A MAZE OF GREED

That night Ruth slept peacefully for the first time in a long time. The smile of satisfaction did not leave her face even in the sleep.

However, Thea could not get any good sleep as she kept tossing and turning in her place. Her mind was in frenzy, and so was her heart. She had failed the people who trusted her.

She did not know if she should felt relieved or guilty, perhaps both. She turned once more to come face to face with Ruth.

Watching her sleep peacefully, fourfolded her guilt.

"I am sorry Ruth! I hope you will forgive me." Thea whispered softly. .

She did not know what the future held. She did not even want to think about it. At some point in the night, sleep crawled slowly to embrace her mind and body.

The Sun rose in the sky from behind the horizon. The birds chirped, and the pelicans fluttered their wings in search of fish.

Ruth, tired, woke up earlier than Thea. Her excitement of showing her mastery of the world could not let her sleep leisurely. She was humming the tune that she had heard in the church recently as she got ready for the day.

"Hey, sleepyhead, wake up! The little birdy is calling you!" Ruth sing-song loudly.

When she did not get a reaction, she rolled a napkin and threw it on Thea's face.

"Ummmhh..." Thea stirred in sleep, grumbling something incoherently.

"Thea! Thea Green! Wake up, you sloth bear! I do not want to get late because of you." Ruth yelled again.

"What is wrong with you woman? Stop screaming early in the morning!" Thea yawned, opening her mouth wide.

"Good morning Thea." Mrs Payne, who was playing with Zoe wished her.

"Good morning, Mrs Payne!" Thea wished back.

Zoe mewed, staring right back at Thea. Her stare made Thea uncomfortable. But she could not get more time to delve into that thought as Ruth came to pull her by her hands.

"Get up and take a bath. The breakfast is already done." Ruth ushered Thea to the bathroom.

Till Thea came out of the bathroom, Ruth brewed some coffee for them. She set the plates along with the coffee cups. She then poured some milk for Zoe.

Thea watched Ruth keenly while she chatted away with Mrs Payne during the breakfast.

"Bye girls. See you in the evening Zoe!" Mrs Payne waved them off.

"Mrs Payne, I will bring your medicines on coughing today. Take care!" Ruth smiled.

She was always caring, paying attention to the details. Just like every day, Zoe accompanied them to Mr Cooper's shop.

Ruth was exceptionally happy today, and Thea was glad to see that.

"Thea, I am thinking of taking Mrs Payne to the 'Baker's Delight' this Sunday brunch. Would you and Rees like to join us?" Ruth asked.

"Ruth, do you have that much money?" Thea asked in return.

"I... I actually managed to save some. I think it will be sufficient for four people's meal. And Mr Cooper will give our pay in some days. So I thnk I can manage. What do you say?"

"I think you should save that money Ruth. What about we make fish and my mother's apple pie at home? We can go to the park after that." Thea suggested.

Ruth liked that idea too. Maybe the 'Baker's Delight' had to wait for some more days!

They reached the shop after a few minutes of walk.

"Take care sweety! See you in the evening." Ruth waved to Zoe, who only mewed once and ignored the women. She walked away from them in search of doing something fun.

"That cat has an attitude greater than the queen herself." Thea grumbled.

Ruth giggled at her comment and shook her head. "Now, come on. Stop getting jealous of my sweety."

'Yea, yeah. Sweety who is probably twice the age of your grandmother!' Thea scoffed mentally.

Their other colleagues were very excited to see the dress. Thea had given them great details and how beautiful it looked over and over again.

They insisted Ruth, to show the dress, but she politely told them to wait. She did not want the dress to get stained by mishandling.

For some reason, Mr Cooper arrived a few hours late. Till then, Ruth's nerves had turned jittery in excitement and nervousness.

"Mr Cooper..." Ruth noticed him sitting behind his counter.

Thea raised her thumbs up in encouragement with a bright smile.

"Miss Moore." He called.

With a steadily beating heart, Ruth exhaled slowly through her mouth. She stood up and took the bag of the dress. She was in the middle of the way when the bell chimed and entered Mrs Linlithgow herself.

"My Lady! Welcome... welcome!" Mr Cooper hurried out of his chair and welcomed the lady.

She smiled tightly. "Thank you Mr Cooper."

"My Lady why did you bother to come all the way here? I was going to come with the dress to your home." Mr Cooper said.

"I could not wait till then Mr Cooper. I am very excited to see and try the dress!" The Lady answered.

Mr Cooper's eyes darted to Ruth, questioning. Ruth only smiled nervously in return. It would have been great if Mr Cooper had checked the dress before Mrs Linlithgow see it.

But now that she was already here, everyone would see the dress at once.

"Of course, My Lady. I have been monitoring Miss Moore's work closley. I have taken so much efforts on the dress and I am sure you will love it."

"Lying old pig!" Thea muttered with a glare.

Ruth felt bad by his words. It was she who had worked on that dress, pouring her everything into it. Yet the man was selfishly claiming the credits.

"I am sure Ruth must have done a good job. I always like her work and that is why I requested her to make that special dress. Show me the dress, Ruth."

Ruth smiled. "Yes, Lady Linlithgow."

With slightly shaking hands, Ruth struggled to open the bag. Her heart suddenly started acting weird. Watching her struggle, Thea came forward to help her. Ruth smiled thankfully.

Together they pulled out the dazzling golden dress out of the bag that left everyone including Mr Cooper shocked, their jaws hitting the floor.

Mrs Linlithgow forgetting that she was a noble lady jumped out of the chair, clapping her hands in glee. She gushed over how pretty the dress was. Every person in the shop could not stop noticing and admiring the detailed work done by Ruth.

Even Mr Cooper smiled in satisfaction. Thea smiled assuringly at Ruth that helped her nerves calm down a little.

"Oh, Ruth! This is... this is fabulous! I can not wait the other women see me in that dress. I bet none of them have ever seen anything so fantastic like this!" Mrs Linlithgow touched Ruth's arms.

The gesture meant so much, especially to the poor workers who only got to see these elites whenever and if they came to the shop or, while during the festivals but from far.

"Th-thank you, My Lady!" Ruth managed to push those words out of her mouth.

She mentally thanked God that nothing bad happened. She got nervous for no reason. At last, her shoulders relaxed, and she smiled widely.

"Mr Cooper I want to try the dress. Now!"

"Of course, My Lady!" He showed her to the back of the shop where was a changing room.

Mrs Linlithgow's maid took the dress and followed her mistress into the room.

"I am happy with your work Miss Moore! It is your best till now. Keep working like this and in no time you will find more customers like Lady Linlithgow asking for you to work for them." Mr Cooper said.

And for the first time, Ruth heard the genuineness in his words.

"Thank you very much Mr Cooper!"

Although she was not getting any extra money for the work, at least she got words of encouragement that she needed to hear at that time.

Everyone was chatting amongst themselves about the dress only when a loud scream was heard from the changing room.

Everybody turned silent and looked the room's way in puzzlement. The next minute, a red face Mrs Linlithgow opened the door. Her eyes spat fire.

"Mr COOPER!" She shrieked, which made the others scrunched up their faces at the irritatingly loud voice.

"My Lady, have I done any mistake?" The old man approached her nervously.

"Mistake? Do you think it is a mistake? huh?" She stumped her feet angrily on the floor as she walked to him.

Her maid was hot on her tail with the dress in her hand.

Ruth and Thea shared a confused look, both of their hearts thudding wildly.

"Is it some kind of a joke, Mr Cooper? Do you know who I am? I can close down your petty shop over the night! I can destroy all of your lives! Do you understand me?" Mrs Linlithgow looked nothing less than an angry goddess adamant about burning down the whole world, as a punishment for their sins.

"But... My Lady, I do not undertsand what went wrong." Mr Cooper said slowly, hesitantly.

That made her face turn redder if only was possible. "You do not know what went wrong? Then what the hell is this?"

She threw the dress on the man's face in anger.

'Oh God!' Thea prayed.