The House

by A. O'Connor

  “We’ll see,” he said.

  “James . . . I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while. It’s about your father.”

  His face clouded over. “What about him?”

  “Pierce has married again and they have a baby daughter.”

  “So?” He looked disinterested.

  “So now you’re an adult, it’s your choice if you want to make yourself known to him. You know why I did what I did, why I kept you away from him. But now you’re old enough to make your own decisions. If you want to make contact with him and claim your legacy, I won’t blame you for it.”

  “My legacy?”

  “You are the rightful Lord Armstrong, heir to the house and land in Ireland. I don’t want you to regret it in years to come.”

  “I won’t regret it. I don’t want the title or that house. You made the right decision all those years back, the only decision. And I stick by what you did.” He reached out and took her hand. “His life was the poorer for not having us in it.”

  “Aren’t you even – curious?”

  He looked at her, thinking of the terrible times she had suffered in her marriage andhow brave she was rearing him on her own when she had returned to London and discovered she was pregnant.

  “Not in the least. This is my life, the only one I’ve known, and the only one I want,” confirmed James.

  She squeezed his hand tightly. “I’d hoped you would say that.”

  “I don’t want to invite my father back into our lives after you went to such great lengths keeping me a secret from him.”

  “I had no choice . . . Pierce was very damaged. He was a bad husband and he would have made a terrible father. And I knew he would have fought to take you from me.”

  “I know, and you were very brave all these years bringing me up on your own.”

  “I loved every minute of it. Besides, I had a lot of help from my family, they closed rank around me. Especially my grandmother. Sometimes it was hard to believe, but I was always Louisa’s favourite.”

  “Anyway, the house in Ireland is uninhabitable, isn’t it?”

  “It suffered a terrible fire, yes,” she said, as she thought about that dreadful night.

  “Well, I don’t want the responsibility of that, thank you very much.”

  Jamespointed up at the painting Clara had done of ArmstrongHouse which hung on the wall and said, “It’s very sad. It used to be such a beautiful house.”

  Clara smiled as she looked at the painting of the house and said, “Maybe it will be again, some day.”

  If you enjoyed The House by A. O’Connor

  why not try Talk Show also published

  by Poolbeg?

  Here’s a sneak preview of chapter one.

  Chapter one - Talk Show

  Kim Davenport surveyed the television studio audience. They weren’t a hushed audience, or a respectful one. They didn’t sit in quiet concentration, carefully listening to the show’s guests before deliberation. They were the opposite. A baying mob, fired up with excitement, that would do justice to the crowds who used to sit in the ancient Roman Colosseum. And that was the way Kim liked it. The more fired up, the better. The more bloodthirsty, the better the ratings. The Joshua Green Show depended on audiences like these; confessional talk shows always did. There was no point in having people on the stage divulging their deepest darkest sins, if there wasn’t a rampant public there to offer their loud chorus of disapproval and outrage. Kim knew the formula well, it was one she had helped pioneer, and it had now brought The Joshua Green Show, and her as its producer, to fifth place in the national ratings.

  Kim leaned towards the cameraman. “Give me a close-up on Joshua when he goes on the attack.”

  The cameraman nodded with a grin.

  Kim liked to think she had discovered Joshua. He had already been working in broadcasting when she’d met him, but buried in radio on some night-time shift. When she had been searching high and low for a presenter to front her new show, she had nearly given up on finding someone in Ireland. Everyone she had interviewed had been too polished, too pleasing, too charming. She didn’t need that for her show. She needed someone who could be rough, arrogant, commanding and in control – and yet combine this with an almost pious, holier-than-thou attitude. That was a hard combination to find. She should know, as she had looked far and wide. And then she had come across Joshua with his backroom radio talk show. And voila! A star was born.

  Joshua Green walked up and down in front of the first row of audience seats, a microphone in one hand. A man of forty-two, he was fair-haired and brown-eyed and very well turned-out in a designer suit.

  He looked directly at the camera as he spoke.

  “My next guest, Glen, started dating his best friend Aidan’s sister, Donna. He broke up the relationship after a month. But recently Glen claims that Donna won’t let him go, refusing to give up the relationship. He says he’s caught in a trap, with his friend blaming him for the situation. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to Glen!”

  The audience began to clap and cheer enthusiastically as Glen walked onto the stage and sat on one of three chairs positioned facing Joshua’s empty one. Joshua generally preferred to stay on his feet, the better to prowl around his victims.

  Glen was a good-looking young man of about twenty-one with a confident air about him.

  Joshua sat on the side of the stage and looked up at Glen.

  “Right, first things first, Glen, how did you meet Donna?”

  “I suppose I’ve known her for years. She was my friend Aidan’s little sister. I never paid much attention to her really, she was just always there. Then one night me and Aidan and the gang were out in our local bar, and she kind of tagged along. I guess I always knew she had a thing for me. One thing led to another and we spent the night together.”

  “Probably not the wisest of things to do, Glen, with her being your mate’s sister – but, by the sound of it, you weren’t too fussed about that at the time.”

  “I know that now, Josh, and if I could turn back time I would. I suppose I must have liked her in the beginning. We arranged to meet again and things went from there. But it was always just a fling to me, and I thought it was just a bit of fun for her as well.”

  “When did you realise it meant more to her?”

  “I noticed pretty quickly that she was needy and clingy. So after a couple of weeks I tried to distance myself from her, but she was having none of it. It was really awkward, because of Aidan being my friend. So I couldn’t be as direct as I wanted to be with her.”

  “Don’t you think you should have been honest with her? It would have been the decent thing to do.”

  “Yeah, I do now,” Glen nodded.

  “Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, Glen. Continue.”

  “Then she started talking about us moving in together, and I was like – steady! Then Aidan warned me how much she was into me. So I told her that I wasn’t in love with her and I didn’t see us having a future. But I said I wanted us to be friends.”

  “And what happened?”

  “She threatened to kill herself.”

  The audience began to gasp. “User!” one male voice shouted.

  “And how did you deal with that?”

  “I continued to see her for a while because I was worried about her. But she became so clingy again, I had to get away from her. So I sat down one evening and told her I didn’t want to see her again, not even as a friend. I stuck to my guns this time.”

  “And that was the end of it?” asked Joshua.

  Glen shook his head and looked down at the floor. “No, she refuses to let go. She turns up at my workplace and sends me texts saying we’re meant to be together.”

  Joshua stood up quickly. “Okay, we’re now going to meet Donna and her brother Aidan, who is Glen’s best friend.”

  The audience clapped loudly, and some cheered while others jeered as Donna and Aidan walked onstage. Donna was a blonde girl of ei
ghteen with an air of fragility. Aidan was Glen’s age, and looked agitated and reluctant to be there. They sat down on the spare chairs near Glen while Joshua nimbly ran up the steps leading to the stage.

  “You’re a total liar, Glen! You’re only telling one side of the story!” Donna accused loudly.

  “No, you’re the one who’s deluding yourself, love!” snapped Glen.

  The audience began to jeer loudly.

  “Give her a chance to speak, please,” insisted Joshua, making cool-it gestures to the crowd. “What’s your side of the story then, Donna?”

  “He’s making out there was nothing between us. That he was doing me a favour going out with me. He was the one who pursued me the first night in the bar when we started seeing each other.”

  Glen sat up and glared at her. “I don’t deny I chatted you up, but I didn’t realise I was chatting up a nut-job!”

  “Watch your mouth!” warned Aidan loudly, causing the audience to jeer again.

  “Everyone shut up and give Donna a chance to say her piece!” said Joshua loudly. “Go on, Donna!”

  “The first night we were together, he couldn’t stop saying beautiful things to me!”

  “Yeah, and then I sobered up!” snapped Glen.

  “Using bastard!” shouted a loud voice from the audience as the place erupted into laughter and heckling.

  “I don’t believe you mean those things!” Donna wailed. “There was – there is – this special magic between us. If we just spent some time together you’d see we could be great together!”

  “Not in a million years!” insisted Glen.

  “Did you say flattering things to Donna in the beginning, Glen?” Joshua pressed him. “Did you lead her on?”

  “I always say flattering things to the girl I’m going out with. At the time anyway.”

  “You just totally used me then?” Donna shouted at Glen.

  “Look, you’re not even my type! Now get over it and get a life!” Glen shouted back.

  “User! User! User!” the audience began to chant.

  “You strike me as somebody who plays the field, Glen,” said Joshua. “Don’t you think it was really stupid of you to add your friend’s sister to the list?”

  Glen looked at Aidan, embarrassed. “It was a lousy move. But we live and learn.”

  “A move that may cost you your friendship.” Joshua turned to Aidan. “And, Aidan, you’re in the unfortunate position of being caught in the middle of all this?”

  “I’m just angry with both of them. I can’t believe Donna won’t accept it’s over. She’s making a fool of herself and me.” Aidan turned to Donna and spoke loudly. “Get over it, Donna. He’s not all that, you know. He’ll never settle down!”

  “But I could change that,” insisted Donna.

  “Sad cow!” a woman’s voice shouted from the audience, causing everyone to laugh.

  “You’ve had a lucky escape, Donna,” warned Aidan.

  “I wish I could get an escape from her!” said Glen, rolling his eyes.

  “Stalker!” a man hissed from the spectators, causing more people to clap loudly.

  “Everyone calm down!” demanded Joshua. “Aidan, has what happened affected your friendship with Glen?”

  “Of course it has. His ego always has to get in the way. He’s one of those guys who needs female attention and as soon as he gets it, he moves on . . .”

  “That’s not true!” Glen defended himself loudly.

  “You can be a complete asshole, Glen! And you were treating Donna as just another conquest, with no regard for me. And you’ve bitten off more than you can chew with her!”

  “Donna, Glen claims you’ve been relentlessly phoning him, is that true?” asked Joshua.

  “I rang him a few times, but he’s exaggerating,” said Donna.

  “We put a trace on Glen’s phone. . .” Joshua turned and looked at the audience, tantalising them before revealing the result of the trace. Then his voice adopted a loud accusatory tone: “You phoned him sixty times in one week, Donna!”

  “Donna!” snapped Aidan angrily.

  The audience gasped at this revelation and started heckling Donna loudly.

  “Lock her up! She a nutter!” came a call from the crowd.

  “You don’t understand!” Donna shouted, trying to be heard over the crowd’s roaring. “I’ve approached him a few times to try and talk to him. But I’m not a stalker!”

  Joshua put his hands in the air and shouted at the audience to be silent before turning his attention back to his prey.

  “Aidan, what’s she been like at home?”

  Aidan looked at her wearily. “She’s not sleeping well, or eating. She took the break-up very badly. We’ve all tried rallying around her. Plenty more fish in the sea, kind of thing, but she fell for him very hard and he shouldn’t have given her any encouragement.”

  “It all got on top of you, didn’t it, Donna?” said Joshua.

  Donna nodded while staring at the floor.

  “It was her idea to come on this show, because it was the only way she could get to talk to Glen,” said Aidan. “I don’t know what she thought would happen here today. That they would fall into each other’s arms and declare undying love?”

  Joshua had the audience under control and, as he approached Donna, his voice adopted a soft tone.

  “Look, Donna, sweetheart. I’m getting the impression here that you haven’t had much experience with relationships, and Glen was probably your first love. It sounds to me you were just another notch on Glen’s bedpost. We all have to cope with rejection, Donna, it’s part of life and it’s part of growing up.”

  Aidan put an arm around Donna as she wiped her eyes.

  “Glen, you need to lay your cards on the table now and say to Donna here, in front of the audience, in front of her brother, without being either kind or cowardly, how you feel about Donna.”

  Glen leaned forward and looked at Donna directly. “I don’t love you, I never did. I want you to stop contacting me. Now!”

  “Do you now accept your relationship with Glen is over, Donna?” pushed Joshua.

  Donna said nothing but continued to wipe her eyes.

  “Donna, now you have to admit it to yourself and everyone else so you all can get on with your lives – do you accept there is no future for yourself and Glen together?”

  “Y-y-yes,” whispered Donna.

  “Good girl. And Glen, it’s time you grew up and realised that actions have consequences. People aren’t just there to be played with to flatter your ego. You’ve had a lucky escape here with Donna, next time you might not be so lucky.”

  He turned to the audience and raised his arms.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause for Donna, Aidan and Glen!”

  The audience started to clap and whistle energetically as the closing music began to play and the show ended.

  If you enjoyed these chapters from

  Talk Show by A. O’Connor

  why not order the full book online

  @ www.poolbeg.com