A MAZE OF GREED

Ruth felt her eyes getting murky as she neared the manor but she couldn't let that know to anyone while Florence kept dragging her mercilessly towards the front door of 'the great manor'.

'Oh God! Please protect me!' Her heart intoned the pray repeatedly.

Florence took a right turn instead of entering the front door of 'the great manor' and after walking through the green landscape they reached an intersection of stone-paved paths where the garden was situated.

Florence paused when she saw a servant named Fannie walking by.

"Fannie!"

Fannie was surprised to see Florence in the heart of 'the great manor'. Her eyes instinctively searched around for any observers.

"Florence? What are you doing here?"

Ruth narrowed her eyes when she felt that her voice was familiar to her ears. She tried to think where she had heard it.

"I am here to meet Young Master!"

Florence's straightforward words made Ruth's heart stop for a moment.

She gasped dramatically. 'Young Master? As in Edwin O'Dell? How does Florence know him and what business she is having with him?' Ruth tried to ponder over it but her brain couldn't help but come up with only one possibility.

'Is he the same man that Florence... oh no!'

Fannie's face changed so did her mood when she heard Florence.

"I don't think it's possible for you to meet him, right now." The tone that Fannie used made Ruth shot up her eyebrows.

She clearly heard an underlined jealousy in the maid's voice but couldn't understand why a mere servant would act this way.

"It is urgent, Fannie! I can't wait. If it was not then I wouldn't have come here in the first place." Florence was not ready to give up.

"Why do you want to meet him, Florence? Isn't it enough that you have him whenever you want?" Fannie cast away the pretence of courtesy, her eyes glared at Florence.

Ruth felt disgusted at the fact that these two women were fighting over a man who might have dozens of others at his fingertips.

She just wanted to disappear in the thin air and not be a part of whatever was bound to happen with Florence's adamant nature. She only knew how her heart yearned for Thea.

-"Just maintain some distance with her, ok?"- Thea had warned her only yesterday and Ruth only prayed that Thea's other words to not came true.

If Thea was here then she would have definitely saved Ruth from the clutches of her misfortune. Alas!

"I want to settle some unfinished business with him. Now, are you going to tell me where he is or should I take it upon myself to find him?" Florence challenged that made Fannie pursed her lips.

After a minute of a staredown between the two, Fannie answered, "Young Master is in the meeting with the lord. I don't know how much time they will take. It's better if you leave right now before anyone from the family notices you or-"

"I will face the consequences if anyone sees me. You don't have to worry yourself about that. Just tell me where should I wait for him."

With a clenched jaw, Fannie called another maid and told her to take Florence to the guest chamber of the office building where the meeting was occurring.

"Come on, Ruth!"

Ruth held Florence making her halt in her step. "Florence, I- I think you should go alone and I will wait here till you finish."

Florence was about to argue but then thought otherwise and giving a nod she left to follow the other maid.

Fannie threw daggers at Florence's back, unable to contain her resentment for the woman who had stuck to her Young Master like a leech.

Then she realised that she had another company there. "Ruth? Who are you? New in the business? I haven't seen you before."

Ruth fisted her palms at her sides trying her best to control her anger.

"I am Florence's neighbour and... friend. And NO, I am not involved in the business!" Irritation dripped from her every word no matter how polite she tried to sound.

"Then why are you here with her?"

"I just came because she asked me to. And I don't have any idea what unfinished business she has with... him." Ruth answered Fannie's unrevealed question.

Sparing another curious glance at Ruth, the maid left not bothering to tell her where she could wait for Florence.

Ruth didn't mind her impolite behaviour as she didn't expect anything less from the arrogant servant of the arrogant family.

She had deliberately avoided going with Florence for two reasons. First, she didn't want to be an awkward spectator of whatever Florence had in her mind. And second, she didn't want to face her tormentor.

'What if he recognised me? Will I be punished? Did he saw my face that night?' Her hand slowly raised to touch her shoulder as she remembered how Edwin tried to pull her by her dress and the poor fabric ripped.

She shut her eyes tightly to get rid of that memory and breathed slowly. Deciding not to entertain such fearful thoughts, she scanned her surroundings curiously.

That night she couldn't get a chance to discover this place properly and thus failed to admire its beauty. But now she had a chance to observe her surroundings keenly.

The intersection of paths where she stood led to various quarters and buildings of 'the great manor'.

The central area where all the paths met had a large fountain with a statue of a woman. The white marvel was carved out in such a details that it felt like the statue would bring to life and the woman would step out of the fountain in any minute.

The clear water that gushed out of the fountain and then fell into the pond had a soothing sound that she could hear for hours.

The large pond around the fountain had lotuses floating on the water. The area around the fountain had a beautifully landscaped garden with various trees and plants of fruits, flowers and some were only for the sake of aesthetics.

To the left of her side was a separate section where two maids were busy watering the various kinds of vegetables.

She saw a team of gardeners working on shaping the row of Buxus and cloud trees with various tools. Watching at their skilful hands doing wonders on the trees, she was fascinated as she had never seen something like that before.

Curious little thing that she was, Ruth walked in that direction.

"Excuse me!"

One of the men turned to look at her face. "Yes?" He was confused to see an unfamiliar face.

"Umm... I am just curious about your work. If you don't mind then can you tell me more about it?"

The man looked surprised at the woman. This was not a common sight for him when someone would take interest in his work.

He was about to open his mouth when another voice interrupted him.

"The technique is called Topiary."

Shocked, Ruth looked up at the owner of the voice and she sucked a deep breath to see no one other than Rees.

"R-Rees?"

"I didn't know that you are this much interested in learning about Topiary that you would come all the way to 'the great manor'."

Ruth cringed visibly at his sarcastic tone. She didn't expect to meet him, rather the fact that he worked as a personal bodyguard of Edwin O'Dell slipped from her mind when she was brought here unexpectedly and unwillingly.

Rees's brown eyes bored into her hazel ones and she felt like shrinking under their intensity.

"Have nothing to say, I see!" He commented while walking towards her.

She fidgeted with her dress while gathering her turbulent thoughts.

"I- I ..." She stuttered.

As soon as Rees came to stand in front of her, the man who was working on the trees, bowed his head in respect to which Rees acknowledged by a curt nod.

Ruth didn't know that Rees had such a respectable position in 'the great manor'.

'Maybe working as a personal bodyguard of a O'Dell family member was a more prestigious job than what I thought.' Ruth thought while watching everyone in their near surroundings acknowledging Rees's presence.

In his uniform, he looked nothing less than a true warrior. The uniform hugged his body well to show his muscles prominently. The aura around him was way different from the friendly one that he held when he was not on the duty.

He looked powerful and intimidating.

"Come with me!"

It was not a polite request. It was an order that she obediently followed. Rees didn't wait to look if she followed him or not because he knew that she had no other choice.

They walked a few feet away from the gardners and stopped. After making sure that they had privacy, Rees turned towards her crossing his arms over his broad and wide chest.

The look on his face was an indication that it was a calm before the storm. All that Ruth could do was to wait patiently to let Rees open his mouth while avoiding his narrowed eyes.