Forty minutes later he’s bouncing along the platform and jogging across the busy roads with veins full of caffeine.

‘Morning, Ben.’ The receptionist greets him with a smile as he bursts through the door and runs across the tiled floor towards the lift.

‘Hello, Tracy,’ he calls out with a wave and runs the last few steps into the packed lift being held open by a man in a suit with swept-back dark hair who nods and steps aside to let him in. Ben’s firm has the fifth floor. The chap who held the door open for him stays in as the doors close on the fourth.

‘You going to Hallows?’ Ben asks politely.

‘Yes,’ he replies, matching Ben’s politeness and raising it several notches with the strong cultured tone of the very well educated. ‘Do you work there?’

‘I do. Ben Calshott. Nice to meet you,’ Ben says, offering his hand.

‘Very nice to meet you, Mr Calshott. What do you do?’

‘Insurance investigator,’ Ben says, wincing like it’s a bad thing. Everyone has a bad story of insurance companies ripping them off or not paying out. ‘Not a loss adjustor though,’ he adds quickly, as most people get the two roles confused.

‘Ah, very interesting,’ the man says, taking a long look at Ben’s jeans and open-necked checked shirt.

‘I’m on-site today, hence no suit,’ Ben explains. ‘You here for a meeting?’

‘Indeed I am,’ he says with perfect politeness as the doors ping open. ‘Nice to meet you, Mr Calshott.’ He walks out and heads straight to the reception with a confidence in his movements. Ben watches him for a second, trying to work out why the man is here. The suit is expensive and well-tailored but something about it looks out of place. People very rarely come for face-to-face meetings too. Not with Skype, conference calls and email so easy to use. He puts it to the back of his mind and rushes on with a glance at his watch.

‘Morning morning.’ Ben bustles into the already full conference room. ‘Am I late?’

‘You’re fine,’ the boss says. ‘Grab a coffee.’

‘Anyone else?’ Ben asks, looking round at the shaking heads and people raising their mugs to show they’ve already got one.

Ben gets a coffee and snags a croissant from the basket before taking his seat at the round table for the Monday morning weekly brief. The boss insisted on a round table as she said firms that use square tables promote unnecessary ranking and hierarchical structures that lead to division. A round table means anyone can sit anywhere, and the boss is always first to get in, which means she can choose a different place to sit every time. A clever woman is the boss.