A MAZE OF GREED

"We are here!"

The Chauffeur's voice snapped Florence out of her reverie and she looked outside the window of the carriage.

'When did we reach here?' She glanced around with that thought and made sure that she was indeed on the road that led to the Eastern part of the Vincardine. The hours of the journey felt like minutes to her clouded mind.

Before she could say anything the door of the carriage was opened and the Chauffeur offered his hand for her to take. He smiled at her with a thought that something might have changed between them after their wonderful time in each others' arms.

But Florence didn't return his smile. She accepted his outstretched hand and the man helped her to step down the carriage.

It was the time of dawn and the darkness of the previous night still coated the surroundings. The roadside lamps and the faint light coming from the slowly rising sun fell on them.

"Should I convey any word from you to Master?" He asked.

She gave it a thought but no words could convey the hurt and humiliation she felt.

"No need."

Without any more word she picked her small bag from inside of the carriage and started heading towards her home. But the man held her by elbow halting her in her track.

Annoyed, Florence clenched her jaw but didn't turn to face him.

"When we will be meeting again, Florence? I would like to spend those moments with you again."

His grip on her elbow tightened as if he was letting her know his desperation. His tone was hopeful.

The men were always like this. They didn't get that a moment of passion that she shared with them was nothing but temporary bliss for her. They always craved and begged for more. It was all her choice if she wanted to bless them with another chance.

And this man... she had used him only to vent out her anger but he didn't understand. Just because she made him happy he thought that she was his.

Florence scoffed mentally. 'What a ratbag!'

Without glancing back she jerked off his hand away from her. "Make sure that your master would not get to know about it or else..." She trailed off letting the gravity of her words sink into that man's thick head.

With a smirk plastered on her face, Florence resumed walking towards her home leaving the disappointed man behind who kept staring at her back till she disappeared from his sight.

By this time the Sun had made an announcement of its appearance with its light brightening the place than before. The port town of Vincardine had early risers, who had stepped outside their homes for various purposes.

All along the way, people gave her curious glances. Some were full of judgements while some were just to take in her beautiful sight. She didn't heed any attention to them as her mind was long lost in the thoughts about the man she had set her heart and mind on.

The day she met Edwin O'Dell in a small meet that his friend, a young son of a Nobel of Western side, had organised was still fresh in her mind.

The man had requested all the famous courtesans of the Vincardine to be present there to entertain his guests.

With the number of traders and Nobels that visited or lived in the town, Vincardine had a fair number of courtesans to cater for them. Some of them were well known outside the town and frequently got requested for their presence in the neighbouring towns on various occasions.

Between those tipsy deviant men, she caught sight of a person who was the least interested in his surroundings trying to disappear in the shadows of his pain.

The moment her eyes had found him with a glass of wine in his hand and his cerulean blue eyes roaming around lazily, she was bewitched.

His coffee-brown hair with side-whiskers, his sculpted clean-shaven oval face with sharp and high cheekbones and pointed chin, his bright cerulean blue eyes and straight brows with little arches, everything about him was enticing to her eyes.

With every sip of wine, his adam's apple moved up and down and the sight made her gulp down her saliva.

His tall, muscular built with wide shoulders were proof that he was a trained warrior. The thought of having him for herself crossed her mind that soon became her goal.

She observed how every woman in the room had their eyes on him and that irked her with jealousy. Before anyone else snatched this precious gem, Florence decided to act fast.

After a great deal of effort, Florence managed to gain his attention. Was it her stars or his need for a distraction from the chaos of his life, she didn't care when she got to spend the best night of her life with him.

He was wild, harsh, dominating. He was better than everything that she had wished for. The lust that born in her soul for him was way different than she had ever experienced in her life.

At that time she didn't know who he was. She was only thrilled to have the most handsome man that she had ever laid her eyes on for herself.

She did everything to please him and he was, that was what she thought. She was surprised when he asked her to meet him again after witnessing his cold behaviour the next morning.

He didn't utter a single word to her the whole night. He left her alone the next morning without even giving her his name. His face was passive and his behaviour was rude. She didn't like it a bit and felt insulted.

But that every thought flew out of the window when he asked for their second meeting. With the passing time, she managed to squeeze out a little bit of information from him but he was a hard nut to crack.

The only thing she knew about him now was his name and that was enough for her to know. The O'Dell was a trademark and she didn't need anything more to know about him.

Edwin O'Dell didn't prefer for public appearances was a sweet mystery for people. There were many rumours about him, some were good, some bad and some were overly exaggerated.

And knowing them, Florence knew that she had caught a golden shark for herself. Now she only needed to lure it and then catch it for once and all for her own good.

But recently she felt him slipping out of her hands and she didn't know why.

Soon she reached her home and headed straight for a long hot bath.

*

*

*

"Have you delivered the message?"

Edwin asked without lifting his head from the book he was reading, as soon as Rees stepped inside his office.

"Yes, Master!"

"Any message from her?"

"The man brought her back in Vincardine early in the morning. When he asked if she wanted to convey any message to you, she didn't say anything." Rees recited everything that the chauffeur who was assigned to look after Florence explained to Rees.

Hearing that Edwin looked up surprised. It was hard to believe that Florence didn't have anything to say to him after he didn't show up to meet her.

'This is so not like her', he thought but kept it to himself. Anyways, he had no time to think about her now.

He wanted to distract himself from the persistent pressure that he was living under and hence asked her to meet him at their usual place.

The house belonged to one of his close acquaintances and he believed that no one from the family knew about it. And even if they knew they always turned a blind eye as they didn't want to interfere in his personal choices.

"Anything else?"

"No master!"

Edwin hummed and ordered Rees to leave him alone.

Thinking about Florence, she was never the one who caught his mind let alone his heart. She was only desperate for his attention and knew how to use her body well to please him, even though that pleasure was momentary and inefficient.

The only thing that kept him going back to her was she made him feel worthy and didn't pry into his personal life. They never talked about themselves or their lives. They just met, do their business and leave.

He liked it pragmatic.

Then his mind drifted to the restricted territory of the woman with beautiful hazel eyes.

The previous time when Edwin promised Florence to visit her over dinner at her place, he cancelled the plan last minute. And the reason was Ruth.

Even though his body was craving to satisfy its carnal needs his mind didn't permit him. Somewhere, the thought of laying on a bed with Florence felt like betraying that palpable and transparent feeling that his heart started to shelter.

But when the things went out of hand and a part of him realised that he was running after a mirage, he invited Florence to distract his mind. But again his efforts didn't bore any fruits!

The same longing for that merciless enchantress bound him. And the night when he saw her again in the woods, he realised that she was more than just a mirage and was worth pursuing.

Florence or any woman for that matter could entice him but the flames of his desires could only be quench by one woman that not only him but also his beast coveted for.

Ruth!