One Night Love Affair *COMPLETED*

Chapter Twenty Three

IN ALL THE WILD SCENARIOS, Lana had thought of over the years, the one where James is drunk in her own house, because he was invited over for dinner by her brother, was not one of them. But even in an ideal scenario, where James is supportive and understands, the-imaginary-situation-Lana had a difficult time professing the truth about the lies.

'How do you tell a drunk person, why you lied about your name? And all the lies that came after that? And the big one, that caused it all?' Lana wished she had an answer or at least a clue on how to begin explaining.

"Sooo..."

The silence was killing her, but she didn't know what to say.

"So? SO?!!? This is all you have to say Vivian? Or should I call you Lana?"

The moment the word 'So.' left her mouth she shouldn't said it. The explosive reaction that blew a tornado of anger her way, was threatening to finish her off before she even got a chance to fight for herself.

"That's right. LANA! Not Vivian. Lana." James's mood switched in a moment, and from an angry, frustrated man, he became just a frustrated, lovesick man, pinning over the lost love. Or at least this is how his last words came out. "You are Lana Reed. Not my perfect Vivian. You're just some stranger who lied to me so they could get a piece of me, didn't you? You used me, just like everyone else does!"

But the lovesick man didn't stay long, because now, James was practically spiting his words at Lana, pure hatred all meant just for her.

"James, please. Let me explain..."

Small plea came out of Lana's mouth. But it wasn't enough.

"Seriously? Do you really think I want to talk to you? I don't even want to see you. You disgust me. I can't believe you lied to me, just to you could sleep with me. And you know what? The sad part is, I fell for you. I was looking for you all this time. All this six years, I hired a detective after detective so they could find you."

Lana heard the words James was saying, but she just couldn't understand them.

'Looking for me? He was actually looking for me? If I meant so much to him, why did he go on and got married?'

The million-dollar question formed in Lana's mind. The one she had no real answer to, unless James told her. But she lied about her real name, why would he told her anything?

"Do you have any idea how happy I was when I noticed you at that bakery? I was over the moon. I finally found Vivian, the one woman who made me forget all the crap I have t deal with, because my last name is Cornell." Frustration was clear on James's face, in the way he brushed through his hair, making it all messy. "Only to find out, the same day, that she's not actually the woman I thought she was, but just some fraud. And I want nothing to do with her."

If it was possible, James would walked right out the living room, thinking: 'I've made my point, now this lying bitch can go and rot in hell, but I'm getting out of this stupid ranch!' But he was drunk and he gave up drinking and driving a long time ago. Or at least Lana hoped he did. After all, she wasn't exactly following his every move.

"Look, I get that you are mad, angry, frustrated, even disappointed. But you can't just yell at me like that, and expect me not to defend myself. I admit, what I did was wrong. Not telling you my real name, lying about who I am..." Lana threw her hands in the air, admitting defeat. "I screwed up, ok? But you were supposed to only be a one night thing. My one night love affair, to tell to my grandkids when they ask me if their granny ever lived a grand adventure."

The couch was the closest thing to where Lana was standing, and she felt so exhausted, she just fell right into it. The fight she was willing to put up with James seemed so trivial, unimportant right now. Because it truly didn't matter if she was lying then. It didn't matter that she was lying to him this morning. All that matter is, that her son is safe and sound, sleeping in his bed upstairs.

'But for how long?' A small voice asked Lana in the back of her mind. 'Will anything be the same after you tell him?'

"I was young, naive and selfish. I didn't think and I did the wrong thing. All in all, it wasn't supposed to go down like this. I... I only wanted to have some fun before I had to return back home to Reedville."

Silence fell between them as each got lost in their thoughts.

"I get it. I mean I'm not exactly happy about the lying, but I get why you didn't tell me then. But when you saw me today, when we talked... You never said a word. Why? Can't you just tell me what did I do to deserve all this?"

Even though Lana didn't know it at first, it was a rhetorical question, the one where no answer is right, and no answer is wrong, because you don't really expect an answer. But not looking at her eyes, but at a random point in the wall, while and after posing the question, told her all she needed to know - He fell for the fantasy of one night.

Six years ago, the moment James said 'Hello!' Lana was a goner. Vivian, the person she created to stay emotionally unattached, was her way of being the person she wanted to be, without actually putting herself out there. Not to mention it was a great acting practice.

What Lana didn't count on was she'd fall for James. And she fell hard. But the moment she heard he was getting married, she knew she had to get over him, or die trying. Up until this morning, she was doing really good at that promise.

"I guess karma really is a bitch!"

The subject about what was whose fault was kicking too close to home, so Lana tried to change the subject of conversation with the first topic that came into her mind. Sadly, that wasn't the best idea.

"James, why did you get married so quickly after you... moved to New York?"

She put everything on the line, and risked the small, unspoken truce that came after they both vented out their anger. And when he didn't answer right away she tried her best to take the question back.

"I mean you don't really have to tell me."

'You liar, you know you want him to tell you. It's the one thing that you're dying to know.' Lana's conscious was messing with her head, making it hard to concentrate on what she really wanted to say, and what she was supposed to say in a situation like this.

"What I want to say is, only tell me, if it's OK with you."

The slight stutter and shakiness of her voice brought smile on James's face. A genuine smile that had made millions of girls fall on their bee-hinds and exclaim: 'I'M IN LOVE!'

"It's OK. It's not like my wife didn't do everything, but screamed it from the Empire State Building to make it a part of public knowledge."

"No, really, you don't have to tell me..."

He cut her off before she could say one more shaky word of apology.

"I want to. My wife's side might be public knowledge, but mine isn't. Truth is important to me and I want you to know the truth, Lana Reed. "

'Lana Reed.' Her name and the last name that didn't quite fit together anymore.

"Actually, it's Lana Jones. Reed was my stepfather. We never really hit it off, so I use my mother's maiden name. It's a long story, really."

James took a seat on the couch next to her and looked her in the eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Lana Jones. I'm James Cornell."