Chapter Three: Work
Cordelia felt much better the next morning. She got up and wandered around for a bit until Jack found her and gave her a proper tour of the ship, the Black Pearl. He seemed very proud of all aspects of the ship. The last stop on the tour was the galley where she was to be cooking. It was filthy! Cordelia grimaced and she looked around the room.
"What? Her Royal Highness does not approve of our humble galley. Alas! What shall we do?"
"Do not talk to me like that Jack. Anyone with eyes could see how horribly unhygienic this place is."
"Well if it's that much of a problem you could always reconsider my offer—."
"No! I'll clean it. The old cook can have one more night at his old position while I clean. I hope I will have it clean by tomorrow evening."
"Sounds like a plan to me. You best stay out of his way though. Likes his space and he's usually drunk. Also hasn't seen any woman other than AnaMaria for quite sometime."
"There's another woman here?"
"Aye and she's a lot like you when it comes to me. Odd how that works really."
"I'd like to meet her if she's not to busy."
"Alright. I'll send her down. You get to your cleaning. No free passage for stowaways."
"Thank you for being reasonable Jack."
"It's Captain Jack. You must remember luv."
"Sorry, Captain."
Cordelia cleaned all day. There was a thick layer of scum on every surface and most of the food was spoiled and had to be thrown overboard. AnaMaria did come and visit her and they got along great. Their irritation with Jack was mutual. Jack also came down from time to time and watched her clean from the doorway. He tried to strike up conversation but Cordelia put him off of it. Finally she got so annoyed that she broke her rule and confronted him.
"Jack, why are you watching me?"
"Well luv I thought it rather obvious but I'll leave you to assume what you like."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
He shrugged his shoulders and continued watching her. She couldn't stand his riddles. She decided that Jack was just a typical pirate, vile and uncivilized. She would not let him violate her. She would get back to civilization, marry a kind young man who loved her and start a family. She never should have left those crates. She would have been able to go back home with the money she had.
At dusk Cordelia heard someone stumble below decks. She assumed it was the drunken cook and quickly left the galley. Her first day aboard the Pearl had been hard but productive and certainly full of irritating pirates, but she had made a friend. She wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep and no more chance encounters with her least favorite pirate captain.
