Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
It’s as Silicon Valley as you can get without leaving the Nevada desert. Caterva started out in the Bay area because the biotech industries tend to cluster together in areas that are already known to be replete with scientific talent, a plethora of venture capitalists, and elite research institutions that continually accept the brightest in the world, who, in turn, produce discoveries, patents, and technologies that can be commercialized. Three-fourths of the biotech companies in the United States are concentrated in Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, New Jersey, and the Research Triangle in North Carolina.
But after Caterva got its initial funding to move forward, I wasn’t all that tied to California. Neither were Avril and Andrew once they joined me, so they were totally willing to move our operations. We looked long and hard but focused on Nevada because of cheap land, no state income taxes, and very little governmental red tape to cut through. We weren’t the first biotech company to move to the state, but we are the largest as of now.
The lights are all on when I exit out onto the fifth floor. I cut left off the elevator to head clockwise around the perimeter of the office space. My office is to the right, but it’s my habit every work morning to walk by Andrew and Avril’s offices to say hello. It’s not just a courtesy I’m bestowing; I truly love my best friends turned partners, and I like starting my day by seeing them. Call me a bit of a sap, but they’re the closest things I have to family, and I never take that for granted.
I come to Avril’s office first. I’m completely surprised to find the lights still off, meaning she hasn’t arrived yet. It’s shocking, actually. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve beaten Avril into the building since I brought her into the company fourteen years ago.
Pushing past her office, I head down to Andrew’s and I can see as I approach from the long westward hall that the lights are on in his office. Maybe Avril is in there with him.
His door is open. When I stick my head in to say good morning, I’m once again shocked not to see Avril. Andrew is behind his desk, sipping on his coffee and reading something on his computer screen.
“What’s up, man?” I say, and his head pops up. An easy smile comes to his face because that’s just the way Andrew is. Happy, chill, and hardly ever in a bad mood, I kid you not.
“Morning,” he says cheerily.
“Avril’s not in yet,” I reply, stepping fully into his office.
“Weird, right?” Andrew says, but he doesn’t seem overly bothered. “Maybe her alarm didn’t go off or something.”
“I guess,” I say with a shrug and decide not to worry about it. It’s still an hour before the main doors open, and it’s not like we have set work hours for the executives. We all work upward of eighty hours a week, so no one gives a fuck if you decide to have a lazy morning.
Except… that’s not like Avril.
Andrew doesn’t respond, but that’s only because our attention is taken by the sound of our phones chiming with simultaneous texts. I pull my phone out of my pocket while Andrew nabs his from the desk. I see it’s a text from Avril addressed to us both.
Won’t be in today.
Andrew’s gaze snaps back to me, and his eyes are immediately filled with concern when they lock with mine. Avril has never—and I mean never—just taken a day off without some type of long-term planning. She’s never taken a sick day, once working through the flu while puking at her desk. Never taken a mental-health day. Never played hooky to go catch a ball game. She’s not just the hardest-working woman I know, but the hardest-working person.
Period.
Sometimes, I think she should be the president and CEO of this company rather than just the chief operations officer, because she’s just that fucking phenomenal.
“I’m going to her house,” Andrew says as he pushes from his desk chair.
“I’m coming with you,” I say without hesitation as I turn for the door and precede him out of it.
No way in hell Avril can possibly think to send a text like that and we wouldn’t come running, although I know she’s going to be pissed when we show up on her doorstep.
♦
Avril lives in Summerlin. I know the area well because my house is also in this suburb, but mine is much larger and cost a few million more. Andrew doesn’t like a lot of space and prefers a condo in the city, but he spends ample time at my house or Avril’s nonetheless.
Andrew pulls in first, and I park right behind him. We drove separately because circumstances might require one of us to stay and one of us to get back to the office.