Chapter 10 : Small Steps
Julia plopped herself back on Roman’s chair and kept debugging the code.
Roman returned after an hour for his burger. Julia mentioned, “I’m checking for the bug. But you must need eyes on the log to find out who bugged the code and how. Otherwise, you might not be able to know why the code was bugged.”
By the nightfall, the code was debugged and Roman found out an employee was planted by one of his clients to make his primary app, MoneyMaker, fail. Julia went out of Roman’s cabin to take a leak. When she returned to grab her things and say goodbye she found Roman was standing by the bay window and watching the city night.
Julia put her hand on his back. He trembled a little. Then he stretched his left hand, put his palm on the nape of Julia’s waist, then pulled her by his side. He whispered, “Please wait for me. Will you?”
Julia felt the drumroll in her heart. She leaned her head on Roman’s shoulder and kept looking at the night of the city. She lost count of time. Her phone rang and she found Eva was calling. She picked up. Eva asked, “Will you be free over the weekend? I need some help from you. We have created something. But I need to know if this’ sloppy. We need the eyes of a pro.”
While talking to her Julia and Roman left the office and Roman dropped Julia off at her place. He returned to his place.
During Thanksgiving the Ybarras visited the Coppolas like the previous years. There was no message on the Puzzle Platform for Julia. She was not sure if she would be bored all along the weekend. Roman suggested, “I’m going home. To check on the old folks’ app for treating the pigs with tummy flu. Care to join?”
Julia agreed.
When the time arrived, the parents pushed Roman and Julia into one bedroom. Roman reminded the parents, “We’ve been divorced for almost the whole year. When will you learn to respect the decisions of two adults?”
Julia suggested, “If there’s no room at Coppola residence for me, then I’ll sleep in a motel. No problem.”
Yet they could not get out of the house on the first night to find a motel. The alarm was set in a way even if they would have opened the door from inside, the alarm would start ringing.
The Coppola parents locked the door to the basement. The basement had a nice guest room and a bathroom. Julia whispered, “What should we do?”
Roman shrugged, “I’ll take the couch in the living room. You go rest on my bed.”
Next morning, the parents of Julia and Roman tried hard to bring to the divorced couple’s notice how well they gelled with each other, “You spent the whole of the last evening talking and reading books and watching anime movies together. You even worked in the kitchen together, while baking pies and doing dishes.”
But Julia and Roman were adamant. Roman argued, “If we gel with each other or not, that is ours to feel and realize. We can’t go by your opinion.”
Julia shut them up with, “I can decide for myself. Mind your own business.”
The next moment Roman asked, “What do you want to watch?”
Julia spelt out, “An action comedy.”
They spent the rest of the day watching three action comedies. They hit the road just after dinner. Roman brought his BMW M40. During the night drive along the empty state highways Roman asked, “Do you know why they made the loser marry the bitch?”
Julia shook her head, “No idea. Just the two women I used to worship most, all of a sudden became my worst enemies and made me marry at eighteen, just after I graduated from high school when I was getting ready for college. It’s not that I did not ask ‘why?’ But all I got was a cold domineering, ‘because your mother and your aunt want you to.’ Period.”
She paused and asked, “Do you know why?”
Roman’s voice was calm, “Yes. But I did not ask them ‘why?’. I used to do the books of Ybarra Coppola Tech Corp when I was in high school. Judith and Eva were the joint owners of Ybarra Coppola Tech Corp. They patented the codes for a tutorial site and a dating site together. They themselves wrote those codes, integrated, tested and launched. Jeremy and Ronald - respective husbands of Judith and Eva - helped them by writing several blocks of codes for them while they were not busy with their pesticides and manures and feeds for the ranch animals. When I was in college they asked me to join the coding team, They were then developing the mobile apps and browser extensions of the sites.”
Julia chimed in, “I know Ybarra Coppola Tech Corp. I used to manage their customer database and used to do marketing for them. I used to conduct customer surveys, email marketing, and community reach. On Sunday, I, an atheist, attended churches to promote both the tutorial and dating sites, after I turned sixteen. By that time, I had already worked at the back end of the company for two years. Judith and Eva were my inspirations. Two living goddesses. I have the courage to become an entrepreneur because I saw them building and nourishing their business from scratch. I never blamed them, not even blamed Jeremy and Ronald for leaving their respective technology careers at Wall Street and for leaving the city. I rather felt grateful for their choice of calm comfortable rural life. I always appreciated their spirit of embracing the new challenge of abandoning the city career and life and embracing ranchers’ life.”
Roman uttered the obvious conclusion, “Till they made you marry the loser.”
Julia disagreed, “Not at all. I still admire them for their spirit of embracing the new challenge and I still appreciate them for leaving the glitter of city life and drinking the mud of ranches and farms.”
Roman was surprised, “You can even separate those persons from their past through their present to their future personalities!”
Julia reminded, “That’s not the point. You have not told me yet why they made the bitch marry the loser.”
Roman went back to the history of Yabbra Coppola Tech Corp, “The men - Jeremy and Ronald - were running the agricultural business. That was managed by professional accounting and legal farms. For the tech corp, they used novices like me to teach me details of business - the economics, the accounting, the law and the scope of technology.”
He continued, “I created the basic architecture of FinanceAI in my freshman year in college. My parents reviewed the architecture and tested it for me. I got feedback from Aunt Judy and Uncle Jeremy. With their support, I could develop the basic code of FinanceAI before I finished the Sophomore year and applied for a patent.”
His voice turned grave all of a sudden, “My parents wanted their names and Ybarra’s names to be included in the patent application. The Ybarras - Judith and Jeremy - gave me written approval to go solo. But the Coppolas could not let me go. They stopped pestering me about the patent but they started scheming to get a piece of my hard earned product. A year later, when I registered my company, they gave me a million dollars as seed money, and became the investors of FinanceAI.”
Julia seemed impatient, “That’s Coppolas. What does that have to do with -”
Roman appeased, “I did not know that my going solo for the patent, independent of Yabbra Coppola Tech Corp, outside the umbrella of Yabbra Coppola Tech Corp, establishing my own company, would tick the Ybarras and the Coppolas so much. I was just a proud, self-centered, ambitious boy with hunger for money and passion for technology. Though the Ybarras wrote a letter to me telling me that they did not want shares in FinanceAI, they apprehended that their daughter would try to go solo if she would come up with some ideas. There was no harm in letting their kids wade through the murky waters of the world, but they did not have the patience to lift them up if their children would ever fall. They wanted to control their respective children’s lives to prevent them from falling. They wanted to hold the leashes in the lives and career of their children.”
Roman sighed, “The Ybarras and the Coppolas wanted to consolidate capitals and secure them from the whimsy hands of their children. The loser was threatened just after he registered his company that his parents would divest from his company if he disagreed to marry the Ybarras’ daughter. The loser was yet to stand on his own in the business world. He searched for way outs. He was a year behind from graduating from college, did not have much time, and as a stepping stone to a freer life, he went to New York City Hall and got married to the Ybarras’ daughter. It took him years to get out of that conspiracy.”
Julia said, “I knew money was the reason. They told me I must listen to them because they paid the first year of tuition and dorm charges for my college education. If I don’t listen to them and get married to Aunt Eva and Uncle Ronald’s son, then I must be on my own. I applied for scholarships for the next year, started working as an accountant and as a developer at the small tech farms. I used to optimize the accounting softwares they use for their needs, I used to train them so that they could teach themselves in a short time how to optimize those applications. That’s how I started building Assist You.”
She continued, “I earned the scholarship to cover up the tuition and earned just enough to support the other things. To keep me under the leash they tried to buy the charity that awarded me the scholarship. The charity slammed the door on their face with, ‘we don’t allow patrons to support individual students and we don’t work with the patrons who impose their own conditions on the sponsored students’. I started attending investment fairs, started meeting institutional investors in my sophomore year in college. I bagged my first deal just after I got my patent in the beginning of the senior year. That’s it. I was free from their clutches about my career. But I was still tethered by the marriage.”
Roman wanted to know, “Before we met, you never tried to get a divorce? Why?”
Julia thought a little, “Not sure why. There was no time to date or think about dating between studies and developing LeanTech. There was no need to seek divorce as I did not seek any Romantic rendezvous. I bought a ring and used the marital status as a shield against all distractions. I was never invited to any parties. I was just a useful creature who could help with assignments if paid enough.”
Julia asked, “Why didn't you seek divorce?”
Roman was ready with his answer, “I knew that unless I pay double for my parents’ shares in FinanceAI, I would never be free. So I bit the bullet … till I met you, till I fell for you head over heels, till I was over the moon in love with you … I squeezed all my savings to buy back my parents’ shares in my company.”
Julia was curious, “How did you know that doubling up the price would make them sell their shares in FinanceAI to you?”
Roman quenched her curiosity, “I saw them selling the dating app and tutorial app the moment their take away from the sale became just the double of what they spent on those brands over the years.”
Julia concluded, “Good that we are free now.”
Julia was upset. Her Puzzle Platform partner wrote, “I was with the family.”
Julia could not help but feel abandoned. She started making plans for Christmas. She asked Roman, “What’s your plan for Christmas?”
Roman was prompt, “At Ybarras’ residence.”
That year Julia did not ask her cousins to visit. The surprise was that nobody asked Roman and Julia to share rooms or nobody asked Roman and Julia to kiss under the mistletoe. They spend most of the time together, though.
On Christmas night Roman shared, “No significant partner yet for me. What about you?”
Julia reflected the same disappointment, “Nothing happened. Most of them complained that I am too much of a workaholic.”
Roman said, “I am curious. Let’s start dating. Let’s see what happens.”
Julia put one condition, “Non-exclusive, open relationship.”
Roman agreed, “See you, on New year’s eve, at eight at the entrance of New York Metropolitan Museum.”
Roman was wearing a long prada coat and the scarf that Julia gave him a year earlier. He brought flowers. Assorted winter Jasmine, Snowdrop and Hellebore were in the bouquet.
Julia was in Denim and a long coat, too. She let her hair down. Her silk scarf was tied to her tote bag. As she saw Roman standing by the stairs of the New York Metropolitan museum she paced up, almost running towards him.
Roman caught her speeding body by shoulder and felt her fast breathing and flutter in her heart. He did not say anything, just held her to his own chest. Julia rested her head on Roman’s shoulder.
After a while, Julia calmed down. She felt the beating of Roman’s heart near her shoulder blade. The closeness of Roman’s body made Julia conscious. She broke off the embrace. Roman’s arms slipped to Julia’s waist. Julia put her arms around Roman’s neck and asked, “What’s the plan?”
Roman smiled, “Not much. Just want to walk with you hand in hand, as long as we can bear the chill.”
Julia brought out a Louis-Vuitton scarf from her tote bag and put that around Roman’s neck. Then she removed the other scarf that Roman was wearing, folded it and put it inside her tote bag.
Roman pulled Julia and made her body rest on his own body. Julia looked into his eyes and he planted a kiss on Julia’s lips.
The electrifying feel rushed through all the blood vessels in Julia’s body. She shivered. Roman’s wet lips brushed on Julia’s lips till those were dried. Then Julia and Roman started marching hand in hand along the streets of the city.
On a street a girl ran to them and called Roman, “Hey! Remember me? Catherine?”
Roman nodded and said, “Yes. How are you?”
She said, “Good. Thanks for asking. How about you?”
Roman replied, “Good. Thanks.”
Catherine did not hide her curiosity, “Won’t you introduce us?”
She meant her and Julia. Roman sounded reluctant, “My girlfriend, Julia. This’ Catherine. We went out once, in the past year.”
Julia extended her hand to shake with Catheirne. But Catherine seemed to lose interest and her movement turned sluggish. Julia appeased Catherine, “You can still date Roman. We’re not exclusive partners to each other.”
Catherine almost fainted before Julia stopped talking.
Roman yanked Julia’s hand and started walking forward without saying a word to Catherine. Julia sensed a change of mood. After walking in silence for quite some time, Roman grumbled, “Why did you tell her that ‘we’re not exclusive’ thing?”
Julia explained, “I found that she was heartbroken seeing you with a girlfriend. I wanted to tell her that she may still have a chance.”
Roman was still mad, “Whether she has a chance with me or not that you cannot tell me or her. You just overstepped the boundaries.”
Julia mumbled, “Sorry. I went for a non-exclusive option because you told me you did not have enough options to explore. I wanted to give you more time so that you can weigh your options.”
Roman was still annoyed, “You’re too generous. A little too much.”
He continued, “Anyway, I’ve just started dating you. I would like to date you for sometime now. And I don’t want to date anyone else for the time being. You can tell me when you want to trash me.”
Julia felt how much hurt Roman could be. She said, “I would never abandon you, unless you asked me to leave.”
They walked in silence for almost an hour. Sometimes they put the entangled hand in Roman’s pocket, sometimes in Julia’s to save them from chilblain. They stood before a cafe where the coffee vending machine was filling up cups for the drinkers. Roman poured a cup, sipped and handed the cup to Julia. Julia held the cup and kept walking by Roman’s side.
Roman prodded her elbow, “Still upset? Over that fight? Won't you drink the coffee?”
Julia did not answer. She took a sip and said, “Did not understand that you gave me the cup so that I can take a sip from it. I thought that you wanted me to hold the cup for you.”
Roman laughed, “I did not think that you would refuse to drink from the same cup. We just kissed. We can now even use the same toothbrush. It's the same. Isn’t it?”
Julia felt blood was rushing to her bare cheeks. She took two back to back sips from the cup. Roman snatched the cup from her and sipped from it. The sugar in the coffee gave Julia a craving for more sips. She asked in a shy voice, “Can I get another sip?”
Roman laughed, turned over the cup to show Julia that the cup was already empty. Then he put his fingers through Julia’s fingers and put her hand inside his pocket while holding her hand. Every now and then they were removing their fingers from each others’ clutches and were playing with each others’ fingers. They were talking about anything and everything that was in their views and in their minds.
They stood still on the empty sidewalk in front of Roman’s place when the New Year’s countdown started. The moment the countdown ended Roman’s lips touched Julia’s and Julia felt her lips open up, her teeth were not clasped, Roman’s tongue sought her tongue and became entangled. The slow, soft, warm kiss lasted for a long time. The warmth of the kiss took away the chill of wintry night wind from around them. Their hands were clasped and within the pockets of their coats.
They took a long time to let each others’ tongues go. They took longer to open their eyes while their foreheads were still touching each others’ forehead. In an almost inaudible whisper Roman uttered, “Come. Let’s go inside.”
Roman left the heater on. The duo removed their warm clothes as soon as they stepped inside the apartment. Stepping inside Roman’s bedroom, Julia’s face darkened. Roman noticed the change. He held Julia’s hands, kissed her forehead and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Julia pronounced three words, “Dark, Gloomy, Cold.”
She added, “Just like your office. Even your plants are thorny dry weather plants. But they are rickety. Because they thrive in bright sunshine. But you kept them in the dark, all the time. You have lives but you’re sort of torturing them.”
Roman held Julia in a tight hug. He asked, “Will you brighten up my space?”
He begged, “Please, be my sunshine.”
Julia consoled him, “In the past two years, in those cafes and bistros, I felt your scintillating persona, bright smile and compassionate gestures. Just in this room and in your office, I found you dark, gloomy, cold. Office - I can understand. This bedroom I don’t understand.”
She added, “I don’t know if I can brighten your spaces. I can try. Let me unwrap my gift this New Year.”
Roman giggled. He asked, “Do I have permission to unwrap my gift?”
While undressing each other, they turned off the daylight floor lamp. They lit up the soft daylight desk lamp at Roman’s workstation. Roman offered Julia a taste of her gift. Then Roman tried the taste of his gift.
Roman’s fingers were playing with all the loose ends of Julia’s body, so was Julia’s fingers. They experienced the change of their muscles, in their own bodies, in each other’s bodies, from the tenderness to stiffening of the muscles. They played all night, till their muscles got back their tenderness.
Exhausted, they fell asleep at the daybreak. They woke up in each other’s arms. Their limbs were sore. Their smiles were shy. Yet they could not ignore the craving for each other’s touch, to the bones, to the cores, to the deepest pores of their skins.
When Roman used a rubber jacket to prevent the outcome of their joy, tears rolled down Julia’s cheeks. Roman appeased, “When we will have better control, we will try more organic ways.”
Julia sniffed back her tears and lamented, “I understand. We cannot risk a child's reputation. After all, whether we stay together or not, the child will be ours.”
After the New Year’s Day, they kept meeting at the cafes. They started driving in the nights with each other and they started roaming around the city streets. Even in the January cold, they avoided staying inside, at each other’s place. Just before Valentine’s day, Julia received a designer lingerie piece. Roman texted her, “Did you like your Valentine’s Day gift?”
Julia texted back, “I thought, that thing was your gift to yourself.”
She booked a restaurant to celebrate their first Valentine’s Day together. Also, she bought a piece of cufflinks for Roman from Tiffany’s. This was her gift to Roman. Roman bought flowers and chocolates and a greetings card. They spent the night together at Julia’s place.
Till Roman’s birthday in June, Julia got a few pecks on the cheek and a few dry and wet kisses on the lips. Whenever she tried to start making out with Roman, Roman curled up on the couch or jumped off the bed shrieking, “Don’t start what you cannot control.”
A few times Julia blabbered, “Practice makes perfect. If we don’t try to get a grip of our things, then how would we get better control?”
Roman smirked, “What are you talking about? Driving? Flying a plane? Painting? Horse Riding?”
Julia stopped talking about intimacy. She was otherwise happy with their dates when they talked, watched movies, listened to music, cooked steaks and drove for long nights.
Then there were troubles at work. Then there were anxieties over performance of the quarters and pressure of planning much ahead about quarters of the following year. Whenever the question of money came, love took a back seat.
There was ambiguity about if both of them or anyone of them will ever like to date others. There was the confusion if they were in an open relationship or they were exclusive to each other.
On Halloween night Julia asked, “Are we breaking up?”
Roman answered, “I don’t need to break up. What about you?”
Julia spilled, “When we were married, those five years, I was dried of all emotions. I didn't even have friends to vent my frustrations over my marriage. I swallowed the humiliation and bottled up.”
Roman raised his eyebrows. He was preparing himself for a devastating revelation.
Julia continued, “In those days, I used to connect over the internet with someone and every interaction used to make me feel rejuvenated, elated in joy, I used to forget my pains. I don’t know if that entity was a person or a machine. I would like to check that out before going exclusive with you.”
Roman looked away. He searched within himself. He found that he was not sad though Julia wished to meet someone else. Rather he was happy. He thought that he was happy because he got an opportunity to ask Zeta00 out after all these years. He agreed.
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