LOVE, LUST, FAITH AND LIES (A Jared Leto Fairy Tale)

The Public Eye

Jared awoke around 2pm and for a moment he panicked, thinking Shiv had left. He rubbed his tired eyes and  looked at the adjacent sofa to see Leef still sleeping soundly and down to see the curls he'd missed for 3 whole years lying in his lap. He got up as quietly as he could and slipped a cushion under Shiv's head. Swapping it from his lap. He quickly checked on Leef, taking off his shirt and draping it over her. She stirred a little but stayed asleep. He walked into the kitchen to grab some ice tea and started  singing, almost in a whisper, Was It A Dream? " you're not supposed to sing that song daddy, shhhh". Jared jumped, damned near having a heart attack, turned and saw his little girl standing in the doorway. Picking her up and resting her on his hip he scrunched his eyebrows together "Why Leef, why does mommy not like that song?" Leef replied, her little version of his face serious " daddy you talk funny. Well it makes mammy cwy and cwy but sometimes she listens and looks at the pictures when she thinks I'm not wooking. But uncle patwik showed me when mammy was at work but don't tell because mammy get cwoss. She was with you with siwwy hair and two men puwwing siwwy faces. Mammy looked vewy happy on them but when she looks at them she's sad" "well baby, that's daddy's song, i sing it with my band. Me and mommy were very happy, then we lost each other. That song made me cry too and i could never sing that song again. Not on stage anyway" "so you are a wock star?" Jared laughed and squeezed her " yeah, i guess i am. Your uncle Shannon is in the band too, you'll meet him tomorrow" "Shannon is a girws name how can she be my uncle?" Leef asked, confused. "In your country it is a girl's name. Not in this one" "what countwy is this?" "This is America sweety" Leef thought for a minute "ohhh Disney worwd?" Laughing again Jared said "yeah, Disney world. So are you excited to meet grandma and uncle Shan tomorrow?" "Yes, my other nanna is a fat bastid and me uncle Connor is a fecking arsehole!" Jared nearly spat his tea all over the place when a voice came from the doorway "AOFIE JAY MCCARTHY! Yi know fine well yi not allowed ti use that kinda language!" " Why? It is twue. You say it!" Shiv laughed "aye, i sippose i de, but ye don't. O.K little divil?" Leef nodded solemnly, then turned to Jared and said "can i have a gwass of miwk pwease daddy?" He passed Leef to Shiv and opened the huge fridge. Pouring a glass of almond milk he passed it over and Leef took a big gulp. Leef grimaced "that is NOT miwk daddy. It is gusting!" Jared smiled and said "well, daddy doesn't eat or use anything that comes from an animal" " wew I do. It is cawium for my bones. And meat is for pwotien. Mammy said". "Jared shis right. I respect yir way of living. But t'isnt ours. So i ask that ye respect ours. In this house, all I ask is kids yogit and real milk. Ye don't want ti see me without me marnin caffee. We will only eat vegtibils and not use anytink that comes from animals here and when wi need meat wil go out ti eat. O.K?" Jared thought for just a second, of course he couldn't and wouldn't force his lifestyle on his family. "O.K, sure, no problem" he smiled. "And speaking of coffee, that i CAN do. Shannon has a coffee business...black fuel. I keep it around for when he's here." "Ahhh tank ye, I'll not have any of that shite mind" Shiv smirked, gesturing towards the almond milk. Jared sighed, held his hands up and groaned "O.K, O.K, I'll send Tony to the store. Your wish is my command" Shiv smirked again and growled "aye it better be aswill"! "Remind me, what do I see in you again?" "Apart from me intillect, sparklin wit and sixy looks?" "Your modesty is great too..." "ahhh, git on eejit" Shiv pulled her tongue out. Jared grinned and pulled out his cell phone to call Tony.

"Come on then missy, lits have ye in the bath". Leef had been allocated a bedroom but she chose the smallest room instead. Shiv guessed that Leef was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the rooms. The living space was bigger than the whole apartment back home. Leef was Leef though and the confidence oozed from her very pores. Padraig had instilled that in her. He'd always told her that in this world there was no space for fear. You put yourself out there and you shine your light for all to see. Orlaith had hammered into Leef's psyche that you always work hard and the pay off is ten fold in the end and Shiv had taught her empathy and politeness. That, was most important. In this world there was too much hate, too many people with no regard for anyone else. You must respect others, rich or poor, whatever the colour or creed, young or old. Everyone's life was their own. They may be a low down homeless addict or a high up business person, it didn't matter. Underneath all that, every one of them was HUMAN. And it looked as though all their advice had gotten through to Leef because when she had started going to the small local primary school's pre nursery for an hour a day she had been so confident telling everyone her name and age, so hard working with the little building blocks and pretend kitchen and all mixed in with that she was so kind, so empathetic. When other children cried, she was the first on scene to help. Jollying them along and making them feel safe and wanted. Shared the toys and held their hands if they needed her to. She was immensely polite toward pupils and teachers alike. Yes, Leef was an utter joy and shiv felt that together, the terrific trio had brought up their daughter to be the embodiment of everything good in this world. The terrific trio was disbanded now though wasn't it? Shiv thought so sadly it hurt her heart. Being taken from her thoughts, Jared came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, moved her hair over her shoulder and kissed the back of her neck. Shiv's back arched automatically and she turned in his arms. Throwing her arms around his neck, she stretched up and kissed him greedily. However much Shiv missed her friends, Jared had been the one part in her and Leef's life that was empty and now that she had the other side of her coin she was never letting go again, he was worth every penny. Breaking the kiss Jared asked nervously "Shiv?" She studied Jared's face and tilted her head in askance "would you mind if I helped you bath Leef?" Shiv's eyes widened "Of course I don't mind! She's YIR daughter te! As  long as ye don't mind gittin soaked and wearing a bubblebath beard, yir fine, what in te world made ye tink I wouldn't want ye to?" "This fucker on Twitter. Said i fuck mino..." "minors? I know what that sick cunt sid Jared! But if I tort for jist one sicond that ye   could harm our child I wouldn't be here wit ye! Besides, if ye prefer minors thin what am I? I might look younger than I am but nit that young! Feck ti him, inyway, his a jilous eejit!" Shiv smiled. "Where have you been all my life?" Jared whispered " waiting fir ye" she replied simply.

That night Shiv sat flicking through channels as Jared spoke to the echelon via social media in the form of a video clip... *You all know that I hate talking about my private life but you all mean so much to me that you deserve to know first. There's a million rumours about me out there but there is only one truth. Yes, I do have a daughter. Her name is Aofie. She is nearly 3. I have seen the nasty comments that some of you "fans" out there have written. I say fans because for what you've written, you dont deserve to be part of the echelon! Shiv is NOT and never was a groupie. She doesn't want my money or the status of being with me. To those fiercely fighting our corner, thankyou so much from the bottom of our hearts. One particular one of you that has stuck out more than the rest is Faith Gibson. Shiv says hi! Thankyou Faith! The full story will be aired tomorrow night on ELLEN so I thought it was only right for my loved and respected family got to know first. I know that a lot of you will be sad but please don't be. I love you all, but in a different way. After Ellen airs I will do a Q and A on Instagram at some point in the very near future. Thankyou all for your continued patience and love*. "You reckon that's O.K baby? I've not messed up somewhere?" Jared asked nervously before posting it. "Sounded fine ti me babe" Shiv said, turning her head to look at him. He smiled and air kissed her. He knew that he'd lose a shit load of echelon over this and that saddened him greatly. Those of the echelon that chose to hate him because THEIR hearts were broken over some fantasy love when he had found real love were clearly never in it for the music, but because of him. Whatever, Jared thought, fuck them. I love Shiv and she loves me. What about HIS HEART? He'd give it all up in an instant if she asked him to. But she never would because his happiness was her happiness. Shiv was the glowing white light warming Jared's soul and she'd never leave his sight again. He clicked on post.

All around the globe the echelon saw the video statement that they were all avidly waiting for. Some were in denial. Some sobbed for the loss of Jared's single status. Some raged at Jared. Most who raged though, raged at Shiv. Some worried that this was the end of 30stm. Some were genuinely happy for them both and wished them well. Some questioned the validity of Aofie's paternity without dna. Some couldn't wait to see pictures. But somewhere in Suffolk, England one particular girl was screaming in excitement. Mobile AND landline AND skype were all calling people. "He directly said thankyou to me! I can't believe it! Can you believe it? I bet you can't! Shiv said hi too! I knew she was lying about being Jared's girlfriend. Did you? I bet you didn't! Bet the baby is gorge! Fuck you Elise! Do you think she'll be gutted? I bet she is..."

Jared came out of the kitchen to see Shiv flicking through the news channels. "NO! Shiv don't!" He shouted but it was too late. Shiv stared at the screen as this morning's chaos unfolded again for her, right before her eyes. It then cut to a news room where a woman and man were discussing their personal business "Well John, what do you think? Should Jared Leto take this woman at face value? Without paternity testing? It's been a long time since he's seen her by all accounts and, dare i say, a one night stand, according to some tweets" Appearing on the screen were several tweets, all of a hostile nature. "Well, Sharon, until Jared makes a full declaration then I don't think we can speculate. Leto has been known as having a LOT of girlfriends in the past few years but not ever looked as happy as this" (on the screen were the pictures of them outside and inside the tent. Thankfully NOT the nude). "But John, surely, if they'd been that happy then why weren't they together the whole time this woman carried this child and brought her up on her own?" "As I said Sharon, I really don't think we have room to speculate til Leto makes a full declaration. As according to Twitter will air on tomorrow night's Ellen show. But she sure looks his to me, i have to say". Behind the two, a picture of Leef taken last month at butterfly world. She was grinning at the camera with a butterfly on her finger. "Wow! I see what you mean now! She has nothing at all of her mother, has she? Yeah, John, i agree. I'd be 100% shocked if she wasn't Jared's daughter...now let's discuss brangelina. Are they expecting again?" Jared grabbed the remote and turned the set off. "Shiv? You o.k baby?" He asked tentatively. Shiv was quiet and still for a second before asking quietly "how cin thee de that te people J? How? Our personil pictures? Our daughter on dat screen there!" Jared crouched in front of her "this is Hollywood Shiv. Our lives are now public property and I can't do anything about people reporting and having opinions on things they're not entitled to. I don't want to subject you to this but it has to be if we want us to be together as a family." "Of course I de. But THIS shite is ginna tek a lang time ti git used ti" Shiv smiled weakly and Jared smiled back, relieved. Pulling her up by the hand he lifted her up and carried her to bed.