Jennie stood motionless for a moment, staring at the phone Lisa had just hurled across the room at her. "No." she said, looking up at Lisa. "No, you don't get to throw things at me. That's not ok."
"I didn't throw it at you..."
"That's it!" Jennie said, thrusting the phone into her purse and slinging it over her shoulder with a jerk. She began moving about the room, gathering up any loose items that weren't already in her suitcase.
"Jennie, will you please just check your fucking messages?"
She looked up at Lisa. "So you left me a message last night? Is that it? Am I supposed to be flattered?"
"Just listen..."
"No, you listen! Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to clear two weeks from my schedule? Do you? Some of us have real jobs, Lisa. Real jobs in the real world - not some 24/7 Hollywood VIP Section."
"What does that even mean?"
"Was all this supposed to impress me?" She gestured her arms at the plushly furnished hotel suite. "Is that why you brought me out here? Or was it purely so I could watch you go hit on 21-year-olds? And then..." Jennie paused for a moment, letting out a harsh laugh. "And then you actually have the nerve to be mad that I went to a hotel."
"I'm not mad you went to a hotel. I'm mad you didn't tell me where you were..."
"What was your plan exactly? Were you gonna put a sock on the doorknob and ask me to crash in the living room?"
"For the last time, Jennie, I didn't spend the night with..."
"And then I spend my day saving your ass, Lisa. Saving your life. And what do I get? Do I even get a thank you? No. Of course not. I get told what an idiot I am. Right? Stupid, clueless Jennie. Got it. Message received. But you know, maybe - just maybe - you shouldn't have asked me out here if I'm such a clueless pain in the ass! Because as far as I can tell, all I got out of this little vacation was a picture of me in a towel on every channel in America!"
"Calm down."
"Yeah, I know you think that's funny, don't you Lisa? You got a real chuckle out of that one. You know who else is going to find it funny? Every judge I have to stand in front of when I'm in court. Every single one of them is going to have some supremely hilarious joke to make about it."
"I'm sorry about that."
"You know what you'd probably find really amusing? You should go call the Manhattan Bed Bath & Beyond. Go ahead. I bet you anything they are sold out of towels, because every lawyer in the New York Bar Association just had one shipped to my office as a practical joke."
"So? So you get some free towels? I'm sorry, Jennie, but what exactly is the big fucking deal?"
"Do you have any idea what it's like to be a woman in my field? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get taken seriously?"
"It'll blow over!"
"Oh really? And how long is it going to take to blow over? How long do you think?
"Jennie..."
"The answer is never, Lisa. It's never going to blow over. I'll be at my retirement party in 40 years and they'll still be giving me bath towels for my going away present. And I don't have a nice helpful publicist I can call to make it all go away for me!"
"What? Am I supposed to apologise for having a publicist now? Do you think I spent the night with her too? You know what? Maybe I did! Maybe we had a threesome! Maybe you should've stuck around and we could've made it a whole fucking orgy!"
"You're disgusting."
"You know, I could swear you used to have a sense of humour Jennie!"
"And I could swear you used to care about someone other than yourself Lisa!"
"Oh yeah!" Lisa shouted. "That's my problem. I don't care enough about you. That must be it!"
"I am so done!" Jennie said, grabbing her suitcase by the handle and rolling it towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To the airport."
"You can't!"
"Watch me."
"Jennie! Goddammit, I have a head injury! I'm supposed to have someone staying with me..."
"I'm sure somewhere on your three cell phones you can find somebody else in the mood for a sleepover." Jennie moved to open the door.
"Jennie, please don't do this." Lisa said to Jennie's turned back.
Jennie stood still for a moment with her hand on the doorknob, shaking her head. "Goodbye, Lisa." she said at last. Then she walked out into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind her.
Lisa lurched after her. She had been fighting dizzy spells off and on all day, and now she willed herself to remain standing as slivers of blackness started to cloud the edges of her vision. She stumbled against the back of a chair and fell to one knee, before dragging herself upright again and staggering towards the door. Lisa made it out into the hallway at last, just in time to see the elevator doors snap closed.
Jennie was gone. Jennie left. Again.
