"M'lady!" A high female voice pierced Meryl's slumber. "M'lady, we've come to port!" She opened her eyes to see Anamaria standing over her, excitement gleaming in her eyes.
"I shall be out soon." Meryl said through a yawn. She climbed out of bed and ruffled through her bags to find a bodice. Jack had been sailing for weeks now, every day promising it would soon be the 'opportune moment.'
Today, apparently, was it. Well, not really. Jack's only real criteria for the 'opportune moment' was whenever they reached Port Crowne.
By noon the ship was lined up port-to-starboard with them, trying to hash out some sort of bargain with the less-than-eloquent Captain of the Black Pearl. Meryl stood on deck, baking in the hot sun underneath layer upon layer of silk organza. The men of the Navy vessel peered at her scrutinizingly, trying to decide if they were convinced that the woman who stood before them was, indeed, Isabella Armeitis.
Meryl began to slip out of consciousness. The sun made it difficult to see anything in front of her. She could no longer hear the negotiations going on between Jack and the Royal Navy. Suddenly two muskets went off- a sign that the two sides had reached some kind of accord. Meryl looked up to see Jack standing before her.
"Well, luv," He smiled at her. "they'll be sending over a nice heavy bag of coins for me and my men as a gift. Then we'll be sending you over. Savvy?"
Meryl frowned. "At what point, exactly, do you plan on insuring my safety?" She said through gritted teeth.
He smiled. "As it turns out, I'm not a very co-operative citizen, aye?" He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "We've got guns at the ready, Meryl darling. This is the fastest ship in Caribbean. No worries. Now slap me."
Meryl stood for a moment in confusion. "What? Why?"
"The Navy's got to wonder I'm whispering to their precious Isabella, savvy?" He whispered. "Now slap me."
Meryl pulled away and slapped him across the face. Hard. Very hard. Jack jumped back and began to wonder if maybe she applied just a wee bit more force than was dramatically necessary.
His musings were interrupted, however, by the arrival of six burlap sacks, filled to bursting with gold, silver, copper, and bronze. Meryl stood and stared for a moment at the inherit lust that the crew counted their coins with. Suddenly The Pearl shifted beneath her feet and slid past the Navy ship almost effortlessly. The men on board stood for a moment, mouths agape.
"Now!" Anamaria shouted. The Pearl's cannons ate away at the sides of the opposing ship that was growing ever-smaller as they drifted out of the bay. Bloody Royal Navy, Meryl thought, don't even know when to close off an inlet. Stupid eajets.
"Aye, Jack!" Anamaria called. "What do we do with the lady Isabella, then?"
Meryl laughed. "I am not the lady Isabella." The crew turned to her, more than duly shocked. "My name's Meryl Volleys. Your captain hired me to impersonate her until you he'd collected his ransom." Meryl smiled. They hadn't expected this at all.
"By God, Cap'n!" Gibbs cried. "She's the spitting image of the lady!"
"Or as close as you want to get, aye?" Jack smiled. "Another victory. Drinks all around!" The crew let up a hearty cheer, and before anyone could think twice, the rum barrels were hauled out. Meryl took only one glass. Drinking, itself, had never bothered her, but being drunk around Jack was not something she would call wise. His intentions while drunk could not always be trusted.
But then again, neither could his intentions while sober.
Jack downed his fourth glass with characteristic enjoyment and staggered off to find Meryl. The girl barely drank at all, he mused. One would think after a life of working the bars of Tortuga she would be able to handle at least more than two glasses.
Jack spotted her sitting on the steps that lead to a raised bow. Her back, wavy hair hung loosely about her face and she clad entirely in vivid red. The colour of passion, he thought.
"Well done, m'lady." He said, taking her hands in his own. "Couldn't have done a better job than what you pulled off, aye?"
Meryl smiled uncomfortably. "Thank you, Captain."
"Jack!" He hiccoughed. "Call me Jack, luv." He draped his arm around her shoulders.
Meryl eyed his tender grasp in annoyance. "Be careful where your laying your fingers, Jack." She said through gritted teeth.
He raised his hands innocently. "I would've thought a girl like you wouldn't mind something like that all to bad."
Meryl scowled. "A girl like me, Captain? Tell me, just what am I like, then, aye?"
"Well, your…" He stammered. Meryl could be pretty touchy about his choice of words. He paused for a moment. "You're a… lady of pleasurable occupation?" He tried hopefully.
Meryl leapt to her feet and glared at him furiously. Jack braced himself for the usual slap he expected to follow. "A LADY OF PLEASURABLE OCCUPATION?" She spat. "What in bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"
He winced. "Well… you can be bought. Savvy?"
"Not anymore." She breathed, putting an equal menacing emphasis on each syllable. "I quit with that when I got my out. You, Jack. I don't do that anymore. Don't get any ideas!"
He smiled. "I thought of no such things, luv."
Meryl watched him stand up and take a step closer to her. He grabbed her hand and wound his fingers around hers playfully. She trembled furiously.
"Stop that." Her voice quivered.
He smiled. "Stop what?"
"That." She nodded to his hands.
He raised her hand and kissed it softly. "As you command, m'lady." He released her and strode away, calling for more rum to the crew below. He smiled to himself. Meryl was beginning to melt at his feet. If she had truly disliked what he was doing, she would've pulled away.
Meryl stood where Jack had left her, staring at her hand in wonderment. She was enjoying this game of keeping him at bay, of making him work for any sort of approval. It seemed wickedly enjoyable. His advances were changing; where before they had been plainly cliché or overly lustful, now they were something entirely different. A sort of pleasant mix of chivalry and passion. It was a kind of wooing she had never been the subject of before, and though part of her still resisted, she couldn't help but enjoy it.