A MAZE OF GREED

In the evening Ruth went to Mr Cooper's tailoring shop to meet him and ask if she could get more work with more money. Unfortunately, he had some emergency and had to leave early for his home.

Now Ruth decided to talk to her friend, Thea and now both women roamed on the streets of the Vincardine.

"So, what's going on?" Thea asked casually while jumping over a small puddle on the road.

Ruth was zoned out and didn't hear her friend's words. Thea's brows creased at her silence. "Ruth" She called.

"RUTH!"

"Uhh?" Ruth jumped in surprise at Thea's loud voice. That also made people around look weirdly at them.

"Young people these days!" An old woman, who was passing by their side, muttered loud enough to make it audible to Ruth and Thea.

Ruth's cheeks turned pink as she was not used to gaining the attention of people. But Thea, on the other hand, was the exact opposite of her. She had a fun-loving and lively personality. She did what she thought. She didn't care about the world or what people would think unlike Ruth, who always made sure not to do anything reckless.

"Thea!" Ruth hissed while averting her gaze from the onlookers.

Thea pulled up her shoulders and said with not so guilty expressions. "What? I was asking you something. It was the only way to tight the reigns of the horses of your mind." She shrugged innocently.

Ruth shook her head but couldn't fight a small grin to appear on her face. She admired this boldness of Thea's personality. Sometimes she wished if she could learn that from her.

"What were you asking?" Ruth changed the topic.

"I asked what's going on these days? We are meeting after ages!" Thea said exasperatedly.

Ruth rolled her eyes at her dramatic friend. "Oh, come on! We met four days ago. And that time doesn't count as ages for the world, Thea." she chuckled lightly.

Thea huffed. "Whatever! Who cares about the world?! I count four days as ages when I don't get to meet my good friend." She said with a mocking sad face that made Ruth giggle.

After the night of the celebration, the dynamics of their friendship had changed significantly. Thea came to see if Ruth was alright or not for the next two days after that night. She did not only apologised profusely for that reckless adventure, but she also made sure that Ruth was doing well.

Since then, they started spending more time with each other. Ruth always had a liking towards Thea, but she didn't let their friendship bud more than the formalities as she found her personality loud and bold. But that night, when Thea didn't leave Ruth alone in the manor and her caring behaviour after that made a change of Ruth's perspective about her.

They came into the garden and found a good spot to sit.

"Ruth, now you are making me worried. Is there something wrong? You look lost." Thea turned her upper body to observe Ruth's face from near, under the dim light of the lamp, that was above their head.

Ruth exhaled a shaky breath as the incident in the morning created goosebumps on her skin. She told everything that happened the whole day without missing the details. Thea listened patiently, while Ruth shared her burden with her.

Ruth stopped talking and stared at the distance in front of her. Thea felt sad for Ruth. They both lived in the same part of the town, but Thea's standard of living was pretty better than Ruth's.

Thea lived in a decent-sized house that had three rooms. Her mother worked as a maid for one family of nobles. Her father was a carpenter, and she worked in the tailor shop. As there were three people in her family and all of them were working, they had a decent lifestyle. But she had seen her parents' struggles since childhood, and she knew what it takes to live a life.

That was the reason, why Thea felt a different level of connection with Ruth as she was aware of her tragic life. Her heart ached at Ruth's plight. But what she would do?

Thea watched as a lone tear escaped Ruth's eyes. She placed her hand gently on Ruth's. "I am sorry to hear that, Ruth. I wish I could have helped you in any way." She said truthfully.

Ruth blinked her eyes several times to keep the tears at bay. Her eyes fell on her hand that was under Thea's.

"Don't feel bad for me. That is my life, and I have came to agreement with this a long time ago." There was a mixture of sadness, helplessness and anger in Ruth's voice.

"No. You are a good person, Ruth. You have never done anything bad, and the god will not let anything bad happen to you too. Just have faith in yourself. I am sure the destiny have big plans for you! You just have to wait for the right time."

Thea's encouraging words felt good to listen to, but Ruth knew that they were far from reality. Thea was her friend and she would say anything to make her feel good.

"So what have you planned to do?" Thea asked.

Another dejected sigh escaped Ruth's mouth. "I don't have any idea. But I think Mr Cooper might come to help." She said unsurely.

Thea scoffed. "Oh, please! Do you really think that old chamaleon is going to help you?"

"Thea! How can you say something like that about your employer?" Ruth said with wide eyes.

"Oh, don't give me that look! I am not putting any false allegations on him. He is a chameleon. Haven't you noticed how quickly he changes his behaviour with the rich ones and the poor ones? He is a selfish man. I don't think he would be any help to you."

What Thea said was not entirely wrong. Mr Cooper was quite famous among the nobles for the quality of the work and fashionable designs that he offered. He always took credit and profit from the hard work of the poor seamstress like Ruth and Thea. He was already not paying enough to Ruth for her work so there was a doubt that he would pay her more out of kindness.

"Hmm... you are right. But I don't see another way." Ruth said dejectedly.

They both fell in silence while watching their surroundings and the people around them. Ruth was too tired to think anymore so she gave up on thinking and sat there with a blank mind. But Thea, on the other hand, had her wheels of mind running at the full speed.

After a brief silence, Thea suddenly exclaimed while clapping her hands in excitement. "I have an idea!"