Goodness Gracious (Giles Potter, Robert Sheehan)

Chapter 1

<Jayden>

Smiling, I pulled back the pump and watched the black liquid fill up the glass til it came to about three quarters full. The white froth began to develop as I lay the pint glass before the chattering, crooked old man on the other side of the bar. 

"There ye go now that's four sixty please" I said brightly.

Pushing a five euro note towards me, the old man gave me a gap toothed smile. Forcing a smile back, I nipped to the till , barely managing to resist a shudder. 

"Keep the change love" he called from the bar. 

"Thanks there Paddy" I replied.

Forty whole cents. Boy wasn't I lucky? 

"So what are ya doin' for the New Year's yerself then Jayden?" he asked, taking a sip of his pint.

"Heading over to London to see my cousin and a few friends" I answered, glancing up at the clock wistfully. Fifteen minutes and I'd be out of there. 

Most of the time I enjoyed my job as a part time barmaid. I enjoyed the social element, banter with the customers, messing around with my fun-loving boss Sam, fellow barmaid Jordan, Sam's father Jack and bar tender Harry. I loved the unusual theatre style of the pub in Dublin City Centre and the passing of intriguing, extrovert and beautiful actor and artistic types through the ar, telling me of their exoctic stage lives. 

It was a life I myself so yearned. I had been dancing since the age of five and had commited myself dearly to it. I had focussed on contemporary dancing and had managed to bag myself thirty-two trophies and eighteen medals in my seventeen and a half years of dancing. So far I had managed to dance in two of The Script's music videos, in one of Kodaline's music videos, one of Little Green Cars music videos, Duologue's video for "Push It", I've performed on the Late Late Show with my dance crew Ghetto Hustlers, performed in three pantos and of course in three of Professor Green's videos, dancing or just acting as some drug crazed party girl. 

Having a famous rapper as a cousin you would think that getting my name out there would be easy but the put you straight it really isn't . Besides I'd never bandwagon someone else's fame that they worked for. I hate people who do that. There's some mega talented people out there, struggling to be seen and Kim Khardashian is famous for her ass.

Unfair isn't it?

Anyway whatever fame I get I'll work for it. Who wants to be famous though anyway? I've heard enough horror stories from Steve to be put off for life.

Ok I get it, you're probably confused. Well basically my cousin, Steven Manderson is a famous British rapper. He goes by the stage name Professor Green. Yeh you've probably heard of him, his music is pretty epic. But his mother is my father's sister. Steve and me have always been joined at the hip. There's nine years between us but it never mattered. He was like my big brother. I was born in Dublin in Ireland but I was brought to Hackney where my father was born and raised at the age of one. I lived next door to ten year old Steven who lived with Nana Cooper. At first he was unsure of little me toddling around on Nana's tyled kitchen floor as Nana Patricia cooed at me but legend goes I was chewing on chocolate two weeks after my arrival while Steven was in disgrace in his room for throwing stones at a kid on the street who'd been taunting him. I'd toddled upstairs while Nana was babysitting and had gone to the toilet. Being the nosy little bugge I was, I'd invited myself into Steven's room and had seen him looking rather put out. Apparently I made little incomprehendable baby noises and pressed the half eaten chocolate into his hands.

I can't imagine being pleased with something like that but at that moment Steven must have looked into my big blue eyes and realised that I was only a little baby and wasn't deliberately stealing the limelight ad simply wanted to be his friends. Nana nearly had a heart attack hear to the gurgly chuckles from me coming from upstairs. running up the stairs she found Steven grinning as he lifted me up and down in the air over the bed. From that day on he's looked after me like no one else and I've been able to tell him everything and anything. But I moved back to Ireland when I was six and I'd been devestated as I adored my big cousin having gone in to nana's house every day to see him. Steve had been equally upset and had a bit of a go at my dad but that was the way it had to be.