more guests arrive

"Already, I have no idea who anyone is," said Jake dryly.

"But you're the one who's supposed to know people! You're literally related to them!" countered Abbie. "I'm your plus one, I'm not supposed to know anyone."

"I don't think I was related to any of those people. They didn't look familiar."

Abbie saw something out of the corner of her eye and turned her head. "There are more folks coming."

Jake stood at attention at the door, ready to greet the new guests. This time, it was a trio of people, two women and a man.

"Good morning!" said Abbie. She was good at this. "Welcome to Staci and Phil's party. We're checking people in here at the door. Can I get your names?"

One of the women was tall with dark brown hair pulled back in a very low ponytail. She wore a sleeveless and backless dress that iridescently shimmered between deep red and black. It went down to about mid-calf, and Abbie noticed that Maya had black tights and black boots on. "I'm Maya Ivanov. One of Phil's cousins, if your list is sorted that way." As she gestured, Abbie also saw that Maya had several tattoos on her arms.

Jake found the name. "Here we are. Nice to meet you Maya. I'm Jake, I'm a cousin of Staci's."

"I'm Abbie," said Abbie, smiling. "I'm with this guy." She giggled a bit, obviously keen on being there with Jake. "Is that a spider web on your hand?" she asked Maya.

"Yeah, you like it?" Maya held her hand out to show Abbie.

"I do! It's very cool. Did it hurt?" Abbie asked with sincere curiosity.

"Nah. I've had lots of them." Maya snickered to herself. "Heh, maybe if I get drunk enough I'll show 'em off to people." She looked at the other woman for any kind of acknowledgment, but got little in response.

The other woman looked at Abbie with a slight squint. "I'm Sydney Bélanger. This is Derek Marland. I'm also a cousin of Staci's." Sydney was short with dirty blonde hair, somewhat mussed up (but stylistically so). She wore green pants and a matching blazer over a white silk shirt.

Jake checked off the names without looking up. "Gotcha. Here we are. Sydney Bélanger, plus one. Nice to meet you." With that, he raised his head, and making eye contact with Sydney, felt his heart skip a beat. He wasn't sure why, but something about seeing Sydney made him feel a little nervous. Her pale blue eyes squinted slightly, and perhaps she was also trying to figure out where she knew him from.

Derek cleared his throat. He looked at Jake and extended a hand. "Have we met before?"

Jake looked back and forth between Sydney and Derek, but couldn't figure out what was strange. "Not that I can remember," said Jake. "But some of these big family events are kind of chaotic. So maybe?"

Sydney relaxed and smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you now." She nodded to Abbie, and the three new guests stepped into the ballroom.

Once they were through the door and gone, Abbie hit Jake on the arm a bunch of times. "Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake!"

"What?"

"Those people! We know them!"

Jake snapped his head toward Abbie. "Wait, what? I thought something was strange. How do we know them?"

Abbie blushed a little, and said, "the elevator."

Jake looked at her, confused.

"The elevator," she repeated. "Last night."

Jake realized it. "The four drunk kids while you and I were ... in the elevator."

Abbie nodded. "Sydney and Derek were two of them."

Jake thought back to the night before. "Wait, was Sydney the one who ...?"

Abbie shook her head. "No. That was the other girl." She swatted his arm again. "You little player, can't even remember who sucked you off last night."

Now it was Jake's turn to blush. "Abbie, you are the tour guide on the wildest adventures of my life. I can barely see straight. You expect me to remember the semi-drunk girl who gave me a quick blowjob in a hotel elevator while I was trying to secretly fuck you without anyone noticing?"

Abbie laughed. "Um, yeah!"

Jake nodded. "You're so right. Maybe I should start to keep a journal." They both cackled a bit at that. They were about to scan through the list of names to see if Jake recognized any of them when they heard a voice from the ballroom behind them.