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Julian blinks at me. I get the strong sense that his preoccupied manner isn’t unusual for him. His clothes look expensive but a little unkempt. He’s clearly busy but at the same time he’s perfectly happy to stop what he’s doing to entertain a total stranger who just showed up on his doorstep. Intriguing.
“I do, but it’s only a temporary situation. We’re not really roommates. Not long-term anyway.” He frowns as if he’s trying to stay focused, or even just trying to remember what we’re talking about. He’s got to be the most distracted man I’ve ever encountered.
“Logan’s here because he’s in-between places,” Julian continues. “He sold his condo and didn’t find anything in time. Or he did, and decided against it. I can’t remember.”
He pauses for a long time. “What about yourself?” I prompt. “What brings you to live at Asher’s place?
“Oh, me. Right. Yes. I’m having some work done on my place, some major renovations and a lot of painting. I can’t tolerate the fumes. I was going to find somewhere close to the office to stay. Then Logan decided it’d be a good idea for all of us to be living together. He was right, it helps a lot. Saves a lot of time, which is really the key to everything, you know?”
He gazes at me expectantly, waiting for me to answer. “Time’s the only thing we have that can’t be replaced,” I offer.
Julian nods with satisfaction, as if I’ve said something profound. I wish I could’ve come up with the exact quote I once heard, it would’ve sounded even better. One of my professors used to say it whenever someone tried to talk their way out of being late on an assignment.
“Exactly. You get it. It’s nice to be able to work in close proximity to each other and discuss things immediately when we need to. It’s a crucial time in our trajectory. We need more face-to-face time than usual,” he says.
“I was reading up about Vivojen Tech,” I tell him. “It’s fascinating stuff that you’re working on.”
Julian brightens up. “It really is. We’re making great strides forward. Everything we’ve been doing for years now is going to come to a head and take the world by storm.”
“So what’s the critical time that you’re in now? Nothing I read really goes into any detail beyond how your company started up and moved so fast.” I’m asking out of interest but an idea starts to sprout in me. I can interview Julian.He’s right here and obviously a lot more interested in talking about his company than anything else. That way I wouldn’t have a conflict of interest with Asher, and I don’t have to endure trying to interview Logan.
Total win.
Julian leans forward, resting his elbows onto his knees. His eyes gleam with excitement. It’s like a switch has flipped in him, he’s instantly so enthusiastic. The total opposite of the quiet guy who answered the door.
“We’re coming up to a few major turning points,” he says. “We’ve created a new kind of medication and it’s going to be ready to submit for FDA approval faster than we’d originally anticipated, which is fantastic. The sooner we can launch it, the sooner we can start saving lives. We’re going to change cancer treatment forever. Biotech’s the way of the future.”
“I don’t actually know what biotech is,” I admit. I read–or tried to read–an article in a scientific journal about what they’re doing and it was so technical I couldn’t understand any of it. All of the other stories that get published about Vivojen are about its financial success and its business potential with only a brief, passing mention of what they’re actually doing. This is the first chance I have to really learn about what they’re working on.
“Are you a wine drinker?”
“Sometimes,” I say, caught off guard.
“Then biotech’s already part of your life,” Julian says. “It’s used in wine making, and it’s going to affect its future too.”
“Really?” I ask with more interest. “I’ve never given any thought to how wine’s made. I just drink it.”
“It’s possible that in the near future, wine won’t be able to cause hangovers anymore. Biotech’s a growing field and it’s becoming more and more a part of daily life. However our research and work is in the medical field. We’ve developed a potential cure for a certain rare type of blood cancer.”
“A cure?” He has to be exaggerating, although he doesn’t strike me as the kind of man to do that.
“Our results are unprecedented,” Julian says. “Once we launch our first drug, our future aim will be to see how it can be modified for use in other types of blood diseases too.Ultimately, we want to be able to cure or prevent different kinds of cancer.” Clearly this is Julian’s area of interest because he’s getting positively animated. “We intend to revolutionize cancer treatment and health care as a whole, because our methods can be used in all kinds of other research.”
“That’s huge. How come there isn’t more buzz about it?” I ask him.
“We have to keep our work relatively secret. There are a few reasons. A big one is that no good will come from getting people’s hopes up before it’s available to the general public. Another is that the more attention we attract at this stage, the more likely it is that our work could get stolen.”
“Does that actually happen?”
“Unfortunately yes. Any question of that kind of risk would affect our investors. Funding is key for us to be able to get our drug into the hands of people who need it much sooner than we expected.”
He says this almost as an afterthought, but it sounds like a big deal to me. “So you have to be cautious for your investors?” I’m out of my depth as far as anything medical or scientific goes but from what I’ve learned in my research so far, funding’s the absolute key to everything in their industry.
“Yes. Funding’s essential.” He gestures vaguely. “It’s not my area of expertise. Logan takes care of that side of things. I don’t really follow how he does it but he gets what we need. I’m on the research side myself.”
Julian runs his hand through his hair. “Actually if you’ll excuse me, I need to make a note of something. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I wait patiently but when it’s clear he’s going to take awhile, I stand up and walk around the room. I take a closer look at the bookshelves, the furniture and the art on the walls. It’s all very high-end. I admire the built-in bookshelves covering most of thewalls. That’s my dream. My place has a few but not even close to as many as this living room can hold.
