Cool Fools 7: The Beginning of the End

***All I can say is, have some tissues on your hand, cause you're gonna be dapping your eyes a lot in this chapter. I also want to do a shameless plug for my blog. Please visit https://defineaman.blogspot.com. It's filled with my ever growing collection of great pictures of hot men in modeling, actors from TV and movies, sports stars, music idols, pretty much the sexiest guys that can be found on the internet.

But here's the story***

“Where’s Ethan?” asked a girl in English class, “He hasn’t been here in a while.”

The English professor Dr. Lindsey Heinsworth lifted her face from the pages of ‘The Turn of the Screw’ and cleared her throat. She produced a lengthy sigh, blinked three times in a row, cleared her throat again, licked her glossy rouge lips, cleared her throat once more before replying, “He is currently grading the essays that you guys handed in last Thursday.”

“He’s grading them?” asked a guy, “I thought you were?”

Heinsworth nodded, “He is making careful, scrupulous comments and criticism, so I believe it is best for him to stay in the office as I know some of you…” She shot a cold glance at Woody, “…may be distracting him. I think you should be grateful that he is taking so much time and effort to give you feedback. It will be that much less work for you on your rewrite. But no worries, you will get your rough drafts back this Thursday. And the final draft…which I will personally grade…will be due next Tuesday.”

“Oh, okay,” said a girl, “So while you’re grading our essays, will he come back to discuss the readings with us? Cause, last time, he did a really great job.”
Heinsworth simply said, “We will see” and returned her face to the book.

Woody Anderson knew the real reason why Ethan White was not in class. Ethan had told the conservative English teacher about their relationship. Not only was Heinsworth beautiful, she was very smart and manipulative. She knew it was illegal for her to fire Ethan because of his lifestyle choice, so she had planned another way to dismiss him. Since she saw no fault in Ethan’s leadership in discussions, she would have to find a fault in his grading of papers. Heinsworth learned of Ethan’s sexual orientation on Monday and assigned the essay on Tuesday, giving the students only two days to write the four page essay. This was bound to produce loads of bad first drafts which Ethan would have to deal with. Once the students got back their papers, they would only have one weekend to rewrite it…and of course, how many students will use their weekends to write a paper. So when Heinsworth grades the final paper and sees that it was as bad as the rough draft, she would then have reasons to fire Ethan due to incompetence in critiquing essays. This speculation, of course, was all in Woody Anderson’s mind, and may or may not be completely true to fact.

“What a bitch; what a fucking hot bitch, she is,” Woody said as he slipped into his pajamas and hopped onto the queen-sized bed, “Come on, Ethan. Quit grading and come here. I need your warm body next to me, or I can’t fall asleep.”

“I’m on the last page of Chelsi’s paper,” said Ethan with a little snort, “And let’s just say I’m running out of red ink.”
“Hey, do you have my paper?”
“No, Heinsworth is grading that one herself.”

“Again, what a bitch, what a fucking hot bitch, she is.” Woody exclaimed.
“I’m sure you did fine!” laughed Ethan.

When Woody got the essay back on Thursday, he was surprised to see only two major red slashes on his paper. Heinsworth’s exact remarks on his paper were “This essay shows promise. I think you have gotten the gist of the assignment and implemented it quite well. To revise, you may want to consider visiting the Writing Center.”

“Should I not revise it?” Woody contemplated, “I mean, she was the one who graded my paper, so if my final score for the paper is low, that would make her look bad. And so if the class average is higher than mine…you’ll be in good shape. She can’t fire you.”

Ethan shook his head, “Of course, you should edit your paper, and you should stop looking into stuff that simply aren’t there. Heinsworth’s flirting with me a little less, but that’s about it. She still treats me with the same amount of respect.”
“Maybe she thinks she can convert you back to straighthood. She still thinks she can get in your pants.”
“Well, rest assured,” Ethan winked, “I’m wearing a chastity belt that only you can unbuckle.”

Much to the surprise of the whole class, when everyone got back their final draft, the average was a high B. Half the class received A’s, thirty percent of the class received B’s, and ten percent of the class received C’s….No D’s or F’s at all. Whether Heinsworth intended to fire Ethan or not, based on the performance of the class, Ethan’s job was secure…and it remained secure for the rest of the semester.

****

It was a freezing cold late November. There was only a distance of ten feet from the car to the front door of the building, but Woody was still afraid to venture that treacherous distance. Woody zipped up the brown leather jacket to his neck before he had the courage to turn off the engine. Opening the car door, Woody quickly stumbled out, whisked through the nipping air, and quickly pulled at the glass door to the building. But the door did not open. “Shit,” Woody wasted breath to the cold air, and quickly tapped at the front door, “Hey, is anybody in there? I’m here for the calendar shoot.”

“Coming,” Woody could swear it was Ethan’s voice he heard. Through the frosty glass, Woody also swore he saw Ethan coming up to open the door. Only when the door swung wide and Woody squeezed inside that he realized the man standing in front of him was not Ethan White, but someone who looked very much like him.

“Sorry about the door. It gets stuck sometimes,” the handsome man in blue sweater presented a hand, “I’m Adam. Your photographer. You must be Sherwood.”

Woody didn’t know how to react. When most people call him by his proper name, Woody would cringe with a bitter taste in his mouth. When Ethan White called him by his proper name, Woody would swoon as if his heart was covered with sugar. But he didn’t know how to react when a guy who looked similar to Ethan, sounded like Ethan but wasn’t exactly Ethan call him by his proper name. So he ended up nodding, shaking the man’s hand, and saying, “Yeah, but please, call me Woody.”

“Kay, Woody,” said the young man named Adam, “Why don’t you put your coat on the rack and go heat up by the lamp over there?”
Woody nodded and took off his brown leather jacket and threw it over the coat rack. The coldness from outside still clinging to his skin, Woody shivered with goosebumps and immediately moved to the high-voltage fluorescent lamps used for lighting the set.

“So how’s my cousin doing?” Adam asked.
Woody stopped shivering to give his mind a moment to process the question. The synapses in his brain finally kicked in and Woody soon recalled Ethan telling about his cousin, Adam, the guy who modeled for the weird statue at the art museum of Southwind University.

“Oh, he’s doing fine. All the students he teaches love him. And he’s got this great review on a short story he recently wrote,” Woody said, “Thanks for asking. I’m sorry I didn’t realize sooner who you were.”
“Oh, how could you realize?” Adam shrugged, “I’m sure he doesn’t talk about me a lot.”

“Well, he did mention you from time to time.”
“How much did he tell ya?” wondered Adam.
“Um, he says you guys don’t get along because of personality conflict,” Woody said truthfully, “That’s about all I know.”

“I guess that’s all you should know,” said Adam, “My make-up assistant’s car is stalled, so it’ll take a while for her to get here. Or, she might not make it at all. But that shouldn’t be an issue. By the looks of it, you seem pretty flawless, tone and complexion, all around a very beautiful face.”

“Thanks,” Woody blushed.
“You understand that the guys in the calendars are all shirtless?” Adam said.
“Yes, I saw last years calendar…”
“Good, cause some guys don’t realize that until I ask them to strip.”
“No, yes, I do know.” Woody nodded.
“Are you comfortable with it?” asked Adam.
“Yes, I’ve had a while to mentally prepare…so…”

“Okay, well. Why don’t you take off your shirt,” said Adam, “It’ll take some time to get acclimated to the temperature. So you won’t shiver throughout the shooting process.”
Woody nodded and pulled the T-shirt over his head and sighed as the warm lights radiated into his body.

“Gorgeous body,” Adam bit his lip in delight, “That’s what I love so much about this profession. I get paid for ogling people. And it’s a bonus treat if the person can actually pose, but somehow, I have a feeling you’re gonna be a natural.”
“Thanks,” Woody blushed again. “I’ll try my best.”

Adam began describing the shooting process, “This year, the Campus Hunks calendar is going with the theme: reflections. So we’re gonna shoot you in front of a mirror, or standing in a small pool of water, or digitally add your image in a dessert mirage, or whatever I can come up within the next hour…and then we’ll look at the photos and use the best one.”
“Sounds great,” said Woody.

Adam’s assistant called to say she couldn’t make it, so the photo session began as soon as he shut the phone.

It was a good forty-five minutes later when Adam had uploaded all the photos to the computer and Woody could see the results of his first time modeling.
“Wow,” exclaimed Adam, “I can use every one of these frames. The sorority girls are gonna have a hard time choosing a favorite.”

“You’re a great photographer,” Woody said, “I mean, I didn’t think you could make the ones with me standing in a kiddie pool work…but you did. They look awesome.”

“So, how long have you two been together?” asked Adam out of the blue.

Woody rolled his eyes up the sockets to calculate and came to a sweet realized, “It’s exactly ten months today. Whoa shit, I can’t believe it. It’s gone by so fast.”

“Cool,” nodded Adam slowly, “So, you aiming to break your sister’s record?”

Woody brought his eyebrows together, “What do you mean?”
“Well, Ethan and Laurie dated for two years,” said Adam, “You think you two will last that long?”

“Um, yeah. I think we will last very, very long,” Woody was definitely offended, “As a matter of fact, we will last forever.” He was getting madder with every word that sputtered out, “Jesus! I’m sorry, but what kind of asshole question is that?”

“Aren’t you a bit concerned?” Adam asked, “Given his dating history?”
“What are you talking about?” Woody asked, “Ethan has a great dating history. All his relationships have lasted at least three months. Most of my relationships barely last the morning after.”

“Has he shown any signs?”
“What signs?”
“Like going out to the living room in the middle of the night to watch television. Or finding reasons to work late into the night. Or accepting any reason to travel for a few weeks without you. Or, um, encouraging you to take a trip somewhere without him.”

“No, he hasn’t!” said Woody crossly “And what does it have to do with anything?”
“Well, according to Ron and Charlie and his other exes,” said Adam, “Those are tell-tale signs that he’s about to break up with you. So I guess it’s good…I mean, GREAT, that he hasn’t. I guess that means he really likes you.”

“He LOVES me,” corrected Woody, “And I love him. And I believe this is the last time we’ll talk to each other, so thanks for the shoot. Goodbye.”
Woody tramped down the hall to the front door, took his jacket off the rack, and yanked at the door handle. The door wouldn’t budge. Woody waited with crossed arms for Adam to open it for him before storming out indignantly, running quickly to his car and turning on the heater full blast. Not waiting for the car to warm up, Woody immediately backed out and drove off driveway and into the street.

****

“Hey, babe. How did the photo shoot go?” asked Ethan as Woody walked into the apartment and slammed the door shut.
“Great!” said Woody, “Everything went great up until your stupid cousin Adam started asking if we’ll ever break up.”

“Oh, Adam was your photographer?” said Ethan, “The photos probably will come out great then.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” Woody scowled, “He was jinxing us to break up!”
“Well, Adam’s like that. He says stuff without thinking sometimes,” said Ethan, “I’m kind of used to it by now. Don’t let him ruin your day.”

“Now I know why you never talk about him!” Woody sighed, “He has a stupid mouth like me, only ten times worse.”

“Come here,” Ethan opened up his arms as Woody fell into them, “So, how was it, getting in your skivvies and strutting about?”
“There was much less strutting than there were awkward poses,” laughed Woody, “But yeah, I guess we’ll have to see the final product next month.” Then Woody remembered the importance of that day, “Hey, do you know what today is?”

“Novemeber 29th,” said Ethan.
“Yeah…” Woody said, “What else is it?”
“Um…one week after thanksgiving.”
“No, you idiot,” Woody said, “It’s our ten month anniversary.”
Ethan laughed. “I’m not sure that’s a notable anniversary.”
“Well, it is to me.” Woody said, “It’s notable to me.”

“Oh, well, in that case,” Ethan smiled smugly, “I made a reservation at the Geisha House at 8 tonight to celebrate.”
“Ooooh, Japanese,” Woody winked with delight, “I am so in the mood for it.”

<%PART%>

“Hey, Woody, it’s me,” It was Shonda Bailey, the girl Woody met at the sorority party who asked him to model for the calendar, “I’m sure you’re checking out your calendar right now. It looks absolutely terrific. I just wanted to say that you’re the first freshman ever to grace the front cover, so congratulations! You’re also Mr. January; I guess it would be appropriate since that’s your birth-month. Okay, well, happy holidays. Bye.”

As of the moment, the calendar she was referring to was on the floor along with Woody’s and Ethan’s shirts and pants.

Fifteen minutes prior, Ethan got the mail and was first to see the calendar. When he opened the manila envelope and pulled out the content, Ethan’s whole body ignited with desires he had never felt before. Woody’s slender, photogenic face was imprinted on the glossy calendar. His face pressed up against a gray-tinted looking glass. His green eyes never looked more exotic and captivating, as if it was staring directly into Ethan’s soul. His beautiful lips pursed, glistening slightly but sexily. The gray-tint of the mirror gave Woody’s reflection an exotic, man-of-the-future look, capturing so well the lines and structure that made his face so appealing. The photo cut down to Woody’s shoulders, hinting at his beautiful chest, but never actually showing it. Enticing the viewer to turn the page in order to see the rest of his heaven-made body.

So Ethan turned the page to January and felt his pants getting tighter and tighter as he stared at his gorgeous boyfriend. Throughout their relationship, there were so many moments when Woody made some kind of face or gesture that was incredibly cute, and Ethan desperately wanted to permanently capture those moments. Now, Adam had been able to capture some of those moments. The picture showed Woody laying on his front, like he was sleeping, his whole body reflected by the digitally-created sheet of ice on which he lay. The picture captured beautifully how Woody’s eyelids looked when closed, his semi-long eyelashes were like wings of angels on either side of his perfect nose. The breathtaking way his shoulders and back curved right down to the small of his back…and to Woody’s finest feature, his amazing buttocks, accentuated by low-cut jean.

When Woody walked into the room, Ethan showed him the calendar and said, “I knew you would make the front cover.” Woody barely had fifteen seconds to examine his pictures before his virile lover took him by the arms and kissed the beautiful lips with fervent and passion. “I’ve never been more turned on,” Ethan sighed, “I just have to have you right now.” Woody melted into the wonderful kiss and dropped the calendar, letting their passion guide them to the bed and out of their constricting clothes. Letting Ethan’s desires direct his hands across the younger man’s body. Letting Ethan’s carnal needs negotiate their sensual play.

Ethan had little desire to penetrate Woody, had little desire to fuck in order to ejaculate. Sometimes, there are some things better than achieving an orgasm…like knowing the most desired man on campus was your boyfriend, like knowing that the most desired man on campus was in love with you and you in love with him. All Ethan wanted was to pleasure every inch of Woody’s mortal skin, love him deep enough to reach into Woody’s tender soul. He had explored the incredible body countless times before, but Ethan wanted to spend the whole night making sure he didn’t miss a spot, making sure every single square each of the perfection called Sherwood Anderson was accounted for. Only when the younger man asked to be entered, did Ethan make intercourse with Woody.

But numerous orgasms later, loads after bigger loads of hot ejaculatory later, Ethan was still lapping his tongue under Woody’s chin, rubbing his fingers on Woody’s tight shoulders, gliding his legs against Woody’s thighs. “I can’t get enough of your body, I just can’t!” Ethan said. “I love you, Sherwood. I love you I love you I love you. I can’t say it enough.”

“I think you say it about forty times a day,” Woody laughed, “I’d say that’s enough.”

“No, it isn’t.” Ethan protested, grabbing Woody’s toes and kissing them, “It should be eighty times a day. One hundred twenty times. One thousand one hundred twenty. Every single second I want to touch you, hold you, and say I love you.”

Woody didn’t think he could be any happier, but the more Ethan said those wonderful words, the more his spirit soared, “I want this to last forever. I want every day for the rest of our lives to be like the last few months. Me waking up next to you, one of us coming out to make the other breakfast, go to school and work, come home as quickly as we can to be with each other, making dinner together or going out, fucking four days a week, falling asleep in each other’s arms, and waking up and repeating the whole day. It’s the best thing in the world, so SIMPLE, so ROUTINE, yet so WONDERFUL…”

****

Woody slowly opened his eyes. In the darkness of the room, the utter lack of bodily warmth took Woody’s breath away…and not in a good way. His hand was unsteady as he reached out in frantic hopes to find Ethan’s body. But his fingers felt nothing until they came down to the cool silk sheet on the mattress. Rolling over to switch on the lamp, Woody blinked several times to let his eyes adjust to the yellow glowing room. Ethan’s body which usually lit every room with warmth and life was nowhere to be seen, leaving the bed chamber cold and desolate.

Woody could feel his heart beating faster and faster as the dreadful conversation with Adam came to mind; his lungs was on the verge of collapse, making it painful for him to breathe. This is crazy, Woody told himself, there is nothing to worry about. Ethan’s probably just taking a midnight piss. So Woody waited for a moment longer, laying quietly, hoping to see the college graduate come back to bed in a matter of minutes.

But the minutes ticked slowly by, and with his ears now attuned to the night, he could detect the soft sounds of the television out in the living room. Shaking his head in utter disbelief, Woody threw back the covers and put on his slippers and went out of the bedroom. In the hallway, Woody could see irregular bright flashes of the television. As he stepped foot into the living room, he could see Ethan’s head resting above the couch. When Ethan heard Woody’s footsteps, he looked behind him, stared for a long moment, before producing a tight-lipped smile.

“Hey, there,” said Woody slowly and guardedly. He feigned a casual voice, but deep inside, his heart was tearing apart.
“Hi,” Ethan said. “Sorry, I couldn’t sleep.”
Woody fought back tears, his voice already cracking, “Why don’t…you come back to bed. Drink some Nyquil, that’ll knock you right out.”

Ethan shook his head, “But I can’t possibly turn off ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’…one of my favorite movies ever. It’s a sin to turn off this film.”
“It’s one of my favorite movies too,” said Woody.
“I got a blanket here,” Ethan said, with a softer smile, “Wanna get under it and watch it with me?”

Ethan’s invitation flooded Woody with pure relief, followed by a surge of utter joy that warmed his heart again and made it easier for him to breathe. Woody quickly got under the cover, leaning back against Ethan’s chest, resting his head on Ethan’s shoulder, having Ethan’s wonderful arms tightly around him. Christmas was five days away, but both boys have tried hard to buy each other presents and tried even harder to keep them hidden until the morning of. But Woody couldn’t think of a present he needed more than the best gift he had already received: the gift of Ethan’s whole body and soul.

****

The Holiday break started on December 15th and lasts till the Thursday after Woody’s birthday. To Woody, it should was a month of rest, of doing nothing, of leaving productivity behind and enjoying the blessings of the holidays. But for Ethan, a holiday break was just time to find more things to do, more need to fill his life so it wouldn’t became so stagnant, so mundane, so routine.

Ethan took a job to help foreigners study for their tests to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. That meant he worked from 6 to 9 every night that except for the holidays. So every night, the couple made dinner at five before Ethan had to go to work. While Ethan was teaching, Woody would use this time to either talk to the Welling twins and Reed, or call up someone he knew on campus to hang out. But immediately at 9, he would break all engagement and come back to the house to be with Ethan.

When Woody got home at 10 pm one night, feeling a bit guilty for taking an hour longer that he should have, Woody went about the apartment searching for Ethan, but the latter was nowhere to be found. Woody checked his cell phone and found that Ethan had left him a message. Apparently, the music from the club Woody attended had drowned out Ethan’s call. Woody listened to the message, “Hey, honey. I just found out one of my students has just taken his naturalization interview and passed. So he’s invited me and the whole class to celebrate with him. Sorry, I’ll be back as soon as the party’s over. Love you, Kisses. Bye.”

Woody never thought himself as the needy, clingy, got-to-be-with-my-significant-other-all-the-time type of person, but when it comes to Ethan, he was. He realized this now more than ever. And once again, the things Adam White said flooded back to his mind. But Woody absolutely refused to believe anything Ethan’s evil counterpart said. Adam was probably just jealous, he probably envious of Ethan and Woody’s strong relationship. He probably just wanted to shake up the foundation, to see if their relationship would break apart. But it won’t! It will not break apart, because Woody knew their emotional and spiritual bond was steel-solid all the way through. Woody knew their relationship would last forever.

<%PART%>

Ethan had finished his teaching job for the permanent residents, so the couple finally had a chance to drive back to Southwind in order to celebrate Woody’s birthday on January 15th with his parents.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Woody. Happy birthday to you…” With only one wish in his mind, the most important wish he had ever had. Woody blew out the candles. As the last candle flickered out, the crowd applauded. Woody was surrounded by all his loved ones: his parents, the Welling twins and Reed Valentine were all there, and most importantly, Ethan White was right beside him.

Ethan’s parents came late after the candles were blown and only stayed for fifteen minutes. Woody had only seen Ethan’s parents together three times in the last year. Separately, he saw them a dozen times each, when they came up to visit Ethan at the new apartment. They were very happy, pleasant, all-around-nice folks…that is, when they were separate. But each time he saw them together, Woody thought they seemed more miserable than the last. Woody had to wonder: if they were so unhappy together, why don’t they just get a divorce? Ethan was now a strong, confident adult; he could surely take the blow of his parents’ separation better than he would as a child.

But that night, Woody had more pressing matters to worry about…

“What are you going to do in New York?” Woody asked.
“I told you, I have a meeting with a publishing company. To see if any of my short stories are publishable,” said Ethan.

“How long will it take?”
“Probably, less than two weeks,” said Ethan, “I’ll be back before our anniversary.”

“Can I come with?”
“You can’t. You’re beginning the second semester. It’s not good to start out with a bad attendance record from your teachers,” said Ethan.
“Okay,” gulped Woody, “Good luck then.”
“Thank you,” Ethan said, “And you know what. I have a better version of the birthday song. Wanna hear it?”
Woody nodded.
“It’s really dirty,” Ethan warned. “And dorky.”
“The dirtier…and dorkier…the better.” Woody guffawed.

“Alright, here it goes: Got a boner for you. Got a boner for you. Got a boner…it’s a big one. Got a boner for you…” Ethan got on top of his boyfriend, pressing the subject of the song at Woody’s thigh, and proceeded to make love with him.

The evening of the next day, Woody drove Ethan to the airport. The latter gave the former one hell of a great long kiss that would have to last that entire two weeks. Then Woody drove the 120 miles back to Ashton, the utter silence of not having Ethan’s voice in the car was unbearable. Tomorrow would be the start of the Spring semester, but Woody couldn’t fall asleep when he got home. It was the first night that he was not in Ethan’s arms, so he downed a couple of beers, but still couldn’t make himself fall asleep.

****

For the last twenty minutes, Woody had been staring at his meatball sub-sandwich. By now, the meat was cold from outside in, and the marinara sauce seemed to have congealed. He had only taken two bites of it, and already, the thoughts of what Adam’s warning signs made his stomach bloated and queasy. Even though he knew his body needed food, Woody couldn’t force himself to take another bite. So he sipped his soft drink, but even that, after a while, made his stomach upset.

Woody wrapped up his sandwich and threw it in the trash and was about to leave the sub-sandwich restaurant when he saw two men walking in. One of them was strikingly handsome and tall with brown, floppy-haired cuteness; the other was shorter, ruggedly handsome, and his head was shiny bald. The taller man was Ethan’s cousin, Adam White, someone Woody had no desire to ever see or speak to again. The other one, it took a while for Woody to realize, was Ron…Ethan’s ex-boyfriend who worked at the sports fitness drugstore in Southwind.

Woody turned his face to the wall, but he knew it was too late. They had already seen him. As the two went up to order their sandwich, Woody wanted to use the chance to slip out, but before he could make it to the door, Ron had tapped him by the shoulder, “Hey, Woody. Remember me?”

Woody gulped down dry air and nodded. Ron asked if he had time to sit and catch up, and Woody made the excuse of having to go to the library to meet up with his study group. But the older man could see straight through the lie and called him out on it. So reluctantly, Woody gave in and followed Ron to a four person booth where Adam was already sitting. Ron plopped down next to Adam, while Woody sat across from them, their four eyes beaming directly at him.

“Hi, Sherwood…Woody, I mean,” Adam corrected himself, “I’m very sorry for the things I said last time. I have a big mouth that I can’t seem to shut sometimes.”
“That’s okay,” Woody lied. There was no way he was going to forgive Adam for bombarding his mind with such terrible thoughts that had been destroying him for more than a week now since Ethan left.

“So, where’s Ethan?” Adam asked.
“He’s in New York, meeting with a publisher. He’s been working on a couple of short stories for some time now and he feels ready for some of them to be published.”
“Oh, wow,” Ron said, “That’s cool. He was writing one about a time machine when we were dating. Did he finish that one?”
Woody shook his head. “No, he’s still working on that one.”
“So, why didn’t you go to New York with him?” Adam asked.

“I…school’s just started back up,” Woody said, “If I didn’t attend class the first few days, the teacher could automatically drop me out of the course.”