The Spy Who Loved Me

Chapter 18

Lana was in his office the very next afternoon, sure to keep her word about making Richard pay for his philandering way. She stormed in doing her best, but slightly failing, to maintain her usual starchy composure. Before Richard could even fathom what was going on, she was standing before him, making the dramatic gesture of shredding her contract. "I'm catching the very first flight I can find to Hollywood, and I don't ever want to see your face again!" She bellowed at Richard much to his bewilderment, throwing the mangled paper in his face. "I hope you can find another lead actress half as good as me..." she sneered haughtily.

"Lana," he moaned grievously as he removed pieces of paper from his hair, "My dear, tell me what is the matter? I don't understand!" He shook his head, chuckling with disbelief as he searched her eyes for a feasible explanation. She was terribly beautiful, but also terribly temperamental. He never knew what state she could be in from day to day.

"She told me everything, Richard! Everything!" She scoffed formidably. "Was that brunette more...alluring....than me? Should I quit bleaching my hair since you seem to enjoy the company dark haired women better?" She taunted, circling around him, twirling her perfectly pin-curled tresses between her fingers.

You bleach you hair?" he blurted out. He winced ever so slightly, immediately regretting the thoughtless question. "I mean...I suppose I always knew..." he mumbled, only digging a deeper hole for himself. Lana stared at him coldly with disgust evident in her face.

"The very sight of you just makes me ill! I can't believe I've put up with you all these years..." she berated him. Whatever she heard had hurt her deeply, Richard could see it in her eyes. He desperately hoped that he could fix whatever happened, because at this point, losing Lana would be the last straw for the show.

"I still have no idea what you heard, Lana. Who is this 'she' you're talking about about, and what she tell you?" He asked with burning curiosity. 

"Ethel, Richard...Ethel!" Lana exploded in a fit of rage that was far outside her nature. "She told me how she had seen you with your head between the legs of some woman who evidently wasn't me!" She poked a long, red nail into his chest. The green hue of her eyes intensified as she glowered at him with displeasure.

Richard's laughter filled the room as he heard her revelation. Lana, insulted by his joviality, burst into a fit of tears and slapped him across his cheek. He held his face in pain, his mood quickly turning somber. "Ethel is not the type of woman you should trust, believe me..."

"And why shouldn't I trust Ethel?!" she extended her full  height, demanding an answer.

"Because—" Richard halted his speech abruptly. He'd be a fool to tell Lana that it had been Ethel he was with that night. "You can't trust her because she's new to the business...just trying to climb her way up the totem pole."

"Ethel is a woman, Richard. And although you'll probably never understand...us woman share a common bond. We all know what it's like to be hurt by bastard men like you." She gave her foot an agitated stomp as her eyes watered again. Richard extended out his arms out to her, but she recoiled away from him.

"Lana, please—"

"Don't touch me!" she warned. "First you laugh at me...then you won't even bother to deny that you did it!" She inhaled a shaky breath of air, holding a lace handkerchief to her nose. "At least answer this question...were you unfaithful to me?"

Richard hadn't meant to hurt Lana. He truly did love her, and he couldn't stand to see her in such an inconsolable state, or even worse, lose her as his lead actress. He stood there silently, his mouth refusing to utter the ruinous confession. He grunted uncomfortably and dug the heels of his shoes deep into the thick carpet. Lana watched him with a mixture of hope and pain in her eyes.