Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Here you go, another chapter to slake your lust for more on my story... or not. Please review!

Chapter Two: Meet Lainey

"Lainey, are you alright? You look awful, dear." Mrs Swaine examined her young serving wench closely from behind the counter as she entered The Singing Wench tavern. It was almost midday, and a beam of sunlight seemed to illuminate her young helper.

Lainey tossed her long hair over her slender shoulder elegantly. "I had that dream again," she sighed, shaking her head. "You know, the one about that dark man?"

"Is it a bad dream?" Mrs Swaine asked in concern, wiping the counter down.

Lainey came behind the counter, pulling an apron over her tight green dress, and starting to clean the tankards out with a distant expression on her beautiful face. Her amber eyes, huge, outlined in black kohl, seemed far away. "Not a bad dream," she said finally. "But a haunting one..."

Mrs Swaine raised her pale eyebrows, shaking her grey head. "You girls, with your far-off thoughts of love. Yer need to come back down to earth, dear."

"Who said anything about love?" Lainey asked defensively, scrubbing at the tankards. There was silence for a moment, then Lainey finished, drying her hands on her apron, her freckled cheeks crimson. "Though... those eyes he has... so deep..."

Mrs Swaine's withered face tightened. "Wonderful, one completely absent serving girl, and one who is in love with a man from her dreams. Might as well close this place down..."

Lainey laughed, patting Mrs Swaine on the shoulder. "Don't panic, Mrs Swaine, you know I can handle this place. Is Coral not here?"

"Late again," Mrs Swaine sighed, pouring herself a rum and taking a long swig. "You know, that girl's got her head higher in the clouds than you, and that's saying something."

At that moment, the door burst open again, and a tiny young woman tumbled in, red curls everywhere. She greeted them with a wide smile.

"Coral, you're late again!"

"I have a good reason this time though," Coral said, blinking her green eyes, sounding quite breathless. Indeed, Lainey noticed that the colour had drained from her cheeks, making her paler than usual.

Mrs Swaine rolled her eyes. "You always have a 'good' reason, Coral," she sighed.

"But, Mrs Swaine- it's the Black Pearl!" Coral panted, shaking her head violently. "The Black Pearl! It just docked, the whole place is in an uproar... I wonder if we'll see Jack Sparrow..."

Lainey sighed, laughing in exasperation. "Pirates, Coral, are not good men. Don't go chasing Jack Sparrow around Tortuga now, will you?"

Mrs Swaine broke into the conversation. "While I'd love to listen to the ramblings of you two all day, we'll have customers soon. You'd better get ready."

Coral insisted she was already ready, dressed in a dress that was so low it was practically indecent. Lainey rolled her eyes and went into the back room, changing into a red dress that hugged her slender body, accenting her curves. She sat before the mirror, clipping back her hair. It was long and soft; once brown, it was now a golden colour after being bleached in the sun. Her skin was dark, freckled, her face beautiful.

When she went back out into the tavern, she found that Coral was still rambling about Jack Sparrow. Lainey tried to block it out. She was fond of Coral, but did not share her love of pirates.

The day passed swiftly, the tavern slowly filling. There was an excited buzz on the air, talk of the Black Pearl and the wonderful Jack Sparrow and his crew. The atmosphere was tense.

"Do you think he'll come?" Coral asked, as Lainey passed her in the evening, arms laden with empty dishes.

Lainey shrugged. "I hope so, anything to get rid of this awful atmosphere."

She placed the dishes down on the counter. Someone called out to her for a rum. She noticed the barrel was empty. "Two moments!" she called.

She hurried down into the cool, quiet cellar, glad to escape the tavern. She could hear the buzz of noise upstairs as she lifted a barrel into her arms, and sighed. She had spent many years doing this job; working here was the first memory she had.

Suddenly, the buzz stopped.

Lainey knew what it meant. Captain Jack Sparrow must have entered the tavern.

She went upstairs, still cradling the barrel. Noise was slowly resuming as she went behind the counter. She couldn't see Jack Sparrow for the thick crowd, but it didn't much bother her. Instead, she began to fill a tankard of rum for the man who had asked for it, taking his money quite calmly.

Mrs Swaine looked run off her feet. "Jack Sparrow is proving very good for business, Lainey."

"I don't see the attraction, personally. I mean, what is he when it comes down to it?" Lainey sighed. "Just a pirate."

Little did Lainey know, Jack Sparrow was soon going to have quite an effect on her peaceful life.