Next To You

The O'Reillys

Her grandmother stared at her in shock from across the dining table. Her grandfather had to leave to take a business call.

"This is what we come home to?! Not only have you been running around town with this boy, you've invited him to our important Christmas Eve party? What is wrong with you child? You've worked much too hard to throw it all away on some riffraff boy from that average school you've been wasting your time at!" Fiona was beside herself with anger. Finally, Ferguson returned, "Ferguson, talk some sense into this girl."

Ferguson looked around blankly, "what? Why?"

Fiona sighed dramatically, "you were there when Connelly told us what was going on, how could you not know what I'm talking about? Were you even listening?"

"Oh. Of course I was. Now Heather, what's this I hear about you gallivanting around with some boy? You know the rules, no dating unless we approve of the young man, and you are never to be alone with him."

"We're not dating, and I invited him for the party on Christmas Eve so you could meet him. He's not riffraff either, he's a very nice young man, I'm not throwing anything away, and I think you'd like him if you just gave him a chance," Heather protested.

Fiona glared, "absolutely not!"

"Now hold on, Fiona, I would like to meet this young man and see if he is as she says. I'd like to know who's been trying to get close to my granddaughter, he may attend the party. You may be excused now, Heather," he said firmly.

Fiona was glaring at him now, after Heather left the room, she fumed, "what was that? We need to be together in this Ferguson. If you give her an inch, she'll run with it and take everyone down with her."

"Fiona, you must be confusing our 16 year old grandchild for some type of monster. Heather is not as ruthless as you make her seem, all she asked for was for us to give him a chance. I fully intend to do so, but that doesn't mean I'll grant her permission to date this boy. Just go with it," Ferguson said gruffly.

"Very well, Ferguson, but if all hell breaks loose over it, it's on you, and you alone," Fiona returned her attention to her meal and took a long sip of her wine.

Heather called up Mya and told her everything that had been going on. Mya squealed excitedly.

"Why does all the interesting stuff happen when I'm gone? What are you going to do now that you know how your grandparents feel about all of it?" Mya felt she was personally invested in it now.

"I don't know, I just have to hope Eoin is good enough for them. Although, with the way things are looking, I don't think it's very likely. Anyway, enough about my drama, how's your trip?" Heather changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on it.

"It's fine, but to be honest, I'm kind of bored. There are a lot of cute guys here, they're just..." Mya trailed off.

"Not Ivan," Heather teased.

Mya sighed, "I know, I have a problem."

They talked a little longer, then got off the phone. Heather stared out the window as rain hit the glass. It was a dark and gloomy day, and so close to Christmas. She knew how her grandmother felt about everything, but sometimes her grandfather surprised her. He wanted to meet Eoin, that had to be a good sign, right? She walked to the library and walked over to the large table that had been placed in a corner. She had maps and astronomy books all over it, she started looking through them and making marks on the maps. It was something she did when she found a spare moment. No one else knew what she did in the library, no one had ever asked. Sometimes, she would work on it late into the night.

That night, Connelly found her fast asleep in an armchair. He got a blanket for her and covered her up, then examined the contents of the table. He left again, deep in thought.

It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Eoin had just come home from hanging out with a couple of his friends. He had called Heather that morning, letting her know they were all coming. He realized he needed to talk to them about her. He found his parents sitting at the dining room table, drinking coffee.

"I should probably let you know something about Heather, about her grandparents, they actually happen to be pretty important people," he began awkwardly.

"Of course dear, everyone is important," Andi responded as she took a sip of coffee and skimmed a newspaper article.

"No, you don't understand," he sat at the table with them and put his hand over the page she was reading, "they are very important people, high-society type. Her grandparents are the O'Reillys."

"O'Reilly? As in Ferguson O'Reilly, that big shot corporate industrialist?" David asked in disbelief.

"The very same. She keeps it to herself, because, well I'm not exactly sure why, but she wanted me to keep it a secret. So I also have to ask that you keep it to yourselves too, out of respect for Heather," he emphasized.

"Of course honey, we'll explain it to Tara and Ryan too. You should probably start getting ready," Andi finished her coffee and started straightening things up.

After Eoin left the room, David turned to Andi, "are you sure we should be doing this? He's going to have a hard enough time on his own trying to get their approval, I feel like we might complicate things."

"He'll be fine, but now we've got some reading up to do if we ever hope to have a conversation with these people, my guess is they are not at all like my grandfather. We don't want to embarrass him," Andi smiled as she took his coffee mug and carried it to the kitchen.

Finally, it was time to drive over to Heather's house. Eoin wiped his clammy hands against his slacks. He was hoping to get permission to date Heather that night, and he was nervous.

Connelly was greeting the guests and taking their coats at the door, "good evening, Mr. Flannery, I hope you and your family enjoy the festivities."

Eoin was surprised to hear him speak directly to him. Usually, when Connelly was around, he only spoke to Heather. They were shown to the ballroom, where a huge tree stood in the center, beautifully decorated and lit up, surrounded by tables of food.

David looked around and whistled, "they really go all out, don't they?"

"Why shouldn't they? Look how immaculate this place is," Andi whispered and stared up at the ceiling and chandelier.

There were people everywhere, Eoin just wanted to find Heather. He finally spotted her at a grand piano. Some children of the other guests had gathered around her to sing Christmas carols with her. Tara and Ryan had joined her side. She greeted them cheerfully.

Andi smiled knowingly, "the children just seem to gravitate to her, don't they?"

Eoin nodded, "she has a special vibe that appeals to them I guess, I can't say that I blame them."

Andi patted his shoulder, "I'm happy for you dear, have fun now, those hors d'oeuvres are calling to me."

He smiled in amusement as he watched his mother drag his father to the buffet. He then returned his attention back to Heather. She apparently had been filling in for the professional pianist that was hired, who had now returned.

She spotted Eoin and waved, then made her way through the crowd to reach his side, "hi, I'm glad you could make it."

"Me too. It looks and smells amazing in here, did you help put all this together?" he smiled affectionately at her.

She blushed and shook her head, "no, actually. My grandmother hired someone to plan all this, that's what she usually does, and yet, it's important for me to know how to be a good hostess. Which means I have to go make rounds with all of the guests, unfortunately."

"Why's that so unfortunate?" He really was curious.

She saw Gregory walk in with his parents and cringed inside, "here comes one of the reasons why."

Gregory zoomed in on her in seconds and sauntered over to where she was standing, "hello Heather, my family and I always look forward to these events where we get to mingle with the common folk. Who's your chum here?"

Eoin knew it was a swipe instantly, and he knew this was a guy to watch out for. Heather smiled with reservation and responded politely like she was supposed to do.

"This is Eoin, a very good friend of mine from school. Eoin, this is Gregory Reynolds, he's the son of one of my grandfather's business associates," Heather said coolly.

"Oh come now, we're more than that, Heather. Silly girl, you see, Aaron, was it?"

"Eoin."

"Right, whatever, well we've actually known each other for years, 6 years to be exact. We've actually spent a lot of time with each other. There's even been the term childhood sweethearts thrown around. I'm quite interested to see where it goes. Wouldn't you agree Heather?" He said as he put an arm around her waist and squeezed her.

She pushed him away, "I absolutely do not agree. And that term is nowhere close to being true. We were forced to be around each other."

Eoin stared him down, but was relieved when Heather grabbed his hand and pulled him away from Gregory.

"I'm sorry about that, he's such a pill, he thinks he's God's gift to women, and just assumes they'll find him irresistible. I can't stand him," Heather said as she took a glass of sparkling cider from a server.

"You used to say that about me," Eoin teased, covering up his doubt.

"Yes, because I really felt that way, but Gregory is different. He puts on airs, and he really thinks he's better than everyone else. He's absolutely impossible to put up with," she handed him a glass of sparkling cider, "anyway, I won't waste anymore time talking about him, he isn't worth the trouble."

Eoin nodded and dropped the subject, then he looked around and saw an older, finely dressed couple, making their way around to all of the guests. The woman looked over at Heather and waved her over.

She sighed and finished her drink, "well, duty calls. I hope I'll get a chance to spend more time with you at some point tonight."

Eoin watched her walk away. Gregory saw her leave and purposely came over to him, "darling girl, isn't she? I can see the way you look at her. You harbor deep affections for her, yes? Where do you rank anyway? Lower middle class? Or just somewhere in the middle? You are way out of your league here. What could you possibly offer her? You'll never impress the O'Reillys, you should just give up and go home now. Take a look around you, you don't belong here."

He smiled cruelly and walked away. Eoin did look around, he noticed he and his family stood out too much. He shook his head, he couldn't believe he was even considering letting himself be influenced by someone like Gregory.

After a while, Heather brought her grandparents around to meet Eoin and his family. Her grandparents were polite, but she couldn't tell what they really thought of the Flannerys.

"These are the Flannerys, this is David and Andi, and their children, Eoin, Tara, and Ryan. David is a contractor," Heather introduced them, then turned to the Flannerys, "these are my grandparents, Ferguson and Fiona O'Reilly."

David extended his hand, "it's an honor to meet you sir, I admire your entrepreneurial mindset, you certainly know a good investment when you see one."

Ferguson was a little surprised, but shook his hand, "thank you, you have a handsome family. I understand your son has been spending time with our Heather."

Eoin extended his hand next, "yes sir, I hope we can become better acquainted with one another."

He winced inside, knowing he sounded as awkward and nervous as he felt. Ferguson O'Reilly was a very intimidating person. He had a no-nonsense attitude, and was notorious for pushing people to their limits, he expected their very best in all things. He had a sharp mind, he took risks, even if advised against it. He always came out on top though, and always proved the nay-sayers wrong. Eoin suddenly knew what he needed to do. He requested to have a word privately with them, and Heather joined them. They went into some kind of sitting room, there was a fire blazing in the fireplace.

"Mr. O'Reilly, may I be direct with you?"

Ferguson folded his arms, Eoin had his full attention, "what is it then?"

Heather braced herself, nothing prepared herself for the type of anxiety she was feeling. She hoped he knew what he was doing.

"You like to take risks, you take a chance on people, even if everyone disagrees with you. I'm asking you to take a chance on me, may I please date Heather?" he was able to say the words confidently enough, but he felt the exact opposite on the inside.

Ferguson was silent for a moment, then stroked his chin. Fiona was giving him looks, but still had a reserved smile in place.

He finally spoke after looking him over with a critical eye, "I like to make deals, as I'm sure you've heard, so here it is, you get one chance to impress me. I realize I know nothing about you, and I'm sure you are a very nice young man, but in my experiences, being nice doesn't get you very much. Here's my proposal, prove you're worthy, you impress my associates, you impress me, how you do it is of little concern to me. You have one week to prepare yourself. Fiona, see to it he gets an invitation to the masque ball. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to our guests, come along Heather."

Heather's eyes were full of worry as she looked at Eoin. Ferguson called to her again, and she had to follow him.

Fiona walked over to a stationery desk and pulled out an embellished envelope, she had a fierce expression on her face, "a word of warning, young man, these associates of Ferguson's, are very important people. If you should fail to impress them, you'll not only embarrass yourself, you'll make fools of us all, firstly and foremost, my husband. If that should happen, you'll not be allowed to see Heather again, is that perfectly clear?"

Eoin clenched his jaw, "yes ma'am."

She handed him the invitation and left him standing there. He was hit hard with the fact that his chance of succeeding was meager, and he was starting to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

A mocking voice from the shadows startled him, "you must be daft, trying to consort with these people, luckily for you, there's not a long way for you to fall."

Eoin glanced around the room, and spotted him as he stepped out from behind a tall armchair. It was Gregory again.

"If it were Shamus O'Reilly, you'd have a much easier time of it, but you had to ask Ferguson, you've really got some nerve, I'll give you that," Gregory inspected a glass of wine, then took a sip from it.

"Who's Shamus O'Reilly?" was all Eoin asked.

"Oh, why, Heather's father, of course. Not that he was much of a man. She probably told you he disappeared, but he left her here. Took his broken heart and ran off, leaving her here with the people she detests the most. Tragic, isn't it? It has left her with some serious issues, to say the least, are you prepared to handle that?" Gregory smirked.

Eoin put the envelope in his jacket and started walking out, not wanting to hear anymore.

Gregory chugged down the glass of wine and followed him, "just accept it, you're not cut out for this. She hides behind her books and grandparents to avoid dealing with people. This is all a set up for you to fail, just think about it, why else would she put you through all of this? It's because she knows you can't pull it off."

Eoin's mind was buzzing. He didn't trust Gregory, but he couldn't argue with the facts. Especially when they came from someone who had known her for years, and he seemed to know what he was talking about. He was starting to think maybe that was the real reason she couldn't stand Gregory, because he knew her too well. He didn't want to believe it though, and no matter what, he was going to follow through with his end of the deal.

Heather pulled him away from the party and brought him out to a conservatory, "Eoin, do you realize what you're doing? These people are incredibly shallow, they will chew you up and spit you out."

"Is that what you want?"

"Of course that's not what I want, why would you even think that?" Heather was confused. "I just want you to know, you don't have to do this."

"If I want to be with you, I do, that was the deal. But if I'm going to do this for you Heather, I need to know, do you really and truly want to be with me?" his expression was serious, and she could see he fully intended to go through with all of it.

Heather felt overwhelmed, but she knew her answer, "yes, I do."

He could tell she meant it and hugged her, "then I have to do this. Even if it's only to show you how important you are to me."

Before he walked off, he turned to face her again, "I'm curious though, what is with this guy Gregory? He's completely obsessed with you, did you know that?"

"Well, Hiram Reynolds, his father, is one of my grandfather's most valued and trusted associates, it is true we've spent a lot of time together, and he knows a lot about me, but you shouldn't buy into everything he says, he embellishes and twists things around to his advantage, he is a horrible person."

Heather's words had only put some of his concerns to rest, but he couldn't bring himself to ask her anymore questions. He just had to assume she'd tell him everything when she was ready to. It made him more nervous to be facing Ferguson's associates though, knowing some of them might have their own secret agenda. He kept his theories to himself though, it wasn't his place, especially if he had no type of proof.

They returned to the party. Heather had a feeling Eoin had other things on his mind, but she didn't want to pester him about it. Mya would be home the day after Christmas, so she planned to talk to her about everything that had happened this night. She stood with her grandparents as the party ended. They stood by the door and bid goodnight to everyone as they were walking out.

Before she went upstairs to her room, Ferguson stopped her, "Heather, under no circumstances are you to help this Eoin Flannery. I want to see how strong his feelings really are for you, and see if he really has what it takes to make it in our world. Am I absolutely clear?"

"Transparently, Grandfather," Heather said coldly, "I have no doubts that he can, but this world you speak of, is nothing but a state of mind, we all share the same air."

Ferguson watched her walk up the stairs, dumbfounded at such a blunt response. It angered him and awed him at the same time, and it got him thinking. To hear such profound words from her reminded him of his son, Shamus. She was becoming more like him as she was getting older, and just as strong-willed and stubborn. It was similar to the words he had said to him and Fiona, when he told them he was going to marry Milly, and again, when he said they were going to have Heather. It was difficult once it fully registered, and deep down, he knew Heather was right. He wouldn't allow it to sway him though, and he still intended to go ahead with things as planned. If only his family could understand his methods, he only conducted himself that way to do what was best for them, and if Eoin Flannery couldn't keep his end of the deal, then it would show Heather he wasn't right for her.