def METHOD_NAME(max_retries=1, verify_ssl=True, cache_dir=USER_CACHE_DIR):
    """Load requests lazily."""
    pip_client_cert = os.environ.get("PIP_CLIENT_CERT")
    requests_session = PipSession(cache=cache_dir, retries=max_retries)
    if pip_client_cert:
        requests_session.cert = pip_client_cert
    if verify_ssl is False:
        requests_session.verify = False
    return requests_session