A MAZE OF GREED

After the dinner, everyone devoured the special pie that Mrs Green had made as a dessert. Now the previous thick tension had thinned considerably.

Thea sighed in relief that Rees had not brought up the topic of their fight. Yes, he was adamant about ignoring her the whole time but he had made sure that her parents didn't notice it.

Ruth was glad that now she had got some time to talk with Rees. She was sure that she would convince him somehow and clear all the misunderstandings between Thea and Rees.

Edwin, on the other hand, was experiencing a weird mixture of emotions. He was sure that he would manage to convince Mr and Mrs Green for allowing Rees and Thea more time. He could be very persuasive if he wanted.

But apart from that, he was thrilled to meet Ruth again. This was only the fourth time that he had met her and the first time that they had a normal time with each other.

Everything about that woman intrigued him but confused him also. His mind and heart were engaged in a dual and he couldn't decide who amongst them should win. During his entire existence, he had never faced such a situation.

It was all unfamiliar yet exciting for him.

Watching the smiling faces of Mr and Mrs Green with their daughter and Rees had made him realise what a family meant. Tonight had opened up his old wounds stitches by stitches.

He couldn't recall a single time when someone had asked him if he liked the food or filled his plate till his stomach was about to explode.

He had the finest cooks at his fingertips to prepare anything that was palatable to his tongue but even then he always felt something missing in it. He had never complimented his cooks for their cooking because though the food tasted like heaven... it was not!

A pang of pain crossed his chest when Mr Green patted his arm or back during the conversations when Mrs Green couldn't stop praising him for not his wealth, name or power but for who he was as a person.

The way both of them welcomed a stranger like him in their house wholeheartedly was something that he had never experienced before.

'Would they have done the same if then knew my identity?' He had asked that question to himself at the beginning of the night.

But as the night proceeded, the clouds of all his doubts cleared. They would have done the same even if they knew his true identity. He had got his answer eventually.

Edwin had not met Rees's parents personally but he was sure that they were as good as Thea's parents. Because they had raised their only son into a loyal, brave and compassionate fine young man.

Rees was a lucky man!

The time flew by and it was already time to take a leave. But Mrs Green suggested that it was not that late in the night and the young ones should go for a walk.

Maybe it was an aftereffect of Edwin's magical words.

Rees was about to protest but one warning from Edwin through the mind link made him shut his mouth. With confused minds and emotional hearts, the two young pairs stepped outside into a cold night.

Before that, both Ruth and Edwin had to promise Mr and Mrs Green about their next visit.

"Edwin, please come again to meet us. You are just like Rees for us. And Ruth, how many times I have told you to come to spend your weekly holiday here?! You can't always keep yourself locked up in that room. God only knows how you spend your time alone!" Mrs Green said to both of them.

Edwin watched how Ruth's face morphed into trouble hearing it. But she soon put a smile on her face and said, "I will, Mrs Green. Thank you!"

"Next time when you come, we will do some gardening together and I will teach you to prepare my special pie that you loved." Mrs Green was excited.

Giving the lady her genuine smile, Ruth promised. "Yes, I would love that!"

"And Edwin, next time when you will come, we will have some good men's time together. Right Rees?" Mr Green looked at both men expectantly.

"Of course, Mr Green. Now we should take a leave. Good night!" Edwin waved at Mrs Green who looked sad seeing him go.

The crisp cold wind hit Ruth's face and the hairs on her body stood up. After giving a meaningful look to Thea, she picked up her pace to match it with Rees's.

Rees was aware of her futile attempts of striking a conversation with him so to save her from the efforts, he asked, "Are you cold?"

Ruth looked up at his face expectantly, but disappointment greeted her as he walked facing straight.

'Does he hate me so much that he doesn't want to even look at me?' The thought dampened her mood and her fight with him that happened in the morning resurfaced in her mind.

But this was not the time to think about that. "No... I am... fine. Are you?" She mentally facepalmed her for asking such a lame question. But she had to say something to keep the conversation going.

"No" Came his monosyllable answer.

After a minute of silence, Ruth tried again. "So, about what Mr and Mrs Green asked. Erm... Thea... she didn't mean it, you know about not marrying-?" The words remained stuck in her throat and her eyes widened in fear.

The fierce look on Rees's face caught her by shock.

Rees halted in his steps and turned to Ruth with stern eyes. "Are you here to present a case of your best friend? Because if you are then I don't want to hear a word from you."

His loud voice made Thea worried and she was about to run to stand by Ruth's side when a warm hand caught her by the elbow.

Edwin shook his head and that made Thea rooted to her spot.

"Why? Is it because you don't think a low life like me don't have any right to say anything in your personal matter?" Ruth glared at Rees but the slight tremble of her voice gave away the pain that she harboured in her chest.

Rees gave her an unbelieving look. "You are still not over the morning's misunderstanding?"

"It was not a misunderstanding. And I am not here to talk about that. I want to talk about you and Thea. She is my best friend and I-"

"And what about me?"

Ruth stopped talking looking at him in confusion. "What?"

"What about me? What am I to you?" Rees's brown orbs stared directly into her hazel ones under the light from the street lamp on the roadside.

"I- you... um..." Ruth was caught off-guard with his question and hence stuttered with her answer.

Rees scoffed. "Don't bother answering that. It's always about you and your best friend, isn't it? Has either of you ever thought about me? Have you ever imagined yourself in my shoes?"

Ignoring the hurt in Rees's voice, Ruth said, "Rees, don't put blame on us. You are the one who acts weird. You are hiding something from Thea. We both have seen you changing the colour of your eyes. You suddenly get lost in some strange trance that scares her, us.

And when she tried to question you, you always use the trust card. Is this fair to her?"

Rees gave a long look to Ruth and she couldn't bear the vulnerability in his brown orbs. With every passing moment, her heart ached for the man who considered her as his friend.

But she continued, "Why did you lie then Rees. You told me in the woods that you came looking for me because Thea informed you about my whereabouts. But she didn't! Then why did you lie to me? What was you doing in the woods that night? Do you have any answers?"

Rees clenched his fists for he knew that Ruth would ask this sooner or later. "I... can't tell you anything."

Giving an incredulous look to him, she pointed her finger at him. "This is it! This is what you always do Rees... to Thea, to me and maybe to everyone around you. If you think that you are not wrong and we should understand you then answer these questions first."

Her chest heaved up and down, her heart thudding fast against her chest. Edwin and Thea stood on their spot watching them taking it all out.

After some moments of stare down between Rees and Ruth, Rees opened his mouth.

"You are also like them. Maybe I made a mistake by trusting you and thinking that you will accept me as your friend. But clearly it didn't happen at all. You can't understand me. Never!"

With that said he stormed out of there not before giving a broken yet angry look at Thea.

"Rees!" Thea cried but he didn't stop. Helplessly she turned to see Edwin who had a passive face.

"Please let me go after him." She pleaded.

He slowly turned his face to look at her and then said, "you should be walking along with him hand in hand and not running behind him, Thea!" He released her from his hold.

Thea looked at Edwin a moment longer and the gravity of his words slowly seeped into her mind and soul.

"You are right! I should walk along with him hand in hand."

Without wasting more time, Thea ran in the same direction in which Rees had walked away leaving only stunned Ruth and mysterious Edwin behind.

Ruth staggered back, treacherous tears rolled down her eyes. But before Edwin's hand tried to catch her, she stopped him showing her palm. There was no chance that she was letting such a squalid minded man touch her even in her vulnerable state.

His outstretched hand turned into a fist, so tight that his knuckles turned white. Seeing that she was too distracted to notice anything, he immediately contacted Rees through the mind link. His eyes stared in nothingness and turned darker from his natural cerulean blue to dark blue.

~"Talk to her and this time, don't lie. I will handle everything else. I am taking Ruth home."~

After that, he closed his mind link and turned towards Ruth.

"Allow me to get you home, Ms Moore."