--- JADINE ---
"Three bottles of Bud, love," shouted a customer over the booming bass and blaring beats.
"Coming up," yelled Jadine. She deftly grabbed three Buds from the fridge, swiftly opened them and slammed them on the bar before the guy had even opened his wallet.
Benjy, the manager of The Granite Rooms sidled up next to her.
"You're up next for a break Jay," he shouted.
"Are you sure," said Jadine, taking the customer's cash and ringing it through the till. "It's mental busy right now."
"Employment law and all that shit, says I've got to give you a break," he smiled. "Plus, when you're famous, I don't want you giving me a hard time!"
Jadine laughed. She could certainly do with the break. Last night she'd been up until 2am writing a new song with Molly; then she'd got up at 6am to go and look after her nephews so her mum could go to work (she'd even written some new lyrics when she'd taken them to the park); she'd grabbed a quick nap in her old bedroom at her mum's flat before starting a shift at The Granite Rooms at 7pm. It was now approaching 11pm and she was in dire need of some caffeine.
"Kelly's due back from her break in a minute," said Jadine. "I'll go on mine when she gets back."
"Okay," said Benjy, before whizzing off to check the spirit levels.
As she turned to face the swarming mass of customers at the bar, Jadine wished she hadn't been so noble.
"Oh no," sneered Arianne Blixx. "I forgot they let any old skanks work here."
"And I forgot we have to serve any old skanks here!" retorted Jadine. "What can I get you?"
"Weren't you on stage last time I saw you here?" gloated Arianne. "Guess the whole music thing didn't work out, eh?"
"It's going great actually," said Jadine.
"Oh yeah, I can really tell," laughed Arianne. "A double vodka and Red Bull, please."
Jadine felt her cheeks burn as she got Arianne's drink. Jadine had always known it would be a comedown, going from playing at The Granite Rooms to working at The Granite Rooms, but other acts had done it. Everyone knew it took time to get established in the music industry and in the meantime - artists had to pay the bills. Jadine just wished Lena had got them a few more leads recently. As much as she liked Lena, Jadine was seriously considering telling the girls that they should manage themselves until they could get a better manager. Lena wasn't working out in the way that she'd hoped.
"There you go," said Lena, slamming her drink down on the bar, deliberately splashing Arianne's acrylic nails. From the corner of her eye, Jadine was relieved to see Kelly return to the bar. Once Arianne had paid, Jadine would get the hell out of there.
"But I already knew things must have dried up for your band," smirked Arianne. "What was it called again? Melody Dive?"
"Oh really? How come?" asked Jadine, refusing to give Arianne the satisfaction of correcting her on their band name.
"Why else would your little Goldilocks hook up with Psylence?"
What was Arianne going on about now? Why didn't she just pay up and clear off?
"They're filming a video tonight," continued Arianne. "Since he passed me over for her, sure it'll be a pile of shit, but know Psylence - he can't resist some pliable barely-legal booty."
"What are you talking about?" shouted Jadine.
"What's your little bandmate's name - Renee? Rhianna? She's down at the Arches filming with Psylence and his crew. Although I bet they do more than just film..." sneered Arianne.
Jadine didn't even tell Benjy she was leaving. Before she knew it, she was out on street ringing Lyric.
"Lyric, meet me at the Arches. Now!"
----- Author's note: Hope you're still enjoying the story, if so, don't forget to vote. Hopefully it will encourage others to check out the story! Thanks, ever so NN :-) -----