Chapter 12 : Starting Anew
Roman asked back, “Is that what you got from Rho97’s message?”
Julia was a little taken aback. Roman threw his body on Julia’s, latched her arms and legs with his own arms and legs. He made Julia feel his touch in every part of her body. He kissed Julia touching her uvula.
With that touch Roman realized that he could not control when Rho97 would surpass Roman’s own civil self and sheer through every spec of Julia’s existence to bring out carefree rebellious, talented programmer Zeta00. With his touches Roman wanted to appease Julia that his pursuit for Julia would not stop even though Rho97 and Zeta00 had real world rendezvous like a man and woman. Roman failed to his own Rho97 instincts and instigated Zeta00 laid somewhere within Julia. He accepted the blurred boundaries between his own identities and that of Julia. He was not sure how and when Julia would be able to accept her own transgressions between Zeta00 and Julia Ybarra.
When Roman threw his body on her, she was about to ask, “Haven’t you had enough over the past weekend?”
But her tongue was interlocked with that of Roman. She could differentiate between the touches of Roman and Rho97. She realized the past three days, the weekend that she long wished to have, was her, Julia Ybarra’s rendezvous with Rho97. But the rendezvous was a ‘dreams come true’ event for Rho97 when he turned all his fantasies over Zeta00 to reality. The result was a fulfilling weekend for Roman with his first love, Zeta00.
Julia’s tongue made her feel that Roman transformed to Rho97. Julia’s whole being made room for Rho97 in her Zeta00 avatar so that Rho97 could unveil the deepest mystery of Zeta00. She felt the hot melting tongue of Roman playing with her uvula.
Julia was curious if her own identity wavered too often between the Julia Ybarra that society had so far appreciated and the Zeta00 who cared a damn about society. She was confused and scared of her own identity swings and her own responses to the identities of Roman and Rho97.
Silence fell upon them.
Roman broke the long silence, “I was very happy when you started catching up, after so many years.”
Julia murmured, “Yes, I could not catch up since I started my own business.”
Roman concurred, “Yes, you went silent almost four years ago.”
Then he sat up and made Julia sit by his side and stay in his arms. He cleared his voice and began afresh, “Roman Coppola. Once married, Now divorced. Still in love with Zeta00, met on Puzzle Platform”
Julia reciprocated, “Julia Ybarra. I was married for six years. Never saw my husband in those years. Then I divorced him two years earlier, one year after I met Roman Coppola, the founder of FinanceAI because I fell for him and I hushed up my wishes for Rho97 on Puzzle Platform to be real human soon after we started communicating on Puzzle Platform.
Roman said, “I’m sorry. I agreed to divorce my wife because I never knew her. I never knew what she was like. I always felt bad that her parents were too cruel to her. They controlled her youth, her college days, her possibilities of finding partners by herself, her chances of meeting her destiny, by making her marry me.”
He continued, “I was twenty one then. Was not working. I could have sacrificed the final years of my college and could have started working to support her and our divorce, but I was not in love with her. I had no feelings for her. Nothing could motivate me to support her and our divorce. I was dependent on my parents, in financial matters and was trying to start my own company as soon as I would step out of college as a college graduate. I was not ready to sacrifice my dream career for an unknown girl. I left her alone to fend for herself.”
Julia kept listening to Roman, resting her head on his shoulder, “When she asked for divorce, I did not tell her how terrible I felt for her all those years so that she did not misunderstand my sympathy as my love.”
Julia shared, “My parents told me they would not sponsor me in college if I don’t accept the marriage alliance. I did not know then how to manage finances for studies and living. I became independent of my parents during my Sophomore years because of scholarships and internships. But that husband was long gone and showed no interest in communicating with me. I could not divorce him sooner.”
Roman lamented, “Otherwise we could have started dating five or six years ago as Rho97 and Zeta00.”
Julia asked, “You never asked anything about love life or family then on our Puzzle Platform interactions.”
Roman explained, “I was so disappointed in my parents and in my situation because of the marriage, I dared not ask you about your love life. I was sure that unless I am divorced, I am not dating you.”
Julia frowned, “You are divorced for over a year. Why didn't you reach out?”
Roman shared, “I thought that I have moved on, because I met someone three years earlier, in an event of TechBiz Consortium. I started pursuing her. She acknowledged my feelings for her. She was willing to divorce her loser husband. I made up my mind to meet my wife and get a divorce to start a clean pursuit for the woman I met at that event.”
Julia giggled, “So you fell for me twice. Once for my Zeta00 avatar and then for entrepreneur Julia Ybarra.”
Roman held Julia’s hand and suggested, “Countless times. Even I fell for my ex-wife for her perseverance. How could she bear with her parents, her in-laws and that incommunicado husband of hers?”
Julia confessed, “I fell for Rho97 when I was in college. But I could not do anything about it because I did not find a way to divorce my husband. Then I fell for Roman Coppala who tore down all the walls around me and made me find a way to divorce my husband. That Roman Coppola broke my heart when he denied to date me as I am his ex-wife and he hated his ex-wife. He even suggested starting afresh by dating other women.”
Roman appeased, “You know well that I did not date you just after the divorce because I wanted to be free from my parents’ grip on my work and on my life. I wanted to test our longing for each other using the time when I was arranging to buy back my parents’ shares in my company.”
He added, “Everything went well for us because I turned out to be your husband that you married under pressure from your parents and because I turned out to be Rho97, your first love. The complications you thought all dissolved into simple solutions.”
Julia argued back, “You simplified the things too much. You know that you and I both have ex-spouses. We both met our first love and we’re still attracted to them and they are not machines but human beings. We both are attracted to each other. With three men in my life, I find it very complicated. The physical biological identity of these three men are the same. Yet, they are three different persons, sometimes with great age differences, with different mindset and culture and vibe.”
She went on, “I am frozen in nervousness thinking about dealing with all the three men together. Yet I cannot let go of anyone. If I let go Rho97 then I have to let Roman Coppola go, too and with Roman Coppola will go my lifetime of happiness, my sole normal romantic relationship. And with Roman Coppola, Rho97 and my ex-husband both come in a package. I don’t know how to separate them out and have some peace.”
Roman tried to appease her, “Leave that on me. I’ll send your ex-husband to exile for this life. I would give sedatives to Rho97 so that he would not crave for Zeta00 too often.”
Julia sighed, “Man, you know from time to time you’ll turn to Rho97 and then you’ll seek Zeta00. If I fail to get the cue on time, then life will turn topsy-turvy.”
Roman held Julia in his arms and kissed Julia’s forehead, “We’ll talk that out.”
Then he asked, “How about moving in together?”
The lease agreement of Roman’s apartment was about to expire by the end of November. Julia had one more month before the lease agreement of her apartment would expire. They decided to buy a home and move-in there before Christmas.
They went for home on resale so that they need not wait for the construction of the home to be completed. Homes under constructions often take longer to be completed than their projected date of handover. They decided to furnish and remodel the home to their needs.
Their remodeling project turned out to be delayed to the second week of December. Roman had to move into Julia’s apartment for the remaining days. The project of moving in together was so hectic that they lost all their time other than work in packing their belongings, choosing and buying furnishing for their new home, hiring professionals to fix the home that they bought to their needs.
When Roman started living with Julia, they realized that they did not look at each other with their eyes full of feelings, longing, camaraderie and joy. They forgot to show love to each other because they were busy taking a step forward in their relationship.
Roman started living with Julia on a Sunday night. Monday onwards they had business as usual. Around the middle of the week, Julia realized that she did not throw a moving-in party for Roman. She prepared a welcome party for Roman on Friday evening and hoped that Roman could attend the party and she hoped that no emergency would swallow up Roman.
Roman was surprised by the welcome message on the wall by the rolling banner message on the digital display at the hall and by the romantic lighting of the hall. The balloons and the burst of confetti cannon startled him a little.
He smiled.
He looked tired from the exhaustion of the day. He went to freshen up in the bath and in the shower. He went to the bedroom to grab a shirt and a pair of shorts from the dresser. He was astounded by the sweet smell and the flowers on the bed and everywhere.
He was all smiles while putting his clothes into the washing machine and hanging the bathrobe on the hanger behind the bathroom door. He found that Julia had already set the table with steaks, salad and a glass of milk. He said, “You are spoiling me.”
Julia winked, “My pleasure.”
Roman asked, “How did you manage to do all these alone?”
Julia bragged, “I’m trained well to organize parties, cook food and serve well.”
Roman sensed the mocking tone. He smiled more.
After more than a month they made love, rolling from one end of the bed to the other, donning rose petals all over their bodies. They repeated themselves as soon as they woke up the next morning.
Roman went to cook a branch for themselves. Julia put her hands in cleaning the mess of the celebration and doing the clothes. Eva called her. She panicked and said, “I’ll let you know later today.”
Roman asked, “What’s up? Do you have work today?”
Julia shrugged, “Work, I have. Usual. I’ll handle them in the afternoon.”
Then she spilled, “Your mother called.”
Roman realized, “Oh! Next weekend is Thanksgiving. I’m not going. I'm on a date with my girlfriend.”
His decision eased up Julia’s situation. She called Eva back and said, “This Thanksgiving I’ll spend with my boyfriend.”
Half an hour later Julia got a call from Judith, “Have you started dating? Why haven’t you told me yet? When did you start?”
Julia poured all bitterness in her voice and answered, “Yes. I’ve been dating for some time. I did not feel like telling you yet.”
While answering she heard that Roman went to the bedroom saying, “That’s none of our business” over the phone.
Ten minutes later Roman came out and said, “Your dating life is quite sensational. Your ex-mother-in-law was all worked up and very curious to know the who, the when and the where of your dating.”
Julia frowned and then burst into laughter, “She’s your mother. Don’t be mean to her.”
Then she asked, “Why didn't you ask her to call me.”
Roman said, “We've been dating for almost a year. Should we invite our respective parents to visit our new home and get to know the who, the when, the where … ?”
Julia agreed with her whole face painted in mischief.
After moving into the new house they hung their photos on the wall of the living room. In the center was the photo of the award ceremony of TechBiz Consortium. They agreed that the beginning of their journey together was sealed in the moment when Roman handed the trophy of TechBiz Youth Award to Julia. If that award ceremony would not happen then they would not find out the identities of their respective spouses. Nor would they have gathered courage to meet their respective first loves.
Roman took out a boomerang from one of the boxes marked for his study. Julia was helping him to tidy up his study so that he could start working from there from the very next morning. She said, “I had a boomerang once. My father brought that thing from Australia. It seemed very plain, for a five year old kid. So my mother made some blocks and printed the boomerang with my initials on it.”
In the end she asked, “Did your father bring that boomerang for you from Australia, too?”
Roman shook his head. He put the boomerang in a drawer of his work table. He said nothing. Julia took the boomerang out and screamed, “How did you get my boomerang?”
Roman frowned and snatched the boomerang from Julia. Julia kept screaming, “Give the boomerang to me. I can show you that my initials are printed on it. My initials are in the designs that my mother carved in the blocks …”
Roman asked, “Ask your mother. Your boomerang might still be in your room, in the dresser under your wedding gown.”
Julia turned mad, “I remember that I used to take the boomerang to all outdoor activities. Once I helped someone to drive away some creatures, maybe raccoons and then I lost it.”
Roman announced, “I won’t give it to you. I still grab it whenever I am in trouble and need some courage.”
Julia was curious, “Does this have any special meaning?”
Roman said, “I was eight years old. My parents took me to a business event. There was a play area for children. While my parents were listening to a seminar I was playing with other kids in the play area. A pair of swans chased me for the food in my hand. I was screaming in fear of getting bitten by the swans. A girl, a little younger than me rushed to me and threw the boomerang at the swans. The boomerang did not hit those birds and she caught it from the air. But the swans were driven away. Then the girl handed the boomerang to me and appeased me, ‘Take this. If the birds attack you again, just throw it to them. You don’t have to hit them. It will come back to you and the birds will go away.’ I grabbed the boomerang and from then on I kept grabbing it to get courage and confidence and remember the little girl who instilled courage and confidence in me in that scary afternoon.”
Julia grumbled, “Moron.”
Then she snatched the boomerang from Roman’s hand and moved her fingers over the painted designs on the boomerang to show Roman how the initials of her name were inscribed in the design. Roman was still grumpy, “Could be a coincidence. We’re together. You don’t have to be jealous about a little girl from my past.”
Julia hurled back, “I’m not jealous. I called you a moron because on that afternoon I lent you the boomerang just for the afternoon and you took it away for a lifetime.”
Roman giggled, “It seems that I don’t have a chance to get attached to another female in this lifetime.”
The afternoon before Christmas Day Julia received Eva and Ronald Coppola at their new home. They were a little surprised. They could not imagine that their ex-daughter-in-law would welcome them with a smile at their son’s home where they came to meet their son’s new girlfriend. They gathered themselves as soon as they could and said, “Julia, long time no see?”
Eva asked, “I heard you bought a home and asked your parents to visit your place today. They’re on the way. Won’t you receive them at your place.?”
Roman walked downstairs finishing the sleeping arrangements at upstairs bedrooms. He answered, “This’ her home.”
Ronald fumbled, “Are you two …”
Eva was looking at the photos on the living room wall. She suggested, “You should hang your wedding photos here …”
Neither Julia nor Roman answered.
Ronald squinted through his glasses and looked at the photo in the center, the photo of the ceremony when Roman handed over Julia the trophy of TechBiz Youth Award. He asked, “What is this?”
Julia answered, “That’s how we first met.”
Eva and Ronald were dumbfounded. They remained silent till Judith and Jeremy arrived. Before entering, Jeremy said, “Julie, that car looks just like your Uncle Ronald’s new car … same make and model. He sent me a photo a week earlier.”
Julia said nothing. She brought them to the living room and enjoyed their flabbergasted look when they found Eva and Ronald were sitting there.
Eva pointed to the photo of the TechBiz Award ceremony and complained, “Judy, your daughter said that’s how she met my son.”
Judith raised her eyebrows and asked, “Have you forgotten your wedding day?”
Julia retorted, “I just remember a head full of shoulder length ringlets of hair and a pair of blue and white printed half pants. I did not see anything else in fear of puking.”
Roman retorted, “We met even before that day. She was five or six. I was eight or nine. She lent me her boomerang for the afternoon and I thought she gave that thing to me for the lifetime. Do you remember that day?”
A deep silence fell in the room brightened with a big Christmas tree in the corner and with glimmers of keepsakes that were hung from the branches of the Christmas Tree, a room filled with the smell of gingerbread cookies, cinnamon, lemon and honey, and the sound of carol. They ate and drank but the spirit of the dwellers did not rise upto the tempo of the festival.
That evening Eva Coppola claimed in a drunken slur, “We did the right thing.”
Both Julia and Roman protested, “In your dreams.”
That night lying in each others’ arms Julia murmured, “This life is like Mandelbrot set. Wherever we go, even in the past, at present, and maybe in future, Roman and Julia must meet, in a different avatar…”
Roman giggled and concluded, “But at the core, the design, the pattern remains the same.”
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