Prologue.

Prologue

The boy stood at a bus stop. He has been waiting for close to two hours but the side of town where he lived with his sick mother, nothing ever works including the bus.

He clutched an old picture in his left hand and a little tattered backpack in the right with the few shirts he had inside threatening to fall over the muddy ground.

He had a big old grin across his face like he could barely contain the joy he was feeling and he whistled on occasion and both his feet alternated as he tapped to the beat of the music he whistled.

He couldn't be more than fifteen years of age or maybe younger. The boyish and childish face he possessed made it impossible to tell his real age.

The boy looked around hoping to share the news with someone but the only person in the bus stop was an old man, wrinkled with age and snoring like a panda.

The boy kept his news to him.

Soon, the bus came and he found a sweet spot at the back of it, where he could be happy without the interruption of passengers getting on or getting off of the bus.

By his left was an older woman, she looked kind enough to him. Maybe he could share his news with her.

"Good afternoon Miss. I am going to the city!" The boy's grin broadened as he conveyed his message. The older woman looked a little put off.

"Ok-ay?"

It sounded more like a question than an acknowledgement yet the boy continued.

"I am going to find my father. I haven't seen him since mama left the city before I was born" the boy pressed the backpack into himself and hugged it.

The older woman now seemed fairly interested in his tales.

"Is he expecting you?" She asked him.

The boy shook his head the same time he whispered "No but he can't turn me away either. Fathers aren't supposed to, right? And I had to sell most of my belongings to make this trip"

"Oh dear" The older woman murmured.

The boy opened the old backpack he was holding and he fished out some papers and handed it over to the woman.

The woman hesitated before she collected them.

"They are letters from my teachers at school testifying of my good behavior and good grades. Did you know I recently led my school mate to a mathalon and we won! I listen to mama and I don't talk back to my elders. I go to church consistently and I plan to be a medical doctor in the future. I am a good boy, Papa can't turn me away, can he?" The boy looked at the woman for answers, his eyes brimming with hope.

At last, the woman squeezed a tiny smile at him. She hated that the boy's heart might get broken.

"Of course not, he would be a fool to turn you away" the woman told him at last.

The boy smiled widely and took back his recommendation letters.

"Does your mother know you are making the trip to find your father?"

The boy shook his head "Mama is too sick to notice but that's okay. After I reconcile with Papa, he will take her to a good hospital and she will get better. You see, I followed the golden rule mama taught me"

"What golden rule?" The woman asked him.

"Mama said do good to others and good things shall come to me. It's a very good rule" the boy replied.

The bus stopped and the older woman stood up "This is where I alight, boy. Good luck"

The boy smiled at her. The woman turned to leave but she stopped and pressed something into his hand.

"Buy yourself a fine cap, boy. You must be smartly dressed too" the woman got down from the bus.

The boy opened his palm and it was money. He quickly pressed his head out of the window and yelled thank you at the woman. She smiled and waved to him as the boy continued his journey.

Soon the boy was standing in front of a large gate wearing a bogus red cap he bought from a vendor. He knocked on the gate.

"Hello sir, I am here to meet Mr. Barrington…Mr. Jim Barrington" the boy told the gateman.

"Who are you?"

"I am his son. Jim Barrington is my father"

The boy could see the surprised look on the gateman's face but he opened the gate wider.

"Come inside, kid. Sit here and don't move an inch. I will get the big boss for you"

The boy sat there on a stool holding his bag tightly. He knew his father was rich but he didn't know he was this rich. His curiosity got the better of him as he looked around the big white mansion.

The mansion stood there as if the surrounding nature had embraced it, that the flora flowed within it as much as around it. For the architect must have loved trees so much that there was a mighty oak in the center, centuries old, and the great house had been built around it.

As he traveled the mansion with his eyes, the boy saw her for the first time. She was wearing a yellow flowering print shirt and white shorts. She was sitting on the swing.

The boy's stare lingered and his breathing a little louder now.

He took a step and another step and another, her face and smile enchanting him with every step he took.

She had a sculpted figure which reminded the boy of a picture in his English text book. She had a burnished complexion and a pair of arched eyebrows that looked down on sweeping eyelashes.

She smiled at him as he came closer revealing a set of dazzling white teeth.

It was easy. She was the most beautiful girl the boy had ever seen.

When he came close enough, he stared at her.

"Hi" her voice was bubbly

"Hello" the boy waved shyly at her.

The girl chuckled "You are staring. It's rude"

"I am sorry. It's just… that I haven't seen anyone like you before" The boy answered truthfully.

It made the girl blush "Thanks, I think? I hope it's a good thing?"

"It is. You are…" the boy's voice trailed off.

"What? You can tell me"

"You are beautiful" the boy murmured quickly before he lost his courage.

"Oh…thanks"

The boy suddenly realized that the girl might be Jim Barrington's daughter and therefore his sister. He took a step back. It was bad to fall in love with one's sister, even the boy knew that.

"What is it?" The girl asked him. She had noticed his movement.

"A-are you Jim Barrington daughter?"

"No…I am Powell" The girl answered.

"What's a Powell?"

The girl laughed out loud "I mean, my family is the Powell family. My name is Eden…Eden Powell and you are?"

"My name is Asher…Barrington" the boy decided at the last minute to use his father's name.

"That's weird…I didn't know Liam had a brother"

"Liam?" The boy asked.

"Liam Barrington…you should know, he is your brother if you are Jim's son" The girl told him.

"Is Liam a good person? Will he make a good brother?" The boy asked her.

"I don't know but I have to believe that he is a good person" the girl answered.

"Why?" The boy's curiosity got the better of him.

"Because, we are going to be married when we turn nineteen"

The boy's heart stopped temporarily. It can't be true, can it? Before he could ask another question, the gateman yelled his name.

"I have to go" he murmured and took off.

"Will I see you again?" The girl asked him.

"Yes"

When he got to the gate, the gateman opened it and asked him to leave.

"What about my father?" The boy asked in panic.

"Sorry kid. The boss is busy… maybe next time"

"But I am his son!"

"What do you want me to say, kid? He doesn't want to see you. He asked me to give you this money" the gateman gave him a wad of cash. The biggest Asher had ever seen.

"But I don't want money. I need my father. I got good grades and I am a good boy. He will like me…please"

"Jim Barrington doesn't like anyone but himself. Sorry kid"

The gate was shut with him outside. The boy's face was filled with tears and his spirit shattered but he strained to catch a glimpse of the girl once again through the peep on the gate and he did.

It would have made the boy happy except she was holding hands with another boy.

The boy turned and he fled. He went to the bus stop and he entered one.

When he got home, his mother was gone. He didn't even get the chance to say goodbye.

And as he grieved the loss of everything dear, all he could think about was Eden….Eden Powells because as rare as love was, it was love at first sight for Asher.