watching Ashley and Alicia

Jake saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned sharply to the main door.

"Look, there." He pointed at two women entering the ballroom. They were twins, in their late 20s, Black, their dark hair pulled back (one with a high ponytail, one with a low one), and wearing dresses that matched in style but differed in color (one was an iridescent bluish-purple, the other a similarly shimmery yellow-green).

"Do you know them?"

"It's Ashley and Alicia, Staci's sisters. Though I definitely don't know which is which."

Some identical twins have more obvious distinctions between them, but not Ashley and Alicia. They not only looked incredibly alike, but they made efforts to dress similarly and wear their hair and accessories the same. They coordinated on a regular basis, and certainly at parties like today, they presented themselves with glamour and poise. The one in green (with the lower ponytail) seemed to perhaps be a little more in charge as the two swept through the room, clearly on a mission. They found Staci and commandeered her table, monopolizing the conversation.

Staci showed a little bit of tension as she spoke to her sisters. At first, the twins appeared to be defending themselves, but eventually backed down and accepted whatever Staci was telling them.

"I think they're late," said Abbie. "Surely they ought to have been here back when the party started, right?"

"One would imagine," agreed Jake.

The twin in purple laughed at something the other one said, and Staci seemed to be relaxing some. All three of them turned their heads at once to see something off to the side. As they turned, there was something poetic in the curve of their necks and shape of their profiles -- the twins were identical, but even Staci matched the other two for a moment.

Abbie nodded and smiled. "Do you see what they're looking at?" She nodded toward the side of the room the three Reynolds girls were looking. There was Danny DeMarco, making his way to their table.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that guy," said Jake. "He almost punched me earlier when he saw me kissing you."

Abbie laughed. "That would be a funny story -- guys fighting over me at someone else's wedding."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Funny now, since it didn't happen."

Danny reached the table and began chatting up the three women there. Staci didn't have much to say to him so she went back to her other conversation. But the twins stood to either side of Danny, taking turns talking to him.

"What do you think they're talking about?" asked Jake.

"Based on a combination of their body language and the fact that I like most stories to be about sex ... I would guess that they had a threesome and Danny is back for seconds." Abbie described it as if reading a script from a radio play, very informative and serious.

"Sounds about right," said Jake.

Danny led the two girls to the buffet line, offering to help them get some lunch. He stood between them in the line, and although they were gathering food, they were also using the time together for other purposes. Each time they shifted through the line, the two girls sandwiched Danny between them. It never quite looked intentional, but it also didn't look accidental, at least not to Jake and Abbie, who were watching with scrutiny.

"Look at how Danny keeps checking each one out," said Abbie. "I think he doesn't know which is which."

"Neither do I," said Jake.

"Yeah, but if he had a threesome with them -- or if he's just flirting now, which is probably more likely -- he's going to be in some trouble if he doesn't know their names."

The twin in green was a bit more aggressive as she kept running her body up against Danny. The one in purple was a bit more aloof, but would occasionally fake a step forward and then stop, causing Danny to lean into her harder. Both women seemed to enjoy the game, as did Danny.

"Keep an eye on them. If they disappear sometime soon, we'll have to send someone to the pantry," Jake quipped.