Chapter Four - Patrick's Arrival & Vincent's Departure
Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean belongs to Disney.
Vincent looked at his watch and ran a nervous hand through his hair. It had been an hour. Where the hell is Pat?!
"Damn it! He's late!" he yelled.
Elizabeth jumped at the sudden outburst. Vincent silently cursed himself for startling her.
A few moments later, Patrick was standing on the doorstep looking worse for wear.
"You're late," Vincent said, glaring at Patrick.
"I'm here ain't I?"
"You coulda been here earlier."
Patrick shoved his way past Vincent and entered the house. Dropping his bags on the floor nowhere in particular, he made his way towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. Seeing nothing of interest, Patrick screwed up his face and slammed the fridge door shut.
"Pat, I have a list of chores waiting for you on the dining table," informed Vincent, who now stood behind Patrick.
"I thought you said this was a vacation." Patrick was regretting this trip already.
"It is, trust me. I don't just want you to watch my house," Vincent began. "Something happened."
"Something's always happening with you, Vinnie," Patrick replied sarcastically.
"It worked!" Vincent couldn't contain his excitement.
"What worked?" Patrick frowned at his brother like he was mad.
"You know, the invention I told you about? It worked! Elizabeth Swann is here!"
Patrick laughed hysterically.
"That's the best one yet, Vinnie! You called me all the way over here just to tell me that?"
Vincent had a feeling this wouldn't go down too well. He decided to take the serious approach.
"I'm not kidding. She's in my living room," came the straight-faced reply.
"Let me guess… you've got Jack Sparrow in your shower?" Patrick managed to say in between bouts of laughter.
Vincent rolled his eyes.
"No, there's no Jack Sparrow in my shower. Sorry to disappoint you, Pat."
Eyes closed, Elizabeth leaned her head back against the cushioned armchair, smiling to herself. It was extremely comfortable. The sun shone through the Venetian blinds warming the room pleasantly. If only there was a pot of hot camomile tea and marmalade scones. More importantly, if only there was Will to share the moment with…
Suddenly, the intricate machine on the coffee table just inches away from her began to light up. Yellow lit up her surroundings, swirling faster and faster, changing to orange, then to pink. What a beautiful sight, Elizabeth thought, though her heart pounded in her chest. A high-pitched sound then rang throughout the living room causing Elizabeth to cover her pained ears. Unaware of what to expect, she gathered up her skirts and dashed towards the kitchen where she would find Vincent and the unsuspecting Patrick.
"Something is wrong!" Elizabeth shakily exclaimed. "That… that thing! It--"
Vincent knew exactly what she was talking about, but before he had a chance to react, he was suddenly reminded that Patrick was standing at a very close proximity to the commotion.
"Holy shit," Patrick whispered upon seeing Elizabeth, his jaw dropping to the floor. "How the hell did you get Keira Knightley here?"
Shock was evident on Patrick's face. He stood dead still, his mouth wide open.
"This is Elizabeth Swann," Vincent corrected, motioning towards her.
"Pleased to meet you, sir," Elizabeth curtsied.
There was still no movement on Patrick's behalf.
"Uh, yeah… Elizabeth, this is my brother, Pat," Vincent nudged Patrick in the side to no avail.
Elizabeth couldn't help but inspect Patrick in his trance-like state. He was very similar to Vincent, except a little taller and lankier. His unkempt hair was a tad longer and of an unnatural purple-ish shade which he attempted to hide under a woollen hat. She had never seen hair of that description before, though she couldn't bring herself to ask what happened to it.
"Is he feeling well?" Elizabeth asked, concerned.
"Yeah, he's fine. He just wasn't expecting to see you, that's all," Vincent tried his best to explain, waving a hand in front of his brother's face.
"…Whoa…" Patrick managed to utter.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Elizabeth asked softly.
Seeing no other choice, Vincent took Elizabeth by the arm and escorted her into the living room. He sat her down on the paisley sofa, the look of concern still apparent on her face. The machine had quietened down, much to her liking.
"He's gonna need some time to calm down. Just… stay in here, okay?"
Elizabeth nodded. "I hope this isn't my fault."
"It's not your fault. No way," Vincent lied through his teeth. He couldn't bear to make her feel bad.
"But if it weren't for me, he would be able to speak at this very moment."
Avoiding the conversation, Vincent aimed the remote at the television and pressed the power button.
"--like the crowd is sayin', gimme, gimme more, gimme more, gimme, gimme more--"
"Here, you can watch this for a bit. If you don't like what you see, just press this," he said as he pointed to the red power button.
"This is incredible! What is this?" Elizabeth stared at the glowing box containing the raunchy Britney Spears video clip.
"That, my friend, is what you call Britney," Vincent explained lovingly.
Vincent saw the look of disproval across Elizabeth's face. Her eyebrows raised in disbelief as the woman on the glowing box danced in an inappropriate way. Elizabeth's thoughts ran wild; How could she do that? What is that outfit she's wearing? Where's her sense of decency? It was then that Vincent realised this type of behaviour was not accepted in Elizabeth's century.
"Oh, it's…" Elizabeth was at a loss for words, unable to describe it, then finally deciding on, "…different."
Vincent could tell she was uncomfortable. "Well, if you wanna see something else, just press any of these little numbers here…" he said as he pressed a few random numbers, flicking through just a handful of the hundreds of channels.
"May I?" she asked.
Vincent handed the remote over to an excited Elizabeth. She began pressing numbers like an expert. She was most certainly a fast learner.
"--The all new Mack 3 now with three blades for triple protection" "Gillette, the best a man can get--"
"This is delightful!" Elizabeth smiled. She couldn't wait to tell Will what Gillette had been up to. Not to mention, the jingle was extremely catchy. Who would've thought?
"--ARRGGHHH" "IT'S GONNA EAT ME!" "When animals ATTACK!--"
Too frightening. She flicked it again, making sure to aim it at the television as she did so.
"--pop it into the oven for 25 minutes. I recommend it best served with a side dish of pasta, preferably alfredo--"
Oh, this was much too exciting. Elizabeth made herself comfortable, puffing up the velvet cushions and placing them behind her back. She relaxed into the softness, remote in hand, completely drawn into the magnificent cube. She was so absorbed, it never occurred to her that Vincent had left the room.
"--stay tuned! We have an interview with Orlando after the break on Interviews With The Stars! A special--"
Elizabeth gasped as she saw a familiar face appear on the screen. She watched intently as her Will was greeted by the host of the show, shaking hands as if he knew them. How is this so? She couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was oddly different about him… his hair, his clothes, everything. Perhaps being the immortal Captain of the Flying Dutchman has done to this him, she thought.
She hurried towards the television and knelt down, her face inches away from the screen. She then ran her fingers softly over the glass, trying to reach him. There must be a way!
"Will? Will can you hear me? It's me, Elizabeth!"
Before she knew it, his smiling face was replaced with a less than appealing advertisement.
"--Buy the new hatchback model now! Top gear, airbags, smoothest ride on the--"
"I miss you, Will," she whispered.
Vincent's silver station-wagon came to a complete stop at traffic lights, almost ramming into the courier van in front of him. He was distracted, wondering how Elizabeth and Patrick were getting on and reconsidering the whole job interview trip all over again. His fingers tapped nervously on the steering wheel.
"I'm already on the road so there's no point turning back now," he said to himself.
Vincent then pictured his house crawling with disease-carrying rats, Elizabeth electrocuting herself with the toaster, and Patrick falling asleep in the algae-infested swimming pool in the backyard.
He took a deep breath.
"They'll be fine," he muttered, "Just fine."