4345.96 · April 6, 2025 AD
Too Well for Public Display
The queue stretches further than yesterday. Word has spread. The Campbell booth has become a destination, and destinations attract more than customers. The woman with the phone isn't framing festival atmosphere—she's documenting storage areas, supply chains, the black bags with silver emblems. The academic's questions about Maeve's sketches carry edges beneath the curiosity. Yesterday felt like success. Today feels like exposure. The spotlight Daniel wanted is here. So is everything that hides in its glare.
The second morning brings validation and threat in equal measure.
The queue stretches into the main thoroughfare before opening time. The festival-exclusive blend sells faster than projected—Isla adjusts inventory twice before noon. Maeve's artistic touches have transformed their booth into a destination, her sketches drawing crowds who photograph her work and share it across social media.
But Nathan notices what others miss.
The woman with the phone isn't capturing festival atmosphere—her lens focuses specifically on their storage area, on the distinctive black bags with silver emblems. When he intervenes, she takes one final shot before melting into the crowd.
The academic in rumpled tweed studies their tasting notes with scholarly intensity, but his eyes keep drifting to the restocking routine, cataloguing timing and process with systematic attention.
The well-dressed woman asks Maeve about the vines in her illustrations. "They're based on ones you grow yourselves?" The question probes at boundaries Daniel would prefer remained untested.
"Quite an interested crowd," Daniel murmurs to Nathan as they restock cups. "Maybe too interested."
The pattern is becoming undeniable.
Success has brought exactly what generations of Campbells have worked to avoid.
Attention.
