Jake confronts Chris

"Glad to hear that you think Michelle will be okay," said Jake. He spoke with a fresh energy. This surprised Abbie, especially since she had just sensed that he was detaching himself more from the evening.

Chris nodded and swallowed a bit of potato. "Yeah, she just got carried away is all."

"Of course, that probably puts a damper on the notion of picking up someone else for the night."

Abbie's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. What is he doing? she wondered, shocked.

"Excuse me?" said Chris, wiping the corners of his mouth with his napkin, and turning slightly to face Jake.

Jake felt his heart racing. He wasn't comfortable with confrontation at all, and here he was directly accusing Chris of trying to get Abbie back to his room. But unless Abbie was lying to me, then he really did ask her ... didn't he? Jake thought.

"Jake!" Abbie said, trying to slow him down, her tone alerting him to the mild discomfort she had in the moment.

"No, it's nothing, really," said Jake. "I just -- well, you did invite Abbie here up to your room, didn't you?" Jake stared at Chris, unsure if he was going to reply, to scream, to throw a punch. Jake hadn't really thought this through, and was starting to get nervous that the confrontation was a bad choice.

"Chris, I'm sorry," said Abbie, a little put off by Jake's attitude. "Jake, maybe we should go?"

"And now that Michelle is passed out," Jake continued, "taking Abbie back there would probably be weird. Wouldn't it?"

"Jake, I don't understand," said Abbie quietly, staring at him.

"Look, I -- I think there's been a misunderstanding," said Chris.

Jake stared back at Abbie. He smirked very slightly and winked at her. "No," he said, turning his attention to Chris. "I don't think so. I went to the restroom -- this was all like twenty minutes ago -- and while I was gone, you were here with Abbie."

Chris stammered. "I ... I don't remember."

"Abbie, wasn't he here?"

Abbie swallowed, realizing her mouth had gone dry. "Yes, he was."

"And Chris, you probably told her she looked good -- she does look good, doesn't she? -- and honestly, who can blame you?"

Chris was silent. Abbie was still watching Jake closely. She had seen him wink, but still wasn't sure whether this was a fun game or a scary one.

"So you probably flirted, and she probably flirted back. Didn't you, Abbie?"

Abbie nodded. "I did."

"See?" continued Jake. "No big deal. You flirted. Why not? You're both attractive, pleasant, smart, playful people. It's human nature."

Chris took a sip of water. "Hey, I'm sorry. I don't know you, you don't know me. I was having a weird time with my wife. If I said something out of line, I apologize." He looked at Abbie, then back at Jake. "How about I pick up the check, and we pretend nothing happened?"

Jake chuckled. "Oh, no need to do that. Besides, why should we pretend nothing happened ... when there's still a chance something could happen?"

Silence fell across the table. Chris furrowed his brow, confused. "Jake, listen. I don't know what --"

"I mean, if something still could happen ... wouldn't that be a good thing?" Jake said, his gaze moving slowly over to Abbie. "Abbie, don't you think it would be a good thing?" He smiled at her and winked again.

Slowly, Abbie recognized a glimmer in Jake's eyes. She saw that he was finding something enjoyable in this moment, even if it had begun awkwardly, and even if it wasn't quite what he had imagined might happen this evening.

"Abbie?" Jake asked again, now smiling more broadly at her.