Searching for Paradise
Chapter Two
Elizabeth groaned as she realised she didn't have enough hands to pry open the bust lock that supposedly kept people out of her apartment. She had just completed a weeks worth of grocery shopping and after finding that the buildings lift would not go past the second floor, she had walked up five flights of stairs awkwardly dragging the six full plastic bags with her. It had been an effort to get all the bags tangled around her small wrists in a way that gave her the chance to be successful in her plight and now she had almost made it, she was faced with the dilemma of having to untangle them just so that she could force her way into her old apartment then pick them up again. "This is disgraceful" Elizabeth sighed as she considered how lazy she was being as she tried to fumble through her handbag for her keys without putting down any of the bags.
It took about ten minutes for her to fight her way into her dull apartment and although she knew that it would have only taken two if she had just put a bag down, she couldn't help but smile in triumph as she dropped the entire load of shopping onto the bench. Grinning she let herself fall back onto the sofa. Her luck had not seemed to have changed since the week a fortnight ago, but something inside her had. Elizabeth was now more determined than ever. She accepted problems as they came and faced them rationally, celebrating quietly when she found the solution. Although she was happy to let things go on as they were, in the back of her mind she knew that the problems were beginning to mount up and that it would not be long until things came crashing down again. "And this time, I doubt I should be so lucky" She whispered as she closed her eyes and let her mind wander to man who had picked up the pieces last time.
She had not seen or heard from Will Turner since that day, but that had not stopped her thinking about him. She blushed scarlet as her mind wandered somewhere it shouldn't and she forced herself to shake out of her reverie and unpack the bags that she had left on the bench. As she haphazardly put the items into the fridge and cupboards she wondered how she was going to pay next weeks rent. She had managed to keep the payments regular until now so she had never had a problem with Tia, the quirky old building manager. But Elizabeth had heard of her wrath and understood that if she was thrown out on the streets, it would be the end of her freedom. She would have to crawl back to her Father and Lord Beckett. Shuddering she turned on the kettle then picked up the newspaper and sat down at the table, opening it to the employment section.
Two hours and two cups of coffee later she had found four jobs that she decided she would apply for and was now drafting up a resume for each. Sighing out of boredom she let herself stare out the dirty old window at the grey building across the road. Due to her financial situation when she first arrived in London she had had little choice in where she could live. At first living in the small, dingy apartment had been a culture shock, but now she was used to its simplicity and had even grown to accept the aspects of it that had once made her lip curl in disgust.
The small apartment was made up of three rooms clearly defined rooms. The first of these was the living area which included a kitchenette, a small dining area and a carpeted area which she used as a small lounge room. Attached to this room was her bedroom which was sparsely furnished with nothing but a rickety old double bed that squeaked every time she moved and an old wooden bedside table upon which sat a tattered lamp. By walking through the bedroom you could access the small bathroom that consisted of a shower, toilet and basin and a mirror which had a large crack running through it. Elizabeth had always had the opinion that the bathroom was the nicest room in the small house as it had been tiled with dark blue tiles which always looked clean and new.
The other rooms in her apartment were by no means dirty, although they showed the buildings age with the wall paper in most rooms peeling back from the roof and the carpet so trampled it almost felt like cardboard under her feet. Still, it was a home and although it lacked many of the luxuries she had become accustomed to as a child, she could not help but relish in the freedom it offered and it was that freedom that she was willing to fight for. Shaking herself out of her thoughts she looked down at the jobs she had circled. Blushing at the fact that she had deliberately chosen jobs located in Docklands she was glad that Emily, her maid and only true friend, was not here to remind her of the fact that she had a silly crush on a man she had only met once and was unlikely to ever meet again. Still the way that fate seemed to play a part in her life she couldn't help but try and tempt it a little.
Grinning stupidly she turned as a sharp knock on the door drew her out of her thoughts. Leaving her seat she walked over and answered the door to find Tia Dalma, the building manager standing in the door way. Elizabeth stared at her in anticipation, "Err, the rent isn't due till Monday?" She said to the dark haired, dark skinned woman who wore a plain brown dress which was decorated with a collection of beads that hung around her neck.
"Nope" She agreed nodding her head, "But I 'eard that you be needing a job" She said her accent lengthening the words making the situation seem more mysterious than it actually was.
"Ahh, yeah" Elizabeth replied looking at the woman with confusion written on her features. "How did you know?"
"A friend of a friend" She stated simply as she pushed her way into Elizabeth's apartment and sat down at the table. "I got a proposition for you though, an old friend of mine is looking for someone to work at the reception desk at a place in Docklands, don't need to do much, answer the telephone and such, don't need to know much 'ither"
Elizabeth stared at the eccentric woman, disbelief written in her features. "Err, that'd be great, what would I have to do?"
"Like I say, not much, turning up would be a good start. They ain't the most wonderful people, the folk you'll work for, but they be completely harmless" She said as she handed Elizabeth a plastic sleave full of paperwork.
"Completely harmless?" Elizabeth inquired the term setting of alarm bells in her head. "Who gave you this? Who told you I don't have a job?" She asked suddenly.
Tia Dalma rolled her eyes. "I be friends with your old employer, he mentioned I might be needing to kick you out, but you're one of me best patrons, couldn't be letting you go so easily" She explained.
"So you don't know…" She trailed off as she saw the confusion in the woman's eyes. "Never mind"
"It's up to you from 'ere on in, you got the stuff, just turn up on Monday 'n you got the job" She said before leaving her seat and walking out of the apartment "Like I said, it'd be a pity to be losing ya Miss Lizzie" she called as she walked away.
Elizabeth stared at the package of paper work in her hand as she closed the door with the other. She gaped at it for a good five minutes as though she was waiting for it to disappear. Shaking her head she placed it on the table and decided it was time to retire for the evening; it had been a long day.
Meanwhile…
"I suggest that you drink more rum" Jack said to Will from the other side of the bar as Will rolled his aching shoulders.
"And how is that going to help me solve any of my problems Jack?" Will asked rolling his eyes.
"It'll make you forget about 'em, that's how" He answered with a smirk. Will sighed as he watched the Captain pull out two glasses and poured a decent amount of the red liquid in both.
"Yeah and then when I wake up at two tomorrow afternoon with a horrible hang over, I will still have to finish that design for Emirate Charters."
"That's when you drink more rum" Jack told him. Will gave him an exasperated look in response prompting the eccentric man to sigh. "Christ boy, what'ya expects me to say? I drink rum n sail ships; I don't build 'em, that'd be your job"
"Thanks for the reminder Jack" Will growled sarcastically.
"I know, why don't you go see the pretty lil' lass that you 'ad 'ere the other night, she'd cheer me up" He grinned.
"You are a dirty old man, you know that" Will stated looking at the man with disgust, "And I'd rather we'd leave her out of this, it's her fault that I haven't finished this design already"
"And why is that, too much sex with the lil' lady?"
"Jack!" Will exclaimed, "I'll have you know that I haven't seen her since that night"
Jack's face twisted into an expression of disgust, "It's been two weeks and you 'avent got into her pants yet?" He asked, "I brought you up better than that"
"I don't even know her!"
"What does that matter; she was cute if you ask me"
"She was beautiful" He sighed causing Jack to feign gagging at the young mans sensitivity, "But I am not a stalker, I took her home and that was the end of that."
Jack groaned, "Your smitten with her ain't you, god I didn't waste all those hours bringing you up so that you could be a lovesick imbecile. I thought I made it clear, women are evil, all of them, they want you to be sober and stay on land, and tell 'em they are pretty even when they ain't, and they hide the rum boy, they always hide the rum!" He exclaimed staring at Will.
Will stared at Jack with mixture of humour and disbelief written in his features. "I don't know how you've managed to survive so long in this world Jack" He stated before draining his glass of rum in one gulp.
"Nor do I" He admitted with a grin, "Probably got something to do with the rum"
Will snorted, "Yes, Jack, I'm sure it is definitely the rum." He said shaking his head at the dark haired captain. "Anyway I've got to go home; I'll miss the deadline if I don't get most of the sketch done tonight."
"Pffft, all work and no play with you, you were more fun when you were little" Jack told him honestly.
"Thanks Jack" Will replied, rolling his dark eyes. "I guess I'll see you on Monday"
"Bye kid" Jack called to Will as he walked through the old wooden doors, exiting the tavern.
As Will pulled his jacket on outside he couldn't help but overhear Jack declare "The foolish boy has gone and fallen in love". There was silence before the whole place erupted in laughter causing Will to shake his head with a small smile on his face. While it was not the reaction he might have received from his real mother and father, he knew that Jack and the rest of the crew that he had grown up with were just looking out for him in the way that they knew best; even if that way wasn't really the best. Taking a deep breath he began the long walk back to the car.
The young man let the cold air wake him up he attempted to keep his mind focused on the task he needed to complete once he got home. Will Turner was a well-known Engineer who worked for one of London's prominent Boat Manufacturing companies. As he was highly accredited in his line of work he was often contracted for some of the larger scale boat constructions. He worked hand in hand with the Comprehensive Design Architects or CDA's in order to help them with the different calculations involved in creating ships. Currently he was working on a Cruise Liner that had been commissioned by a world wide company and the scale of the project was so incredible that he was beginning to doubt his ability to get it finished. The Liner was nine storeys tall and included a shopping centre, day spa, pool, and every other first class luxury that one could ask for. This had proved to make the interior structure a lot harder to design than the exterior shell which had been finished for weeks.
In fact he had finished the calculations for the exterior shell in a week, but that was before he had met Elizabeth. Will groaned as his mind was filled with images of the face of the beautiful young woman. This had been what had distracting him from his work for the past fortnight. Five times he had stopped what he was doing and made it to the car park of his apartment building before telling himself that he could not just drive to her apartment block without appearing to be a creep. Unfortunately it did not seem to matter how many times he told himself that it was not going to happen as both his heart and mind seemed to be convinced that she was the one for him.
Will shook his head and got into the car. Frowning he wondered if Jack's over-enthusiastic pouring meant that he shouldn't drive. He paused for a moment before deciding that he felt all right and it wasn't like he had a weak stomach when it came to alcohol. He snorted; with Jack as a mentor it was impossible to have anything but an extremely high tolerance to alcohol.
It wasn't till he was driving that he decided he probably shouldn't be. He could feel that his reaction time had slowed slightly and that he wasn't quite in control of his actions. He had just decided to pull over when the sound of sirens made him groan. He wound down the window and flopped his head back against the head rest as he waited for the officer.
"Good evening mate" The policeman said
"Hi" Will replied half-heartedly
The policeman's eyebrow rose at his response. "Had anything to drink tonight?" He asked as he set up the breathalyser.
"Yeah one, about an hour ago" Will answered, even though he was well aware that it was more like half an hour ago.
"Hmm" The policeman said frowning, "Alright, give it a blow then and we'll see how you go"
Will blew into the apparatus and sighed when the policeman gave him a sympathetic look. "Sorry mate, you're about point zero one over the limit"
Will closed his eyes and nodded and made a move to get out of the car when the policeman interrupted. "Look, seeing as you haven't given me any trouble, how about I just forget about it, just so long as you leave your car here and walk home." He said quietly.
Will's eyes snapped up to the policeman. "Are you allowed to do that?" He asked surprised.
"Not really," The policeman replied honestly, "but point zero one off the limit, most other lads your age would have kicked up a fuss over the injustice of that and I think they've got a point. Just don't ever let me catch you again"
"Wow, err, thanks?" Will said as he stepped out of his car.
"Like I said, I don't ever want to see you again" He stated clearly. Will nodded and watched the man in disbelief as he got in the police car and drove away.
Thanking his lucky stars, Will smiled as he saw a taxi zooming towards him. He went to hail it stopping short as his eyes met the view in front of him. He did not even register the fact that the taxi had rushed past as he stared up at the building across the street. It was the building that he had visited only a fortnight ago. The building where she lived…
Author's Ramblings: Lots of hugs and thankyous to those people who reviewed! You make my day!