Max Clarkwell was still at his desk, despite it being past midnight, desperately going through the activity centre’s financial records as he tried to figure out some way to keep Open Spaces operating, when the door to the office swung open.
He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he wouldn’t have noticed someone had entered if they hadn’t shut the door loudly enough to startle him out of his focus. He jumped so violently he scattered the paperwork he was reading, some of which fell to the floor.
Max gathered up the paperwork quickly and returned it to his desk, only then did he pay attention to his uninvited visitors, whom he recognised immediately with a stab of fear. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised to see them, given how his day, and his fortunes in general, were going, but
