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Mr Vane beckoned Mr Cleat to come in.
    â€œThey’ll be talking about the Mountjoy Avenue business,” warned Liam. “But don’t you worry. Cleaty may be a creep but he usually sticks up for his staff.”
    After five or ten minutes, Mr Vane’s door opened again and Mr Cleat came out. “John, Mr Vane wants a word.”
    John glanced worriedly at Liam. Liam gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, but he still couldn’t stop himself from swallowing and swallowing, and the palms of his hands tingled. He knocked on Mr Vane’s door and went inside.
    As before, the office was almost dark. Mr Vane was sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair so that he was almost hidden behind the mountain of pamphlets and books and particulars.
    â€œI gather that you made a serious error yesterday,” said Mr Vane, making no attempt to introduce himself.
    John said, “I’m sorry, sir. It was my first day. I didn’t know,” in a voice that was very much higher than he had intended.
    â€œWell, it wasn’t entirely your fault. Mr Cleat should have made it clearer to you that on no account are you to have anything whatsoever to do with my properties, and certainly on no account are you to go rifling through my desk. No
rifling
” he repeated, as if it were some kind of disgusting, unspeakable sin.
    â€œHowever, considering that you are new here, and Mr Cleat says that you seem to be showing promise, I am prepared on this occasion to put the matter behind us.”
    â€œYes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
    â€œLet me tell you, though, that you are not to concern yourself in any way with any of the properties on my special list. They are mine to deal with, and mine alone. Any further mistakes and I will immediately let you go.”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    Mr Vane stood up and pushed back his chair. He walked around his desk with his hands on his hips and came up very close to John and stared into his face. He was so close that John could see every wrinkle around his mouth, and how yellow his teeth were.
    He laid his hand on John’s shoulder and looked steadily into his eyes. “It’s a great thing to be young, isn’t it?”
    â€œWell, it depends.”
    â€œI was your age once. Just starting out in life. It seems like a very long time ago now. You mustn’t squander it, you know. It will never come to you again.”
    â€œRight,” said John. He wished the old so-and-so would stop clutching him so tight.
    â€œI’ll give you two words of advice,” said Mr Vane. “The first is, to keep your nose out of where it’s not wanted. The second is, never to make promises that you’ll live to regret.”
    John nodded furiously as if he understood what this was all about.
    â€œDo you understand me?” asked Mr Vane.
    â€œYes, absolutely.”
    â€œThen you’d better go and get on with your work.”
    John left Mr Vane’s office and went back to his desk. Lucy prodded him with her pencil and said, “You’re looking white as a sheet. Are you all right?”
    â€œYeah, yeah. I’m all right.”
    â€œWell, let me buy you some lunch. I know you didn’t eat anything yesterday.”
    â€œIt’s all right. I’ve brought sandwiches today.” He patted the bag on his desk.
    Before he could stop her, Lucy had opened up the packet, peered inside, and peeled apart one of his sandwiches to see what was in it. “Raspberry jam?” she said, wrinkling her nose up. “You can’t work all day on raspberry jam. I’ll buy you fish and chips down at The Lighthouse.”
    John’s cheeks turned from ashen to burning red. But when he turned around he saw Liam winking at him and mouthing the words, “Go on,” and so he turned back to Lucy and said, “Yeah, thanks. That’d be great.”
    The fish and chips turned out to be the best fish and chips he had ever eaten in his life,