Alternate Lives (ONE SHOT)
Characters: Jack Sparrow
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I do not own Jack or his crazy mind....
“Now, now, Jackie, keep your head up straight. Don’t slouch! That’s bad for your posture, now, Jackie!”
Jack wrinkled his nose when his governess slapped his hands or pulled at the jacket about his shoulders. He hated it when she would pull on his shoulders forcing him to stand up straight. One time, when he was younger, and he was getting ready for church, Adalaide, the governess, shoved a long stick along his back to keep him straight.
And even to this day, she never stopped treating him like a child. He was, after all, seven-and-thirty. He was a grown man and he didn’t deserve to be treated like this.
He didn’t even know why he was going through this. He was thinking he was mainly doing this for his mother. Lovely lass, she was, and Jack would do anything for her.
But right now as Adalaide was tugging at him left and right, he would rather be on the seas with his father, a respectable merchant sailor. Teague was well known for his fast and prosperous sales. He was the most popular merchant in the ports and other sailors were bitter with him.
“Oi! Enough, Adalaide!” Jack squirmed. “I think I have been primped and prepped good enough. Any longer I will look like a female in waiting.”
Adalaide stepped back and admired Jack. He was in head to toe black. His waistcoat fit perfectly against his trim hips and his scarf around his neck accented his symmetrical jaw line. His long hair was groomed and his eyes, dark pools of chocolate, glittered in the sun’s light.
“Oh, Jackie! Marilyn is going to swoon over you when she sees you!”
“Nothing new,” he said conceitedly. “All the women love me.”
Adalaide huffed. “Now, Jack! You are a strapping young man, but that doesn’t give you the right to talk so haughtily. Marilyn is a sweet girl. And your mother planned this arrangement to help you move up into the military.”
Jack grimaced. “I forgot about that. I much prefer to sail the seas. It has always worked for Father.”
“Yes, it has, but your mother wants better for you. And marrying into the government is a wise choice."
“Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Isn’t the woman the one who is supposed to rise up from poverty into society?”
Adalaide blushed. “Yes, but since your mother was good friends with the Colonel, it was a fair agreement."
“All because Mother wouldn’t marry him.”
“Yes.”
Jack sighed. He admired himself in the mirror, brushing a stray hair in his beard into place. He was a fine looking man indeed. And he knew that all the women of the Port were going to be jealous once they saw that he was taken. There was no getting out of this arranged marriage.
Unless…
Jack let his mind wander. Pirating sounded pretty tempting right about now. He would be free to sail the seas. Free from any woman seeking a hand in marriage. Free from these dreadfully confining clothes. The sea would be at his back and the wind in his sails. Oh, yes, it did seem like a fine idea.
“It’s time, Jackie, my boy,” came a deep voice from the door.
There was a thud and a groan. Jack slowly opened his eyes. He ran his hands frantically over his body. He sat up, swayed and slowly blinked his sluggish eyes.
“Oh!” he said as he reached for his rum bottle. “It’s a good thing, mate, that that was just a dream.” He lovingly ran his hands over the half-empty bottle. “Had that been real, I would have shot meself straightaway. I don’t want to live like a fop.” He raised the bottle high in the air and slammed the rest, falling backwards into another drunken sleep.