Black Nowhere (Lisa Tanchik) by Hirsch Reece

Author:Hirsch, Reece [Hirsch, Reece]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-01T05:00:00+00:00

24

January 9

Brian Hardwick had sensed for a while that something was up with Nate. The breakup with Ali had been a sign, but it was neither the first nor the last. Nate had become secretive, full of cryptic comments, no longer the chill dude of old.

And when Nate had started offering him premium fees for his help with coding over the past few weeks, Hardwick had wondered if Nate might be into something illegal. Nate assured him that he had simply secured some angel money for his “stealth start-up,” but Hardwick was not convinced.

Hardwick knew that “stealth start-up” was usually Valley-speak for “bullshit pipe dream,” but the good money that Nate was paying his staff was coming from somewhere.

He had insisted that Nate meet him at their usual spot, the Sand Hill Road Starbucks, before he would deliver his latest coding assignment. The coffee shop, located in an inauspicious strip mall dominated by a Safeway supermarket, was just down the road from the Valley’s most powerful venture capital firms. By virtue of its location, this Starbucks was a waiting room, a clubhouse, and a makeshift office for a host of would-be Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. But for most of them, it was mainly a waiting room.

Hardwick wanted the chance to ask Nate a few questions face to face. When they were communicating by email, Hardwick always got the sense that he was getting about a tenth of Nate’s multitasking focus.

When Nate strode through the door in a rumpled hoodie with a backpack slung over his shoulder, he had an energized, off-kilter look in his eye that Hardwick recognized. It was the look of someone who’d been up studying for an exam for several nights straight. That look was usually soon followed by a crash and two days in a hibernating stupor.

“Hardwick.” Nate smiled, and for a moment he looked like the mellow, charming guy Hardwick had known since they were eight. Hardwick rose, and Nate clapped him on the back.

“Good to see you, man,” Hardwick said. “I apologize for my little ransom tactic, but I just wanted to see if you still really existed. I was starting to think that I was just chatting with some sort of Natebot.”

“Sorry if I’ve been a little absent lately.”

“It’s okay. I was just a little concerned about you. It’s usually not like you to be so hyperintense.”

Nate dropped his backpack and sat down. “Well, maybe that’s been part of my problem.”

“How are things with Ali? I hate seeing you guys broken up.”

“I don’t think we’re going to be getting back together. I really care about her, and I always will, but she just came along at the wrong time in my life.”

“Because you’re obsessed with this start-up of yours, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“So how’s that going? Still stealthy?”

“Still stealthy, but definitely making strides. I’ve never been this excited about a project—”

“But you still can’t tell me what it is?”

“You should have seen the NDA that the investors made me sign.”

“Judging from the pieces I’ve worked on, like the customer portal, it’s clearly an e-commerce site.

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