One Night Love Affair *COMPLETED*

Chapter Twenty Nine

The past twenty four hours seemed just a bad dream to James when he woke up. And the headache from a killer hangover wasn't really helping in making things more clear.

At one point in the morning when he woke up, James decided it was all just a really bad, alcohol induced dream. After he decided it was all just a dream, suddenly the world looked better.

'Maybe I was wrong to obsess over Vivian for so long. I should just send Gabriel Reed the contract we talked about and get the hell out of this crazy town.'

Somehow over the course of night, he managed to get himself from the Reed ranch to the Inn a little outside Reedville, where he was staying at. It was the closest thing to having some privacy in a small town and James valued his privacy above everything else.

He was already packed and was signing out of the Inn, paying for his stay and repeatedly refusing to stay for breakfast from the young Innkeeper, when his phone started ringing.

"Cornell."

He answered it without looking.

"Morning sunshine! I knew you were going to be in a good mood today, so I decided to make you even happier."

An annoyingly high pitched voice came from the speaker.

"What do you want Gina?"

"Can't a wife call her husband, who's away on the business trip, to wish him 'a good morning'?"

The fake sweetness in her voice made James want to throw up. His soon-to-be-ex-wife just wouldn't leave. And he could feel it in his gut, the divorce process she started last week was about to get ugly.

"Not if she never has a nice world to say to him, when they are not in the public. So, I'm going to say this one more time: 'What do you want'?"

"And you wonder why I have nothing nice to say to you?" Gina's voice was full of sarcasm, but she knew her husband well, and she knew he will cut the call short and turn of his phone if she calls him again. "But that's not why I called. I called because I want the New York penthouse. It's not like you live in it..."

"Gina, you know full well, I'm not giving you a penny more than the prenup states. And I told you already you can give your list of demands to your lawyer who will then give them to my lawyer, which will nicely decline them."

James explained to her with a bored voice.

"But James!" Whining, completely out of character for a grown woman of any type came from the phone. "You haven't stepped foot into that penthouse in years!"

"I do not care. You can buy it from me for a price it would get on the market, but I'm not giving it to you. End of discussion."

The ruthless businessman in James came into view with a bang. His facial expression hardened, his voice became more stern and serious. In a moment, he was hundred percent business and zero percent fun.

"Besides, it's not my fault you and your lover had a quarrel. As a matter of fact, I'm glad you did, it serves you right to be insecure about yourself for a moment."

"Ho.. How...?"

Before Gina could pull together a full sentence, James got tired of listening to her and he disconnected the call.

"Thank you for choosing Granny's Inn, I hope you enjoyed your stay!"

As soon as he finished the call, the Innkeeper returned his credit card and ID, wishing him a pleasant return to the city.

James grumbled a thank you and marched out of the Inn. The phone call from his soon-to-be-ex wife made him angry, distracted and feeling on edge.

But it wasn't just the phone call from his wife that got him feeling this way, it was also the memory of Vivian/Lana and a fact, that he wasn't sure it really was a fact, that he has an almost-six-years-old son named Samuel James Reed.

'She didn't even give him my surname. Well, it's not like she even told anyone he's my son, why on Earth would she use my surname then? Because now you believe in the dreams about you having a son?'

James started arguing with himself while he loaded the luggage onto his car. At this point he wasn't sure what to believe anymore. But at the same time, he didn't really want to know if all of this was just a bad dream or if it really happened.

Not that it really mattered at that moment, because once James put all his luggage into the car, he drove away from this God forsaken place, like it was hell's fire was burning his feet.

He was already near Dallas when his phone started ringing again.

"You. Have. A. Call. From. Neil. O'Connell."

The car informed him, all the while the annoying ringing continued, making James not want to talk to anyone, and just drive in peace for a moment.

But Neil O'Connell was not only his friend and a damn fine detective (except when he was looking for Vivian/Lana...), he was also the head of James's security team. There was a slim chance he was calling because something happened in the office, but more probably he was calling about new information on Vivian/Lana, and James really wasn't in the mood for that.

The chance this call won't be about her was slim, but it was still there, and in the end, that won.

"Answer the call."

Ringing suddenly stopped and it was replaced by a man's voice.

"Man, you'll never going to believe this, when I tell you what I found out about your Vivian!"

"Let me guess... Vivian doesn't exist."

"Vivian, doesn't... Wait a moment, how did you know that?"

Confusion in Neil O'Connell's voice was something so rare, the date of it, should be written down in the history books.

"I've been at her house. I met her son and her brother and her best friend. And before you ask how... The man I'm here because, Gabriel Reed, the computer wonder-boy, he's her brother."

"That is something to take in... But at least it explains to you why you, or I couldn't find her. Not only were we looking in the wrong place, but we were also looking for the wrong name. No wonder it was like she fell of the face of the Earth. She never even existed to begin with."

"Well, after yesterday, I just go the hell out of this town, which, by the way, is mostly owned by Vivian, I mean Lana and her family."

"Well, while we were talking I just finished a background check on her. You interested?"

Before James decided if he was interested or not, Neil decided that for him.

"No criminal record, no bad habits whatsoever. She lived in LA for a while, trying to become an actress, but never succeeded. When her grandmother became sick, she returned back to Reedville and she continues to live there ever since. Father unknown, mother Adrian Jones got married with Adam Reed family when Lana was eight. Before that she lived with her mother all across the States. She's unmarried, has a son. He's about to be six years old. And she opened a bakery today. Also, when she moved to LA, she legally changed her last name back to Jones, her mother's maiden name, even though she was legally adopted by Adam Reed at the age of nine. Her decision probably had something to do with the big blow out with him, when she decided to quit college and move to LA instead."

When the short history of Vivian/Lana Jones/Reed was finished, death silence filled the air. Neil gave his friend some time to think and James was trying to process everything he heard in the last couple of minutes. But the truth is, all he heard was: 'Has a son. He's about six years old.'

There was something familiar in this sentence. A déjà vu, like he heard it before somewhere.