Abbie and Jake missed lunch

The country club looked different, approaching it from the base of the hill -- and from the other side of a wild sexual romp in the woods. Jake and Abbie slowly climbed back up gentle hill of the back lawn. The tables that peppered the yard hadn't changed from when they were there earlier, but the personnel had.

Abbie remembered the table where they had sat previously. She nudged Jake and pointed. "We sat there."

Jake nodded. "I sort of remember."

They had been people-watching before, but the people they had watched were gone. In fact, most of the tables were empty.

"What time is it?" asked Abbie.

Jake shook his head. "No idea."

"I imagine lunch is probably over," said Abbie. "I wonder if anyone is still inside?"

"Let's go look," said Jake. "It's funny, we had had every intention of using the day to socialize with my distant family who I barely know ..."

Abbie grabbed Jake's hand and squeezed. "And instead, we wound up in an abandoned cabin in the woods, 'met' some new friends, and did some stuff you'll probably never forget." Abbie used air quotes when she said 'met,' realizing that they certainly didn't know Kei or Aguri in any kind of normal way.

They reached the French doors on the back side of the country club. Jake opened one, and held it for Abbie. She smiled at him, and passed through ahead of him, with Jake following behind.

The room was the same, but the crowd had thinned. There were still a few scattered guests at the bar, a few milling about, sitting sparsely and chatting with one another. It was clear that lunch was long since over. Music played in the background on the sound system, but it was no longer the high-energy party music from earlier. In fact, it was so mundane it could have been a generic jazz Spotify channel rather than a properly curated playlist. Abbie wondered whether Megan or Phoebe had been in charge of music earlier ... and then whether they were still in the building somewhere.

Jake vaguely clocked the area where he had mingled with Phil and some of the groomsmen. "Why does it feel like I'm entering a crime scene once it becomes a forensic site? I kind of want to see a white chalk outline where Staci had been standing at the bar." He pointed off to a corner, remembering that Abbie and some other women had been there for a while.

"Sort of feels like we've entered someone else's party. Nothing is familiar." Abbie kept glancing around, hoping to see a face she recognized. "Of course, I barely met anyone in the first place."

"Should we just head for the car? We can go back to the hotel, maybe catch a swim. Maybe we'll have some other dinner ... and after-dinner ... adventures." Jake grinned at her.