Whispers Of The Heart

A smile appeared on Jace's face after setting up his new apartment, he had used all his 15 months savings working as a waiter in an Italian restaurant. He sat on his single couch feeling contented and proud he could finally afford a home and leave his friend's home, even though the house needed some repairs.

"Independence finally!" He screamed in excitement as he came out to the balcony of his home. He gazed at the mansion just a few seconds walk from his apartment. The imposing structure belonged to the Raynolds family, a very wealthy, powerful and influencial family in town.

Jace looked at the property with so much determination to be successful and own lots of businesses and mansions.

...Jace is a very diligent and dedicated individual, whose upbringing in a very poor family has Instilled In him a very strong work ethic and a yielding resolve. His poor parents did a whole life of odd part time jobs to make ends meet and pay for his school fees and that of his younger brother. After high school, he couldn't go ahead to college because his father git really sick and they couldn't afford to pay his tuition in college so he had to start working at an Italian restaurant, where he saved money to pay for his apartment and still feed. Despite his financial challenges, he is very optimistic and has an unshakable belief in the possibility of a better life.

THE RAYNOLDS MANSION

Unlike Jace's simple and humble abode, the mansion of the Raynolds is majestic and elegant, with a sprawing garden, ornate gates and luxurious cars. The Raynolds family is known in the country side for their wealth, affluence and social standing, but also for the aloofness and the mysterious air that surrounds their private lives.

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One cool evening, Jace who was fixing a broken fence in his yard notices a you g pretty lady in the garden of the Raynolds mansion.

She is Lexa, Lexa Raynolds. The Raynolds only child. A radiant, beautiful princess, her fair spotless and flawless skin, her Golden-brown hair bounces slightly on her shoulders as she wonders around in the garden with a book in her hand.

Lexa, a final year college student on summer break seems out of place in her own home. She's always lonely, as she's often seen either wondering the garden with a book or playing with her dog. Her presence is really a stark contrast to the cold, imposing mansion and Jace is immediately captivated by her.

On a bright Saturday morning, three days after Jace took notice of Lexa, Lexa runs around cheerfully as she made to catch her dog Max, a three months old golden retriever puppy.

"Max!!" Lexa screams and chases after it as it runs out of the garden playfully and ran towards Jace's apartment, jumping and barking playfully at Jace who just got back from his morning jog. He picks up the dog and let it lick his hand as he smiles at it.

"Thank you so much, I'm really sorry for the trouble, Max here is really naughty, he lives running off everytime to play" Lexa said to Jave with a slight smile before taking Max from him.

" It's okay, no need for apologies, you really have a very lovely dog though" Jace replied shyly.

"I'm Jace by the way, I live here" he added almost immediately.

"Oh!, I'm Lexa,well that's my home" she responded pointing to the mansion.

"I'll see you around then" Jace said and Lexa smiled while walking back to her home.

LEXA'S POV..

Back inside her luxurious home, sitted at the edge of her king's sized beg, she gazes around her room for the 100th time. She smiled as her man wanders back to the guy she met earlier outside the mansion.

"Jace...oh yes Jace, that's his name" she unconsciously said aloud.

"Hmm... who's Jace?" a middle aged woman said coming in after knocking severally and getting no response.

"I've been knocking for almost a year but got no response, seems your lost in thoughts again" she continued, dropping LEXA'S launch on her reading table.

"Well, I'm sorry Nanny Dianne..." Lexa pouted.

"So who's Jace?"

"Ohh, alright I'm gonna tell you" Lexa said smiling beaminly"

Nanny Dianne is Lexa's personal help. She's been taking care of her since Lexa was 10, a pretty woman in her early 30's who Lexa is now very find of and sees as a second mom, since her biological mother is never available and doesn't believe in mother-daughter bonding.

"Max ran off today, and in the process of fetching him, I ran into this guy who caught Max and handed him to me. He's really handsome, has a nice body structure, his accent, his hair...oh my! He really has a welcoming aura...Nanny you needed to see him, so good looking and he lives close by" Lexa said smiling broadly.

"Oh, now that's interesting, Love at first sight is that it?. But you really have to be careful my dear, your aware of your family background and how your parents can be right? especially your dad, you can't be seen hanging around just anyone and you know your dad always regard people not in his standard as complete"low lives" so you really have to be careful alright?" Her nanny cautioned with a smile.

"Oh, I'm quite aware nanny, just that I'm 20 and I have no friends, I'm always indoors either reading, talking to you or playing with Max, it's really boring you know" she sighed.

"I understand dear, now hurry and eat before it gets cold. I'll be back when your done eating" Dianne said before shutting the door.

Lexa laid on her bed reflecting on her life, and really wished her parents were not this wealthy, maybe....just maybe she could have been free to do whatever she likes, go wherever she likes and not been locked up like a prisoner in her own home. Maybe she wouldn't have to do a whole lot to please her parents, maybe she wouldn't have to speak Queen's English, learn and memorize different languages, live a very luxurious yet lonely life. Maybe she would have been able to make her own decisions herself and not her parents deciding for her because 'thats what's best for the family's "reputation", maybe she would have been able to love whoever, whenever without been afraid of what her parents will say, what her parents business associates will say and what the people will say about the only daughter of the powerful Raynolds having an affair with a pauper...she thought, barely touching her food..

It's been a week since Jace and Lexa coincidentally met, Jace on the other hand goes out early to work and arrives late at night after closing from his afternoon shift at the hard ware store. He glanced at Lexa's mansion while cleaning his house, and froze for a second as he notices a man in his late 50's, white hair and very huge , looking so stern and imposing. He could see the man yelling at a guard who's face was down. Jace's heart skipped the moment the guard got slapped by the huge man and fell to his knees. That man definitely is Don Raynolds, Lexa's father and the owner of the Raynolds mansion. He immediately understood the unknown tension he felt knowing that Don Raynolds is a man of Affluence and Class and someone like him will never be welcomed by her family.