I swirl to James, who watches Natalie, enraged, the vein in his temple twitching. But his rage is no match to mine.
"Jess asked you for money?" I ask through gritted teeth.
"Yes," he says, watching Natalie, his eyes squinted. "I thought I told you—"
I do not find out whatever he told her, because the door opens again and a girl that looks my age comes in. She wears a black suit and a nervous expression that tells me it was her CV James was skimming through.
"Hi," she says in a small voice. "I was told this is where my interview is."
I don't go right inside my apartment building when I get out of the cab. I linger in front of the entrance for a few seconds, trying to convince myself that verbally abusing Jess won't do anyone any good. But to be honest, if the two hours I spent wandering around San Jose in an attempt to shake off my anger were fruitless, a few more seconds hanging out here have no chance. I had stormed out of the office before James managed to introduce himself to that girl. But not before Natalie had managed to humiliate me again, by repeating how insignificant the sum was, and that neither Jess nor I should worry about having to pay it back. There have been very few times when I've been furious with Jess. I don't remember ever being this furious with her. Not when she made out with Ace, my first crush. Not even when she read my diary, which consisted of delirious letters I wrote to a long-gone Kate.
I drag myself up the stairs, and when I open the door to our apartment, I find Jess crouched over her laptop, her bandaged leg up on the couch, her messy hair bundled up in a bun. For some reason her pathetic appearance makes me even more furious.
She looks up at me with concern. "You look terrible. Your interview didn't go too well?"
"My interview went just fine," I hiss. "You know what didn't? My trip to that godforsaken bar."
She lowers her gaze back to her laptop with a slight frown. "What were you doing there? I was under the impression you weren't a big fan of the place."
"Don't play stupid, Jess," I cry, unable to hold my voice down. "You know what I was doing there. Trying to sort out the mess you created. I went to give that creep the check."
"I don't remember asking you to deliver anything," Jess says in a dangerously calm voice. "I don't remember asking you to sort out anything, for that matter."
"No, the numerous phone calls from the bar owner, which I had to take because you couldn't be bothered, did."
"Maybe it's time you stop trying to sort everything out every time. I'm a big girl. I can handle my own stuff."
"You did a fantastic job until now," I spit.
Silence.
"Why did you ask James, of all people, for money? What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking that I had a problem and I needed to solve it. And I did."
"The problem was already solved, Jess," I say, exasperated. "By Parker."
She sets her laptop aside and puts her hands together in her lap, watching me like she did when we were in high school when she was about to tell me that she wanted to skip a class and I had to cover up for her. "I didn't want him to get involved."
"What? Why?"
"Because he's a jerk, Serena. I don't know how you can stand him."
"I'm sorry, have you met Parker? He's nothing but kind and polite."
"To you maybe," she splutters. "To me he's a prick."
I stare at her, wondering whether her accident has caused some serious brain damage. But as she takes her laptop back, immersing herself in it, I remember that there is another side of Parker. He can be judgmental, yes. But he keeps those thoughts to himself. He's never not been polite even to Natalie, despite his opinion of her. I snort. If there's one person who could exasperate Parker to the point that he would abandon his gentlemanly manners, it's Jess. I knew they had a falling-out, but I didn't know it was this serious.
"If you didn't want him to pay you should have said so and we would have come up with something else, not let that moron from the bar blindside me like that. It would've saved me a very humiliating scene with James and Natalie."
"You went to see James?" Jess asks incredulously.
"I wouldn't have if you'd bothered to tell me anything in advance."
"You are seriously blaming this on me? Christ, wake up, Serena. You couldn't wait for an excuse to see him."
"That's not true."