A MAZE OF GREED

Zoe woke up from her nap hours later to see the sun was waving goodbye to the world while yawning. She had not expected to sleep for that long.

She yawned, stretched her body then shook her head sideways, which made the bell around her neck tinkle softly. She hated that bell.

Why do humans feel the authority of tying animals as if they were their possessions and the innocent beings had no right over their lives?

It then struck Zoe that she was waiting for Ruth. She frantically searched her surroundings, sniffing her scent as if she had come out of the building. But her tries turned fruitless...

There was no hint of Ruth's presence. It only meant she was still inside the building.

What the hell was she doing in that building for a whole day?

Feeling restless and not worried, Zoe decided to sneak into the building.

She saw only one guard at the entrance, who was enjoying his cigarette, while the other one was absent from his spot.

'Maybe he has gone to use washroom.' Zoe thought.

Figuring that this was her golden opportunity, Zoe tip-toed towards the building. The guard was busy exhaling the smoke out of his mouth to notice the little kitty.

Zoe was about to dance in victory when her bell tinkled again.

"Oh, you are here again, little kitty?!" The man held the cigarette between his lips and picked up Zoe with his hands.

'Put me down you human! Do not touch me with those filthy hands of yours. You do not know who I am!' Zoe mewed, thrashing in his hands.

"What is going on?" She heard the other guard too.

'Great!' She groaned.

"This kitty was trying to sneak in." The first one replied.

"Is not she that woman's cat? The woman who went in the building in the morning?" The second guard asked.

"Yes. you are right!" The first one recognised Zoe.

Zoe still tried to wiggle out the man's hold. The smell of nicotine suffocated her.

"The woman has not came out yet."

'Yes. And that is why I was trying to go see what that naive woman is doing inside.' Zoe grumbled with the thought of biting the man's hand.

But then she might taste the nicotine and whatnot. She was not ready to risk for Ruth.

"She came asking for the work right? Then she might be doing just that or she might be with Lord Davies." The man wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

That made Zoe's heart drop in her pit.

What if Ruth is in trouble? What if she gets hurt? And what will happen if Edwin gets to know about it?

Zoe shuddered at those thoughts and started thrashing more.

"Leave that cat under that tree. When the woman will come out she will take her home." The second guard said.

The first guard complied and walked towards the same tree where Zoe was waiting for Ruth for a whole day.

"You wait here. She will come to get you after she is done with her work." The man said and left Zoe on the ground, then walked back.

Zoe was now getting worried. And still not for Ruth but Edwin's reaction if something happened to her. Edwin would not think twice before killing Zoe, even though she was the daughter of the shade's leader.

Shades- the supernatural creatures who could transform themselves into cats and dogs. The perfect choice for spies and bodyguards.

That was the reason why Edwin entrusted her with Ruth's safety and what she did? She slept while Ruth was in the building in a state that only God knew.

Zoe decided to use another door or a window to sneak into the building, and thus she managed to round the building secretly. Unfortunately, she found not a single way of entering the building.

She once thought of taking her human form, but she could not do that in the public. Not especially when there were spies roaming around in Vincardine. If his family got to know about her adventure, her father would surely abandon her forever.

After minutes of thinking, Zoe was left with only one choice. She decided to contact Edwin if Ruth did not come out before the dark.

*

*

*

Someone shook Ruth from the sleep. She stirred in the chair, mumbling something incoherently.

"Madam.... Madam... wake up." Someone called her.

She jolted out of sleep, looking around dumbfoundedly. A stranger yet familiar woman stood beside her with a scowl.

Ruth blinked multiple times. As she scanned her surroundings, it dawned upon her that she was still sitting in the same building as Harold Davies.

She straightened herself. Her face was hot with embarrassment.

"I.. I am sorry. I..."

"You are called in the office." The woman said curtly.

Ruth looked outside the window at the dark sky. Did that mean she slept throughout the day at a strange place?!

"O...okay." Ruth nodded. She searched for the water but found an empty glass.

The woman who woke her up had already walked away.

Ruth sighed. She smoothened her dishevelled hair, and inhaled through the mouth then exhaled the same way. She repeated it twice and was ready to face Mr Secretary.

She walked towards the door that the woman had pointed to before leaving. She stopped in front of the door like a nervous mess. She lightly knocked on the door by her knuckles to hear a man saying 'come in' from the other side of the door.

Sucking a deep breath, she opened the door to see a man sitting in the chair, facing outside the window.

Ruth did not know the mannerisms they followed at such places or in business. So she closed the door behind her and walked towards the large table.

"G-good evening sir! I heard that you need a-" She stopped abruptly as the man turned to face her.

The bulky man with horseshoe-shaped moustaches. His eyes travelled on the length of her body from top to bottom, slowly and teasingly. She felt conscious of her appearance, but that soon turned into uncomfortableness as he did the same one more time.

His gleaming eyes lingered on her bust a moment longer than settled on her face. He smiled, looking at her.

"Please have a seat, Miss..." He trailed off questioningly.

"Ruth... Ruth Moore." She managed to squeeze the words out of her throat.

"Ruth.... Ruth... what a sweet name!" His deep voice and his husky tone did not send shivers of excitement in her body.

Instead, she grew more uncomfortable under the scrutiny of his eyes.

"Please sit, Miss Moore." He said again.

Ruth nodded and sat in the chair. The man's eyes did not leave her face, and that irked Ruth. But she maintained her composure as she needed to get hired as soon as possible.

"Do you want anything Miss Moore? Water, tea, coffee or would you like to have a dinner with me? I aplogise for keeping you waiting for the whole day. But you see, I am a very busy man and have to take care of everything on my own. I hope you are not upset with me?"

Ruth was surprised to hear his straight words. They were too straight and clear for her liking. How could a man ask a stranger to have dinner with him in the first meet? And he was not even there for informal reasons!

"It is fine, sir. I do not need anything and I am not upset about waiting. I need work and I heard you need a cleaner to take care of this place. So I... I would like to work here." She said.

At the end of her talking, she realised that the man was not attentive to what she was saying. His attention was somewhere else.

His eyes had travelled little down as she spoke.- on her lips. Suddenly Ruth grew uneasy around this man.

'What a pervet! I must complain about him to his Master Lord Davies. And people were warning me about Lord Davies when his secretary is the one I should be beware of!' Ruth thought.

Ruth waited for his response, but it seemed that he was tongue-tied by her beauty.

"Mr secretary?" She called to gain his attention back.

And she succeeded. He looked up to her eyes and smiled again. "What did you call me?"

Ruth repeated in confusion. "Mr Secretary?" She was not sure anymore.

She left dumbfounded when the man burst out laughing loudly. His laughing sound sounded like the rumbling of clouds just before the heavy downpour.

"Miss Moore, I must say you have a good humour than other women."

"I... I do not understand sir."

Ruth wanted to shoot up and run from there the first chance she got. Was coming here a mistake?

She should have listened to those warnings by her coworker and Thea. But now was too late. She had already lost a day. It was only logical if she tried her luck here and see if she gets a job.

The man stood up from the chair. He rounded the table with his tall and bulky frame. Ruth felt intimidated by his form. She watched him approaching her like a predator.

Not hungry but blinded by lust.

He stopped right beside her and leaned down to her eye level. Ruth held her breath, for she feared if she breathed and the man did not like it, he could break her in two with a snap of his fingers.

"Miss Moore, you are talking with a wrong person then."

"P-Pardon?"

"I am not the secretary you thought. I... am Harold.. Harold Davies."