Chris opens up to Abbie

A waiter stopped by to check on their salads, and to ask Chris if he could settle his bar tab from before dinner. "It would be great if you could jus sign off on that before we open a new check here for dinner," said the waiter.

"I'll do it," said Michelle. "I want to get another drink at the bar anyway."

"And probably flirt with the bartender," muttered Chris. Abbie couldn't quite tell if he was bothered by the idea that Michelle would do that, or idly accepting that it happened no matter what.

"Probably," said Michelle, walking away without another word.

Jake and Abbie continued eyeing each other, reading each other's body language as Abbie continued toying with Jake under the table. Chris glanced back and forth between them, but wasn't particularly invested in whatever they were doing. Still, the silence had grown so long that he was beginning to feel a little awkward. He reached for his glass of water, and accidently knocked a spoon to the floor.

"Ah, shit," Chris muttered. He bent over to get the spoon, and in doing so, happened to glimpse under the table and saw Abbie's leg stretched out, her foot on Jake's chair. Chris sat up again, having collected the spoon, and at least now understood a little more about why they were behaving oddly at dinner.

Chris was torn between two awkwards -- staying silent because he knew that Abbie was rubbing her feet on Jake's crotch under the table, or trying to pretend he didn't know, and perpetuate a conversation. Thanks to his boring job, Chris was decent at having meaningless conversations with strangers and remaining fully detached, so he chose the second option.

"So, Jake, how many third cousins did you say you have?"

Jake stammered. "Um, I ... I don't know. Maybe twenty?"

"Damn, that's a lot. I think I have two cousins. One's in congress, I think. The other sells pot out of a camper somewhere in South Dakota."

Abbie giggled. "Wow, those are quite different!"

Chris thought about it. "Yeah, I suppose. Though the politician one could probably do well with getting stoned once in a while." He looked toward the bar and muttered, "where is she?"

"Who?" asked Abbie. "Oh, never mind. Michelle, right?"

Chris nodded. "Yeah. I figured she'd be back by now. I guess she is flirting with the bartender." He turned back to Jake. "So what did you say you did for work?"

Jake sighed. "I'm an accountant. Pretty plain, honestly. Abbie's work in public relations is much more exciting."

"Really?" Chris said, turning to Abbie. "What sort of company do you do PR for?"

Jake recognized that there were too many questions, too much idle conversation, and the moment with Abbie was dying. Under the table, he gave Abbie's foot a gentle squeeze, but then he pushed his chair back and stood up. "Excuse me, I'm going to hit the rest room. Be back in a minute."

Abbie and Chris both watched him as he left. Abbie looked back to Chris.

"Sorry, what did you ask?"

"Never mind," he replied. "I feel a little guilty that we crashed your dinner."

"Why's that?" said Abbie.

"Weren't you and your boyfriend getting a little intimate?" He paused, peering into Abbie's eyes, looking for a response.

Abbie blushed. "Well, yes. I suppose we were."

"I wasn't trying to be nosy, but I when I bent down to get my spoon, I saw your leg ... your foot."

Abbie smiled. She may have been caught, and may even have been a little embarrassed getting caught, but she certainly wasn't ashamed of her behavior. "Yup, that's exactly right!"

"If Michelle and I hadn't imposed on you, you might have been under the table giving Jake even more attention, mightn't you?"

Abbie raised her eyebrows and exhaled in a moment of slight shock, but she continued. "Oh my god, Chris, you know, I probably would have been!"

Chris sighed and shook his head. "You guys are a cute couple. Still in that honeymoon phase." He leaned back and tried to catch a glimpse of Michelle somewhere near the bar, but to no avail. "I think we were out of the honeymoon phase before our honeymoon."

"Aw, I'm sure that's not true," said Abbie. "You're both young and attractive, I'm sure you find ways to keep the fire lit."

Chris smiled and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess we do." He took a bite of his food, but was more focused on thinking about what to say next to Abbie.

The silence had gotten just a tad uncomfortable. "Is that --?" Abbie said, turning her head. "No, I thought I saw Jake coming back."

Chris dabbed at his face with his napkin. "So. Abbie. Speaking of fires and keeping them lit ..."

Abbie raised her eyebrows again, curious what Chris was going to say.

"Look, I don't know you, and this may be totally out of line ... but I'm getting a bit of a vibe that ... well, the truth is that sometimes Chelle and I keep things spicy by ... by inviting like-minded new friends to, say, come back to our hotel room after dinner."

Abbie blushed again and took a sip of wine.

"Of course, I have no idea what your plans are tonight, if you and Jake are doing anything else." Chris paused, watching Abbie. "Or even if just ... you ... were free."

Abbie took another sip, and let the silence fill the air.

"You're not pushing back. So let me ask you this," Chris said. "What would you say if I asked you to come back to my room with me?"

Abbie looked at him. "I'd say yes." She smiled at finished her glass of wine.

Chris was caught off guard by the very quick and very agreeable response. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Abbie reached her hand under the table and touched Chris's leg. "I think you know exactly what I'm saying." Her hand grazed the top of his pants, and she knew she touched the outline of his penis, which was twitching against her fingers.