A MAZE OF GREED

The two women who were in their early twenties waited patiently while the old man sat thinking deeply with his brows creased in the middle and the wrinkles on his face prominent than ever.

The other three pairs of eyes waited anticipatedly for they were also excited to know the man's decision just like the before mentioned two women.

Ruth's heart beat fast against her chest while Thea's confidence started to quiver with the passing time. Mr Cooper didn't expect this situation and thus was confused.

Ruth slowly lifted her hand to wipe a drop of sweat that rolled down her right temple. Her large hazel coloured eyes watched the man expectantly while her heart chanted a pray to God.

Finally, after giving a good thought to Thea's words, Mr Cooper's eyes again found the face of two women, one of them was on the verge of crying and another was ready to snap at him.

"Why do you think I should hire you in Thea's place?" He directed his question to Ruth.

He raised his hand to stop Thea when she was about to open her mouth to answer on behalf of her friend.

"I am talking with Ms Moore here. I run a successful business because I give people what they pay for and that is quality of work. I want to make sure that I am hiring a deserving person who would not make me regret my decision."

Thea closed her mouth as she knew her employer was right. She cast an encouraging look at Ruth and hoped that she would not mess up with the only chance she had.

Ruth inhaled slowly and began, "You are right Mr Cooper. You have every right to make sure that you hire a deserving person to work in your shop. And I assure you that it is me. I am that deserving person because I have already worked with you on many occasions.

You have entrusted me with some delicate and tiresome works and I have never let you down. I know how important punctuality is for you and I have always submitted my works on time even when I had a tight timeline to follow."

Thea looked surprised at her friend as she had never witnessed Ruth being this confident to present her case in front of anyone.

"I know your way of working. I am skilled enough to satisfy your rich classed customers. I don't think you can find any one else of my skills in a short time. And I am sure that I will not give a chance to complaint." Ruth concluded.

The other women who worked in Mr Cooper's shop were awestruck at Ruth. They always considered Ruth a naive and underconfident girl and they sometimes teased her because of that. But this Ruth who talked for herself was different.

Thea's face beamed with happiness and her eyes filled with pride for her friend. Mr Cooper was very impressed, to say the least, but of course, he was not going to show it to anyone.

He again took two minutes just to show that he had not given in easily. But Ruth was confident that she was going to be hired by looking at Mr Cooper's face. It showed content.

"Ok. The job is yours but for the first two months, I am going to pay you twenty per cent less than Thea because I want to test you. Working in the comfort of one's house is very different from working professionally in a shop.

Three mistakes and you will be fired. If you manage to survive these two months you will get the same pay as Thea." Mr Cooper crossed his arms over the chest as if showing that it was his final offer through his action.

Ruth looked at Thea from the corner of her eyes. Thea gently touched her hand and nod subtly.

"Ok... I accept it." Ruth told.

"Good. Thea will train you for some days and then you can decide amongst yourself when you want to start working independently." Mr Cooper said while standing up from his chair.

Thea nodded her head in excitement. She jumped in delight while holding Ruth's hands. It made Ruth giggle as she thought that Thea looked like a small kid that had got her favourite chocolate.

"But I must warn you again about three mistakes, Ms Moore." The old man reminded.

"Don't worry, Mr Cooper. I will take care to not waste my chance." After hearing Ruth's reply he left the shop saying he had to go collect the garments from the dock of the town which were brought by the ships yesterday.

"Yesss! I told you that this job is yours. See!" Thea exclaimed loudly as soon as the shop owner left the shop.

Ruth smiled genuinely. "Yes, you were right. Thank you very much for all this Thea! I don't know how I am going to pay you back?!"

Thea rolled her eyes at her friend's formality. "That we will figure out later. Now come I will show you about the work." Thea pulled Ruth to her table.

Ruth's eyes shifted to the other three women who looked apprehensively at her. That made her feel bad but she decided to befriend all of them and work with dedication. This was her chance to change her life for good.

The remaining day passed in a blur as Thea taught Ruth about the work. During that time Ruth got a chance to talk to the other three women also. They didn't warm up towards her but everything has its own start at some point.

Ruth listened and observed everything that Thea taught her with great attention. She tried to memories every detail. She soon realised that Mr Cooper was not lying when he said that working at home was different from working professionally in a shop. While working at home she never had to face the customers directly but here in the shop, she had to attend to the customers.

Since a majority of the customers belonged to high-class society they prefered to interact with employees who were familiar with their mannerisms and etiquettes. So, Ruth had to learn those things too.

After a tiring day, finally, it was time to head back home. Ruth was so exhausted mentally that all she wanted to do was go and crawl into her bed. Her head ached with all the information that she learned today.. But her heart was happy and she couldn't wait anymore to start her work.