By the time the first-week window closed, nobody at JD Records clapped.
That was the first sign that the numbers were serious.
Small victories made people shout. Big victories made people check the source twice, then a third time, then sit very still while someone else confirmed that the impossible thing on the screen had not been caused by a reporting error.
The London office was quieter than it had been after the O2 performance. The chaos had not disappeared; it had simply matured into discipline. Laptops were open. Screens were divided by territory, platform, format, and sales category. Coffee had lost its power hours ago, but people still held cups because their hands needed something to do.
