Chapter 9 : Hate and Date
Julia went deep inside her sulking self. She was almost reciting, “Once a loser is always a loser. How many walls does he need me to break? I’ve never been so cordial to anyone else … It’s him who came to me first … I did not run after him … He wooed me, even knowing that he has a wife and he cannot be with me without breaking his marital vows … he did nothing to get a divorce … but he kept showing off his plumage performing a mating dance … What a jerk! I took the initiative, that's why he got his divorce decree, yet he keeps ignoring me … Moron … ”
Roman was sad. He felt happy seeing Julia breaking all the walls and stepping forward to touch his heart. But he had to push Julia away. He feared, “Otherwise, there would not be any chance left for us. It’s time to bite the bullet and cut the loss. Few more months … Then I’ll be able to kneel before her to sweep the ground beneath her feet … whoever stands in between, I’ll knock them off …”
Julia was waiting for her ride to arrive at Newark Airport while she was returning from Greenland. She was checking her emails. Checking seven days emails in a go ruined her schedule for a whole week in her last break when she went to Galapagos. In the current trip she set some time for herself each day to clean up her mailbox.
Through the corners of her eyes she noticed that someone was tying their luggage to her carry-on bag. She looked up and saw that someone was none other than Roman. She frowned but did not ask, “What’s the matter?”
Roman whispered, “Just coming back from Iceland. Need to rush to the toilet. Please keep an eye on my carry-on.”
A girl in her mid-twenties was clinging on to Roman. Julia did not hide her annoyance, “Why don’t you ask her? Is she tagging along on the bathroom trip, too?”
Roman smirked, “She has been with me for the past five days. You've been married to me for six years. I know well how to take advantage of you. I don’t know if she’s a thief. I know I can turn to you if I’m broke.”
Julia swallowed a few lumps in her throat and pushed them towards her chest. She looked away. Roman whispered something to the girl’s ears and the girl seemed very obedient and sat next to Julia. Julia was tracking her ride, anxious if she had to leave before Roman would come back. She received a text from Roman, “Wait until I take my luggage from you.”
Julia did not reply. She muttered, “Disgusting. Always manipulating, even from afar.”
The girl asked, “How do you know Roman? It seems that he relies a lot on you … “
Julia was weighing her answers and zeroed upon telling, “We’re in the same social group of business owners.”
Roman’s voice from behind refuted, “That’s not all. We’re once married and remained married for six years.”
The girl sounded awkward, “Are you still married? You two seem very familiar with each other … But I remember when I met you, Roman, you said that you were enjoying life after divorce …”
Julia raised her eyebrows and looked at Roman. Roman answered unabashed, “True. We’re divorced now. That does not mean that we’re at odds. In reality, our divorce was the most harmonious divorce in the history of all divorces. In our entire married life we sought each other when we needed the divorce.”
All these roundabout references to divorce and harmony set the girl’s head in a tizzy. She did not ask another question. Julia found herself relieved as soon as her ride arrived. She stood up and started untying her luggage from Roman’s luggage. The tying chain was locked. She looked at Roman. Roman’s gazes were set on his phone.
Without looking up he said, “Julia, be the bigger person. Let Kayla have your ride. Give her the details.”
Julia felt her limbs were freezing in wrath and in embarrassment at the same time. She avoided arguing with Roman in front of an unknown girl. She scribbled the cab number and the driver’s contact details on a piece of paper and handed the paper over to Kayla. Kayla dragged her luggage and her feet to the exit.
Once Kayla was out of sight, Julia said, “I must leave the airport now. Otherwise I’ll be late for my meeting.”
Roman was swinging on the chair, resting one leg on the other knee and fiddling with his phone. He said, “Your next meeting is tomorrow afternoon. What’s the rush?”
Julia was about to ask, “Have you hacked my account? How do you know about my schedule?”
Roman took the opportunity of silence and said again, “I’ve been watching your meeting schedule for more than a year now. I go to BizTalk cafe just to get a glimpse of you, almost every day in the beginning, later just three days in a week, for the past one and a half a year. Do you think I’m stupid?”
Julia said, “The delays from today would pile up and would give into tomorrow’s schedule. As a result, I’ll be late for my meeting tomorrow.”
Roman made faces and commented, “Inefficient scheduling. Why don’t you have time for emergency breaks?”
Julia argued, “How do you know that my schedule does not have any hours left for emergency management? I have ten hours of emergency management plans every week, based on my past experience and data from the past years of my business. ”
Roman smiled, “Then spare me an hour, have a meal with me.”
Julia sighed, “You’re ….”
Roman stood up, held the tied luggage in one hand and put his other hand over Julia’s shoulder and dragged her along. Julia protested, “I’m coming along. Stop hugging me.”
He lifted his hand for a moment and in the next moment he hugged Julia’s waist and pulled her next to himself. Julia was annoyed, “What are you doing?”
Roman answered, “Jacob’s watching us from afar.”
Julia wanted to know, “What’s he doing here?”
Roman said, “Seems like going somewhere or returning from somewhere. Didn’t he tell you?”
Julia asked back, “Why would he tell me?”
Roman was surprised, “Aren’t you two dating?”
Julia was in a mode of rectification, “We’ve gone out a few times, after Eva shared our contact information with each other. Then we parted our ways.”
She added, “Eva drew a very gorgeous profile for Jacob, your second cousin or whatever, but I’ve already told Eva that it did not work out with Jacob.”
Roman did not ask why it did not work out. He shared, “Mom was quite smug. She told me that you could not keep her impeccable son who never chased after any girl in his life so she gave you a playboy and she wanted to see if that wild boy can satisfy you.”
Julia, too, went smug in her reply, “Looks like Ms. Coppola has graduated from an annoying mother-in-law to an obnoxious ex-mother-in-law.”
Roman raised his eyebrow and turned his head towards Julia. Before he could say anything, Julia hurled again, “About her impeccable son … He could not seize his legs from running after me when he was chased by the thing between his legs though he was married and had no intention of getting a divorce.”
She concluded, “I extinguished all the flicks between me and Jacob because he’s a Coppola. I’d do nothing in my life with the Coppolas again.”
Roman smirked, “I can change my name and become a Ybarra. Would that change anything?”
Julia chose not to answer. After a while she said, “I’m done with your nonsense. Just trying to figure out even when you got a clingy girlfriend, why did you shrug her off and cling on to me …”
Roman explained, “She chased me for the past five days, almost ruined my trip. The moment I saw you, I told her that I am training so hard just to make you feel good.”
Julia spat, “Outrageous.”
While talking they did not notice Jacob waved at them. They walked past him. They did not notice that Jacob took their photo when they went eating in a restaurant on the airport lounge. They did not notice that Jacob took their photo when they were riding on Roman’s BMW M4, after Roman opened the top of the car.
After a week, Julia was reading a journal dedicated to the research and development of Artificial Intelligence while waiting for her flight from Heathrow Airport to JFK in New York. The article on the ethical aspects of use of AI did not bring any new issues but repeated the old anticipations again and again.
Julia felt bored.
She was thinking of flipping the pages to get some real interesting technical juice. Yet she was bitten by the moral dilemma that if she did not revise the responsibility of use of AI all by herself, there’s no watchdog over her, in her company, that could make her do the job.
Someone stroked her knees. She looked up. Roman was standing in front of her. He was curious, “What brought you to the land of tax collectors?”
Julia laughed, “That’s centuries ago. We don’t pay them taxes any more.”
Julia asked back, “Have you come to pay your taxes?”
Roman smiled, “Kinda. I’ve business here. So, yes, FinanceAI pays taxes here.”
He added, “This time I came for a business pitch. New client. Kinda biggie at London Stock Exchange. So I came instead of sending my marketing team. Besides, because of your app, I’ve shrunk the team so much, at times it becomes difficult to find a resource to delegate some responsibilities.”
Julia was gaping, “Stop bad mouthing my app. My app is famous across the ocean. I ‘ve met a few clients and am thinking of parenting up.”
Roman cautioned, “Just have more meetings with your legal team than before. These people do not follow gentlemen’s agreement. You must bind them by contract in every business matter. Otherwise, things may turn very indecent.”
Julia appreciated, “Thanks. I have sent their draft contract to my legal team. Once we finalize, they will visit us on the west side of the ocean.”
A week later Julia texted to Roman, “LeanTech bagged one contract. We’re looking forward to a few more.”
Roman sent a GIF file saying congratulations.
A few weeks later, in an upscale restaurant of the city, Julia came out of the ladies room and saw Roman was standing at the junction between the restaurant hall and the alley to the ladies and men’s rooms. She smiled, “What brought you here?”
Roman pointed to a table. A girl, of the same age as Roman, was sitting there in a gorgeous dress wearing glamorous make-up. Roman explained, “Mom’s friend’s daughter. Divorced. No children. Ideal match for Mom’s divorced son.”
Julia smirked, “Mrs. Coppola is quite enterprising. Can’t she remember that the virgin daughter of her friend for her virgin son did not work at all?”
Roman asked, “What took you half an hour there? Diarrhoea?”
Julia laughed, “Nope. Just brainstorming.”
Roman was surprised, “What happened to BizTalk Cafe? This’ not a business meeting place of your taste. Overseas clients?”
Julia shook her head, “Nope. Catching up with someone from my college days.”
Roman looked back, “He looks older. I thought that he could be one of your Bumble connections.”
Julia said, “When did I register on Bumble?”
Roman asked, “Then how do you spend long weekends online?”
Julia explained, “That’s a puzzle forum for nerds and geeks. We have exchanged ideas since my freshman year in college. We’re comfortable that way. We never sought each other’s company off line.”
Roman felt a sting in his heart, “Should I tell her about Zeta00?”
Julia cautioned, “Mat is coming this way.”
Roman started walking back to his table. Julia introduced, “Mat, this’ my ex-husband, Roman Coppola.”
Mat shook Roman’s hand and asked, “Are you the founder of FinanceAI?”
Julia confirmed, “Indeed.”
Mat said, “I’ll send my CV. Looking forward to working with you.”
Roman frowned, “Why don’t you work for Julia?”
Mat said, “She’s my classmate. I’m not comfortable about her bossing me around.”
Later in the night Roman texted, “Do you have a date tomorrow?”
Julia said, “No date. But I’ve other engagements. Team dinner.”
The evening after the team dinner, Julia did not find Roman on his usual table at BizTalk Cafe. She called him. He did not pick up. One hour passed. Julia called back, Roman still did not pick up. Julia texted, “What’s up?”
She expected a smirk like, “Didn’t see me one evening and already missed me!”
But no reply came. Julia called Eva Coppola to get a hint of what could have happened. Eva talked about how their pigs were getting sick because of a new tummy flu and how Ronald and Jeremy were trying to find some veterinary solutions using AI and they had taken this tummy flu as their first case. Eva and Judith were busy helping their respective husbands by researching materials and writing code blocks. In the whole forty-five minutes of talk, Eva did not mention Roman, her “Manny”, at least once.
Julia called Roman again. He did not pick up. She looked for car crash news and then in general traffic crash news of the city. She checked for other news on building collapse and accidents, news of homicides and burglaries to find out what could have gone wrong with Roman. She kept calling Roman almost every ten minutes. She was still holding strong because the phone did not die. The phone was still ringing.
She called Judith. If out of spite and other grievances, Eva hid from Julia bad news about Roman, at least, Judith could have some idea what could have happened to Roman. But Judith spoke for half an hour about the tummy flu of pigs at Coppola’s place and how that disease triggered the idea of AI powered veterinary management and how the four veteran programmers got busy with their beginner level knowledge in AI technologies.
Julia hung up, after a tiring talk with her mother. She felt the hot droplets of tears rolling down her cheeks. She thought that Roman might have been on an exciting date and she was just overthinking. Yet, whimpers started coming out from her throat. She could not control.
The exhaustion from day’s toil, added with exhaustion from anxiousness over Roman’s situation, sealed Julia’s eyelids once. She did not know how long she was asleep. Her phone, within her grip, started ringing and woke her up.
The call was from Roman’s id. He sounded exhausted, “Just clocked out. Couldn’t receive your call. Sorry.”
Julia sniffed a little. Her broken voice told more than her words, “No problem. I was just checking on you. I did not see you at your usual table this evening.”
Julia could not see. Roman was smiling in happiness. He was feeling worn off when he clocked out. Julia’s words wiped clean all his tiredness and wariness. He was thinking, “All her pretensions … ignoring me … she still feels for me … worries about me …”
Julia asked, “What made you work so long? If you can tell me …”
Roman did not let Julia finish, “Technical snag. Just gave a working solution. Somehow held the fort. All hands will be on deck from tomorrow to resolve the roots of the issue.”
Julia asked, “Will you come here tonight to rest?”
Roman smiled more, “No. My place is nearer. I need to go to work tomorrow at the earliest.”
Julia asked, “Can I come?”
Roman appeased her, “I’m fine. I ate pizza for dinner with the team. I will warm some milk and drink before going to bed. Don’t worry. We all go through these nights.”
Julia made another request, “Can I come to see you tomorrow? At work?
Roman remained silent for a long moment, then said, “I’ll let the front desk know that you’ll come to visit me.”
Julia woke up the next morning before sunrise. She wore formal clothes like a navy blue and lemon yellow pinstripe shirt and a beige skirt. But she did not wear a coat. She put on a silk scarf and a long woolen jacket almost the same color as her skirt. She tied her hair just above her neck in a neat ponytail with a side parting, applied light maskara, a very thin coat of eyeliner and beige shadow over her eyes. Her lipstick was a brown shed.
She wrapped her laptop in a backpack and walked to BizTalk Cafe. The cafe was filled with the smell of caramel, cinnamon and pumpkin. She bought two pieces of pumpkin pies and two small glasses of brew of the season. She rode on a cab to Roman’s office.
The lady at the front desk, while leading Julia’s way to Roman’s cabin, said, “Roman is not at his cabin. He’s in the war room. Make yourself comfortable. He’ll see you in a bit.”
Stepping inside Roman’s office, Julia texted Roman, “Arrived. Inside the cold dark hole that you call ‘office’. Have a sip of coffee before it gets cold.”
Within five minutes Roman came running. Julia was pacing up and down inside the office. She stretched her hand towards the couch. Roman sat. Julia sat beside her and asked, “What’s happened?”
Roman was chewing a piece of pie. He took a sip of coffee and swallowed his food. Julia waited for him to organize his thoughts. Roman explained, “We upgraded the apps. Everything worked well for a week. Then from yesterday morning, things started falling apart. We rolled back to the old version before much damage was caused, within two hours of the first complaint on our helpline. Service Level Agreements were met. Yet we need to find what went wrong all of a sudden.”
Julia asked, “Can you show me the codes, from your log in here in this office, on a pdf or other document?”
Roman nodded, “I’m working on my laptop in the war room. You can view things from the desktop here.”
Then he asked, “But can you? Do you have time? What about your work?”
Julia appeased him, “I’ve applied for a leave. Stomach flu.”
She winked and smiled, painted with mischief.
Roman opened all the pages that Julia should see to get to the root of the problem. He asked, “Text me. Whenever you need something.”
Julia started reviewing every line of the code that failed on the previous night. She used pen and paper to check every possible output from each of the code blocks. She knew that when Roman’s team would test, they would be testing the whole program and they would try to find out the flaw from the output of the whole program. They would try to find out the malfunction of one code block that made the whole program fail. That top down method might not lead to the root cause of the failure. There was a possibility that one or more lines of code had bugs. There was no fast way to finish the job.
Julia went through the ordeal of checking the master code, all of its blocks, line by line, testing the logic behind all the codes with pen and paper, following the manual dry run method she learnt in the classroom. Whenever she found her eyes turned bleary, she looked away from the screen on Roman’s office desktop monitor and checked her own laptop, for updates from her teams, on mails, on chat. Whenever she yawned, she paced up and down along the long empty spaces of Roman’s office. She sighed seeing the different cacti placed at different corners of the office, “Dull, dry, bleak mood everywhere. He never seemed so cold and dark in the cafes and or when he was at my place.”
After the first thousand lines, Julia gathered two extra semicolons at line three hundred fifteen and an infinite series of braces at lines four hundred twenty-four and seven hundred fifty-nine. She started typing a text message to Roman telling him about the typos. Then she decided not to talk about it. She dialed her phone to reach Roman.
Roman asked, “Any luck?”
Julia said, “Not sure. Can you come?”
Roman arrived within five minutes. He saw the issue and said, “Make searches for these characters. Just text me the line number. Don’t even mention the character that was repeated, unless I ask for anything else.”
Before leaving he mentioned, “Get something to drink. The break room is on the right, three cabins down the hall.”
After two hours, there were several lines with unnecessary repetition of special characters. Roman came to his cabin and suggested, “Let’s go out and eat.”
Julia refuted, “There’s a lot to do. I’ve ordered take outs. I was not sure if you would eat with the team. But my order may be enough for both of us.”
Roman asked, “What have you ordered?”
Julia said, “A big bowl of chicken salad.”
Roman smirked, “I need something more.”
He ordered two cheese burgers. Then he said, “You’re making me run up and down. Everyone is whispering that out of all these days I found today to give my girlfriend a tour of my office.”
Julia laughed out loud, “Why don’t you pin the balloons? Why don’t you tell them I’m your ex-wife and you’re trying hard to get some cut on the alimony?”
Roman was already munching the chicken salad. He shared with food in his mouth, “You don’t know that I’ve never seen the face of the bitch. Just remember a bun just under my nose and a pair of sneakers.”
Julia rolled into laughter, “That day I finished an entire Nancy Drew book in the bathroom and complained about constipation so that there would be no time to make me fit in the heavy white gown. Bun was tied before I went to the bathroom. No gown means no need to wear a pair of stilettos. Hence the sneakers.”
She continued, “There’s a fear that the rush hour traffic on the freeway might delay my parents’ arrival at the city hall. Also they were scared that the groom might escape saying he might miss his international flight that he booked much earlier for some wanderlust.”
Roman added, “That summer I was going to Antarctica. That’s why they - my parents and your parents - chose New York City Hall for getting our marriage licence and for getting us married.”
Julia said, “I was horrified by the idea of a wedding at eighteen. I begged them to keep the ceremony low key. But the groom’s schedule squeezed the wedding into a city hall wedding.”
Roman’s phone buzzed. He looked at the messages and whizzed out of his cabin.
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