Michael watched the first-week report alone.
He had dismissed the first-hour numbers when they came in. Not publicly, of course. Publicly, he had said nothing. Silence was safer when a man did not know yet which way the ground was shifting. But privately, he had told himself that Dayo's release had opened too loudly and would settle like every other overfed campaign.
Then the twenty-four-hour total arrived.
Then the forty-eight-hour total.
Then the physical report.
Then the O2.
By the time the first-week report appeared, Michael had stopped pretending that Beautiful Things was only a song doing well.
