" Dianna suspiciously greeted him, giving him a quick kiss. She knew Jason would still feel guilty about spoiling her surprise the night before, and she thought she'd feel bad about it, but turns out that she was enjoying all his effort. And he was wearing just a white boxer briefs with her red cute apron. "What are you cooking there?" she sniffed.

"We've got pancakes, toasts, eggs, bacon, and leftover tacos" he pointed at the pans, oven and microwave, and turned to her, grinning. "Take a pick".

"Jason, that's food for like, ten people" she frowned, when she walked closer to the stove.

That was food for eight to nine people, to be precise, but Dianna wouldn't need to know that.

"I like to cook in batches" he lied, quickly gesturing for her to pick.

"Pancakes, eggs and bacon, then. Classic trio" she proudly asked. Her kitchen was like a war zone, but it all smelled amazing. Although, she did glance at a pan in the sink that looked like it had something burnt in it.

Jason served double the amount of Dianna's on his plate, and sat next to her on the stool.

"What you doing today?" he asked, curious.

"Don't know" she said, sounding melancholic again. "Maybe I'll just watch some TV".

Jason squirmed. "Nah, it's a beautiful day. You should definitely take a walk, go shopping. Why don't you talk to Davis?"

Dianna shrugged. "Davis will have guys at her house, doing labor. On her backyard" she mumbled, feeling more miserable now. They'd start digging Davis' backyard for her jacuzzi.

"Are you sure? I mean, maybe they rescheduled. Have you checked your phone?" he asked, too excited.

Dianna stared at him. "I know you're trying to cheer me up. Stop it. I told you, I'll use the jacuzzi".

"Well, maybe I am. It would make me feel a lot less guilty if you went out with her, okay? I'll have to go to Ray's, I don't want you all cooked up inside today" he dramatically gesticulated, standing up. "Now tell me where the phone is, I'll get it for ya".

"I forgot it on my bedside table, I think" Dianna mumbled, and Jason walked up the stairs.

"Jason, what are you doing wearing my apron with your underwear?" Dianna asked, turning to him, and he stopped in the middle of the stairs, with an apologizing look. "Do it right. Loose the briefs" Dianna naughtily smirked at him, and Jason stared in shock.

"Yeah. Forgot you're naughty" he chuckled, taking off his boxer briefs in the middle of the stairs and taking it with him while he walked up the stairs.

With Dianna attentively watching.

"I don't know, I didn't like any of those" Dianna mumbled, when they left another store. "One is fine by me".

"But it's such a plain one" Davis was distressed. They went to five stores and Dianna only bought one bathing suit, while she bought two herself, and she didn't even need any. "You have a jacuzzi now, girl, you can't own one bathing suit only".

Dianna stared at her, grumpy. "What can I do if a disgusting stalker jerked off on the ones I liked?"

Davis raised her eyebrows. Dianna was in a terrible mood, no wonder Jason was desperate to cheer her up. "Look. Tell you what. Let's have lunch, then we can, I don't know, buy some décor? What do you think?"

Dianna shrugged, looking miserable. "I'm hungry. Sure. But I don't think I should be spending any more money on these things. Maybe Jason is right, I should be more conscious about my expenses".

Davis wanted to kill Jason. "But not if you're gonna become this grumpy sad woman" she almost shook Diana, surprising her. "Come on, you're not in debt or starving, you can afford it".

"O-key then" Dianna was scared of Davis now. She was always a control freak and stingy. Once she bargained her charity with a homeless guy, arguing he didn't need ten dollars because he'd spend it all with booze, so she gave him five. But she was probably right, though. "I'll look at a few more stores, then. Calm down. Jesus".

"What the hell, man" Ray grumbled to Sonny, kneeling on the floor "I told you the cut was in a 45º angle".

"Well, I did it in a 45º, goddamn it, I told you" Sonny was exasperated and gestured with his arms pointing at the wood board. "Check it again, I did it".

"It's not-" Ray forced the wood board against the other one already installed, aggressively shaking it, and it fit perfectly, making a 'click' sound "...fitting. Huh".

Sonny was about to loudly gloat, but he chose to just place his hands on his hips and smile at Ray. Vengeance. "What were you saying?"

"You handed it to me from the wrong side" Ray deviated Sonny's stare, silently resuming his work and fastening the wood boards to the vertical frame.

"Hey" Clay walked to Jason, "Are we really gonna have to build Davis a new deck too? I mean" Clay gestured around them, where seven men were tanning under the sun while building the deck for Dianna's jacuzzi. "We're doing okay here, but I'm terrified that I'll screw it up at Davis'. She's a control freak, man, everything has to look perfect".

Jason hovered over Clay. "What do you mean? Are you saying you're doing a half-ass job here, Six?" Jason dangerously asked, turning the screwdriver on in his hand in a very menacing way.

"No" Clay immediately stepped back, raising his hands, with wide eyes, "No, no. Never. I was just saying that Davis will hover over us all day, and-"

Jason walks closer to Clay, hovering over him again, giving him a killer stare.

"Ok, I'll finish varnishing the boards" he finally gave up, almost running out of there. Clay thought that Jason must have been feeling incredibly guilty, for sure, because he wanted the deck to be ready in six hours and with the varnish already dry, so Clay was varnishing the boards before hand.

"Ah, man" Ray suddenly complained, looking at his phone, "Who the fuck told Naima that we're building a deck?" he asked, looking around. Trent shrugged.

"She asked me what it was because she wanted to help out picking the color of the wood varnish and stuff like that".

"Well, thanks a lot, man. She wants a 'simple' deck leading to our backyard now. She sent me pins from Pinterest" Ray was indignant and annoyed. He'd have to build Naima a table already, and the table was getting more detailed at each day that passed. It was almost a Luis XV table by now.

Jason came back from the kitchen, with many, many cold beers, to make the guys talk less and work more. All of them grabbed a bottle and Jason raised his beer.

"Guys. Honestly. Thank you so much for the help. I really appreciated it. My brothers" he emotionally said, looking at everyone.

"Aw thanks man, appreciate it" Sonny joyfully said. "Just please stop screwing things up with Dianna, okay? Please. Seriously".

Jason was sweating when Lisa told him she was dropping off Dianna, and before that, he asked the guys to let him surprise her alone, just both of them. He didn't tell them why, but it's because he wanted to watch Dianna's true reaction, and not the polite one that she would have. He was pretty sure Dianna would love the deck, after all, Naima and Stella saw pictures and loved it, and the boys too. If it didn't cheer Dianna up, Jason would feel too guilty, for sure.

Since the sun was coming down, he arranged everything like she did the night before, turning the lights on, leaving towels, and cleaning everything around it; the cleaning was actually the most tiresome part of it all, her backyard was a mess.

Dianna waved goodbye to Davis and got in, with a few shopping bags, but at least she was feeling a little better. She was sure that this time Jason wouldn't say anything about her expenses, he was feeling so guilty that she could get away with anything. Besides, one of the two bathing suits that she bought was really beautiful, and she couldn't wait to try it on for him. To go to the beach, of course. Since he thought her jacuzzi was a waste of money, he could also not use it, then. But Dianna was pretty sure that Jason would be waiting for her by the jacuzzi now, with a cute décor and candles or something like that. Davis was a good liar, but Jason was terrible at it, so she went shopping with Davis because she was curious to see what he would pull off during her absence, to make her 'truly' apologize him.

And it was no surprise whatsoever when she arrived home and she saw the lights on the backyard, and Jason walking to her, with an anxious expression.

"Hey, hey" Jason approached Dianna, with his shoulders raised and his hands together, "How was the shopping? Got anything nice?" he asked, and he was actually relieved to see five shopping bags.

"It was good. You're right, I had fun" Dianna said and purposely walked to the kitchen, to see if Jason would deviate her way. He did.

"I was thinking" Jason pretty much held Dianna by her shoulders and made her walk to the living room and glass door, and Dianna held a smile, "it's such a nice evening, maybe we could try out your new acquisition, huh?"

Dianna stopped walking and smirked at Jason. "I got it. You want me to use it. That's fine, I told you I'll use it".

"I never said I didn't want to use it too" Jason now was upset. She was excluding him from the benefits of having a jacuzzi in the house. "I always wanted one, didn't you hear it when I told you that Alana and I checked the prices of jacuzzis years ago? If I had the extra money, or if it wasn't so expensive back then, of course I would have bought it" Jason explained, gesticulating a lot. He realized he was talking quite loudly. "I mean. My job is physically demanding. It really helps with the pain. I was telling the truth when I said it all looked amazing" he muttered to Dianna.

She was caught off guard with his admittance. She really thought he didn't care much about it. "Oh sorry. Of course I want you to use it. I mean, like I said, I bought it because now I wouldn't be using it alone" she shyly smirked, and Jason melted.

"Great" he guided her by the shoulder again, "let's go use it then, come on".

"Wait" she stopped again, "I want to put on my new bathing suit first" she seductively leaned on him. "It's pretty".

Jason swallowed. "Ok. But hurry, put it in the bedroom downstairs, ok? To be quicker".

Dianna smirked, she knew he didn't want her to see the surprise décor or whatever he planned, so she got inside and quickly put the new bathing suit on. She got out of the bedroom with her clothes from before, though.

"What? Did you change your mind?" Jason asked, confused, still waiting in the living room.

"No" Dianna walked closer, "it's under my clothes. Don't wanna feel cool walking around in a bathing suit in the house" she lied. She was still shy about her body in front of Jason, she didn't want him to look at her walking around the house almost naked all the time, under some harsh light.

Jason shrugged, but was curious about her bikini. Still, he was more curious to see her reaction, and Dianna finally walked out on the patio.

Dianna passed by the glass door, searching for some décor around the jacuzzi, and she stopped walking when she noticed the deck surrounding half of it, the half where the jacuzzi had the edge against the rest of her backyard, closer to the patio. It looked amazing, even at night, and after a few seconds, she silently walked on the stone path and cautiously touched the deck with her toe.

"It's dry, we tested. You can step on it" Jason said, behind her, from the patio.

Dianna didn't turn and stepped on the deck, walking around it, looking down, and then stepped back to see it all again, under the light that was hung on the tree branch. It looked amazing, and she had no idea how Jason pulled it off. She had a suspicion, of course.

"Did you and the guys do this?" she shyly and quietly asked, still with her back to him, and Jason walked to the middle of the stone path to hear her.

"Yeah. All the guys helped. It was a task force" Jason answered, still anxious, with his arms crossed.

He walked closer to Dianna, to ask what she thought about it, but then, without turning, she suddenly took off her top and her jeans, and Jason gasped when he saw the bathing suit she was wearing. Even that was delicate like her. It was white with delicate flowers mimicking an embroidery, and Jason watched, enthralled, while Dianna quickly stepped into the jacuzzi from the new deck. She immediately leaned back to dive in, then came back turned to him, grinning, and he instantly grinned with her, relieved, and thinking that she looked like a mermaid coming out of the water. She walked out of the jacuzzi and made her way to Jason, all wet, and stopped in front of him.

"Nobody ever made me a surprise" she told him, with a shaky voice. She had tears in her eyes, but they weren't noticeable because she was entirely wet, even her hair.

Jason was shocked about that, and he squirmed, she definitely deserved better, she was always so thoughtful with the others.

"It looks amazing, Jason. Thank you. And the guys. Seriously" she muttered, and softly kissed his lips, pulling him from his t-shirt. "I love you" she muttered. She meant every word, and she even forgot, for a second, that he probably thinks she doesn't want to have children or even a husband. And when she remembered, she decided it was a conversation for another day, if possible. She was too happy with his surprise now.

"Do you forgive me, then? About last night. I didn't mean to hurt you or upset you" Jason asked, still anxious, with his hands pressing her waist. He couldn't wait to get into that jacuzzi, his back was killing him, a lot.

"I told you, I wasn't angry. But yes, this cheered me up, of course" she grinned again, and Jason cutely smiled at her. "And I'd love for you to join me in there, if you really want to. It's so good" she said, excited, and she didn't have to say it twice and he was already taking off his t-shirt. He was wearing shorts that could get wet, they had to wear something to get to the jacuzzi, because even though it was quite private in there, the path to get to there could be seen from Ms. Lewis backyard, if she peeked from her fence. And she obviously would.

"Oh, yes" Jason loudly moaned as soon as he got into the hot water and rested his painful back on the edge, directly against a couple of jets.

"For fuck sake, Jason" Dianna grumbled near him, "my neighbors will think we're having sex out here. You already did that once".

She was right, of course. "Sorry. It's just SO GOOD, YES" Jason loudly and exaggeratedly said, laughing, and Dianna laughed at him, but wanted to kill him at the same time, so she slapped his arm. He didn't even feel it.

She sat next to him, with jets on her back. They're really amazing, for sure.

"Okay, so I wanted a house, backyard and jacuzzi. To know Paris. And a car that works" Dianna told him, chuckling. "And you? What do you want? For sure you didn't dream about staying in that apartment, right?"

He chuckled, pensive for a while. "As a matter of fact, I think I'd love to have an Airstream" he confessed, and Dianna chuckled. "Yeah. Seriously. Something that I can drive around, just get up and go, like that".

Dianna liked his idea. "Oh I love those tiny homes, always watched the TV shows. I even designed my dream floorplan once, just for fun".

Jason believed that, and he chuckled. "Yes, another interest you have, of course". He closed his eyes, happily humming. "Who knows, maybe someday. Emma will be graduating college in a few years, then it's one less person to pay for education" he joked, but meant it. "Maybe then".

Dianna smiled, liking that he still has some dream. Then her smile faded away. His dream is to travel around the country, things like that, when he's not away with Bravo. And when he'll retire, of course he'll still have the same dream.

Her dream is to finally settle down and stop moving around, though. She knew she'd have to have a serious talk with Jason, and she knew it would happen eventually. But now, she realized that it would have to be a lot sooner than she expected.

But not that night. That night Dianna wanted to enjoy the amazing surprise that Jason prepared for her.

He built her a deck.

"Okay, the problem of having a jacuzzi, is that it's really hard to get out of it once you're in it" Dianna muttered to Jason, next to her. They were both almost asleep, but they were both also very hungry.

"Tell you what" Jason made an effort and turned his body a little towards Dianna, "we could order takeout from my phone, that's like, here" he pointed to the corner of the deck, where he left his phone, "and then when the delivery guy arrives we'll have the will to leave the jacuzzi to eat".

Dianna thought for a second. "Yeah, great plan. Do it, grab your phone".

Jason stared at her. "I had the plan. Maybe you could grab it" he said, sitting with his back against the jets again. The phone wasn't reachable from the jacuzzi.

Dianna was annoyed, but he built her a deck, so she let it pass. Almost.

"Fine, I'll take it" she grumbled, making an effort to leave the jacuzzi and immediately feeling cold, "forgot you're a lot older than me".

Jason complained, but Dianna wasn't listening, and ordered pizza from his phone. She was in the mood for it, and he agreed. Not that she asked him if he agreed.

"It will take 25 to 30 minutes" Dianna grumbled to Jason, placing his phone on the deck and stepping into the jacuzzi again.

"What? They usually take just fifteen from that place" he was indignant. He hated food that took too long to be delivered.

Dianna sighed. "I know. The guy apologized in advance, saying that they are two guys short today. Flu". She stood in front of Jason, with her arms crossed.

Jason was annoyed, but he loved the pizza from there. "Fine. We wait then". He said, resting his arms on the edge of the jacuzzi, grumpy.

Dianna noticed his biceps looked huge, and maybe they were bigger. Maybe his 'manual labor' that day and the previous days at Ray's were showing some results. And he had his grumpy bad boy face that she loved. She sighed again.

"Jason, how quiet can you be if I ask you to?"

"Whatdoyoumean" he quietly asked her, looking up, suspicious. She had just complained that he was talking too loud, but he was talking quietly now. She was complaining a lot, he thought.

"If I sit on you, how quiet can you be?" Dianna casually asked him, with her arms crossed, taking a step closer to him. Jason looked up, shocked but very, very in the mood.

"I can be a mute" he quickly answered, and Dianna chuckled.

"Alright then" she calmly said, sitting on his thighs. "Make the jets stronger, just in case" she asked him, so the turbulent water would cover the lower parts of their bodies completely. Not that the neighbors could see them in there.

Jason immediately looked to his side to reach the buttons, and put almost on maximum, but it was too strong for him and he slid a bit to the side, to catch only one jet, and not two, on his back. But it felt amazing too. He quickly lowered his shorts, and Dianna kissed him slowly, with her hands on his damp hair, and he pressed her waist. The neighbors couldn't see them from their houses or backyards there, due to the tree and the plants around them, but they'd hear them very well if Jason did any sound louder than a normal conversation.

"I'll fill this backyard with plants" Jason stopped their kiss to inform her, serious, "Those tall leafy ones, you know" he gestured with his hand, kissing Dianna again when she chuckled, amused.

"That's ok. You don't have to" Dianna murmured to him, kissing his neck and touching his member. But he was ready for her already.

"I'll go to the gardening store tomorrow" he said, determined, and gasped when Dianna untied one side of her bathing suit and sat on his erection. He exhaled while she stood still and kissed and licked his neck.

"I was thinking about calling the guys over for a barbecue tomorrow" Dianna calmly told Jason, while she slowly moved on his lap, first only up and down. She still wasn't sure that Jason could be quiet enough. "Do they have training again tomorrow?"

"In the morning, I think" Jason quickly said, gasping and holding her hair. He touched her breast. "May I?" he politely asked, and Dianna chuckled on his neck. She looked around, and she was very well hidden behind two bushes there, from Ms. Lewis eyes. And the other neighbor couldn't see anything either, because of the angle.

"Go on. We're good" she murmured, and Jason immediately moved his hand under her bathing suit, to squeeze her breast.

"Oh, we should have done this earlier" Jason exhaled on her neck, happy as hell.

"Hey" Dianna distanced from him, to look at his face. "You're getting all the jets. And I'm doing all the work here. That wouldn't be fair" she was right, of course.

"I built you a deck in six hours" he cockily raised his eyebrows at her, and she started to move in waves to rip that smile off his face. He grunted, but continued. "We carried heavy wood. Huh. Then I cut many, many boards. Huhhh. And I took, what. Huhh. Two hours to fasten them to the frame. HUH. Fuck, Dianna. Huhmm".

Jason was biting his mouth to not grunt too loudly, and Dianna was loving it, but she decided to kiss him, because he was being a bit too loud already.

"Well, I appreciate it, as you know" Dianna stopped their kiss, to let him know, but continued to move hard, and now faster. She was worried that the pizza would arrive sooner than the guy told them, because he felt bad for her. Jason muffled his grunts on Dianna's neck, and firmly squeezed her butt and breast, and she held back a louder moan.

"The barbecue" Dianna suddenly remembered, now muffling her voice and moans on Jason's shoulder. "Tomorrow night, then?"

"I'll confirm" Jason quickly answered, then muffled another grunt. "They'll love it".

Dianna was almost reaching her orgasm, when they heard the doorbell.

"Oh no" Jason desperately pleaded, moving his head to face Dianna, "Please don't stop".

She moved even faster, but was already on the edge.

"Oh, Jason" she said, gasping on his lips, "I would never".

She felt her orgasm coming and muffled her moan on his lips, and Jason immediately came too as soon as he felt her clenching around his erection, and he muffled his grunt on her lips too, but some of the sound was still audible.

The delivery guy pressed the doorbell again.

"Go on" Dianna said, still catching her breath, and getting off of Jason's lap. He looked at her, breathless. "What, do you want me to answer the door in my bathing suit?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No" he quickly said. "I was just catching my breath" he explained, then pulled his shorts up and clumsily got out of the jacuzzi. He didn't tell her, but he was still a little light-headed from his orgasm. It was very powerful, with the jets massaging his back. Really powerful.

He got the pizza with the delivery guy, who was really annoyed by then, and while Dianna stepped out of the jacuzzi and walked to the patio, Jason was already glancing around her backyard, to see how tall the plants would need to be to hide them from the neighbor's prying eyes and ears.

Meanwhile, Dianna was walking to Jason, noticing how he was looking around her backyard, and thought that maybe he'd like to keep part of his life still peaceful, since he wanted to actually plant trees and flowers on her backyard. Literally fix roots.

That gave Dianna some hope.

.