She didn't feel well, and when she asked Ed for a few days off, he looked at her in a weird way, like he cared. Then he patted her cheek, told her to be careful wherever she was going and to come back when she feels like herself again.

The next day, she was in Prague, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes like a true European.

She hates Prague.


Her phone keeps ringing and she tries hard to ignore it. But Delinda keeps calling and Sam is a bit bored so she picks it up, and listens to Delinda babbling on what a bad friend she is for missing their almost-daily-breakfast time together, for taking Nessa's side during their weekly quarrel, for leaving without telling her. Yet all she hears is that she's been gone for barely three days and that Delinda misses her and the thought of it makes her smile a little.

"What are you doing in Prague?"

"How do you know I'm in Prague?"

"I asked Mike to track your phone."

"Hm."

Sam doesn't say what she's doing in Europe, she doesn't say when she's coming back to Vegas, and then Delinda gets mad because she raises her tone and she abruptly hangs up on her.

She drops her phone on the bed, opens the window of her hotel room and the smell of rain hits her nostrils. It rained all night, and now, there's water on the paving stone and it glistens, it's bright, because the sun is rising and the street outside her hotel is waking up too. Soon, there will be multicoloured umbrellas, loud music and people dancing in the puddles.

She leans on the balustrade and smokes her first cigarette of the day.


The next day, she realises that Prague reminds her too much of him and her heart quivers.


The night is soft and Sam is alone.

She closes her eyes to stop thinking, to calm her nerves. It's too hot in there, and she wants to smoke. She is starting to remember why Casey loves Prague so much and the urge to strangle him tingles her fingers. She hates herself for feeling anything concerning Casey.

This thing, her leaving, it was supposed to be like a vacation. But everything smells like past mistakes and cheap whiskey. She misses Danny a lot and hopes he's not dead. She would be sad if he was and she would cry for him.

She takes a cigarette, leaves the hotel, and goes for a walk. When she comes back, she's all wet and cold, and the bath she takes is too hot. She walks out of the bathtub clean, red and hurt. That night she cries a lot and she dreams of Casey.

In the morning, she throws up all her wine. She feels empty and she doesn't have any cigarettes anymore.


Delinda is still not speaking to her, so it's Nessa she gets on the phone and Nessa says, "I want your skinny ass back in Vegas by tomorrow night 'cause D. is insufferable and you're the only one that can tame her."

"Sorry, I don't feel like seeing your sad asses yet," Sam tells her, cigarette between her teeth, her trembling fingers tapping on her glass of wine.

Then Nessa starts yelling, she curses a lot and Sam says she'll be back in three days to shut her up.

Three days later, she's still in Prague, cigarettes ashes on her eyelashes and her head in the toilet.


Prague. She is supposed to get closure here. But all she gets are regrets and headaches. She loves him, but she's not sure who that him is.


Sam is drinking her second bottle of champagne when Delinda calls. It's almost noon, the sun is hitting against the shutters and the shining light is hurting her eyes. She always forgets to draw the curtains. Danny would have reminded her to do so. Casey too, when she thinks about it. It's funny.

"I got married."

"What the fuck, Sam? What did you do?"

"I got married," Sam blurs out again and she laughs because the champagne tastes nice, and the sheets feel expensive against her skin. "Years ago. I got married. And that was a bad idea. Never get married, Delinda, it sucks."

Sam is looking at the ceiling. She hasn't paid much attention to the ceiling but she's sure it's beautiful, everything is beautiful in Prague. Casey was beautiful in Prague, she remembers. But the ceiling, she can't really see it because her sight is wet and blurred. There's too much tears in her eyes and she wants to drown in them. She lets the glass fall down, the liquid stains the carpet, and Sam doesn't care much. She hides herself in the largeness, in the coldness of the bed.

"He's never wanted to sign the divorce papers."

"Sam..."

"He's an asshole."

"Sam..."

"I've asked. Many times. But every time he said no. I didn't care. I'm Samantha Marquez, of course I didn't care. I left. Lived my life... Then Danny came long," she pauses, blinks fast and she feels like crying again. "I told him I would break his heart. He should have listened."

Delinda waits that Sam calms down because even miles away she can hear it, Sam is breathless. Eventually, Delinda asks, in a soft tone. "What happened in Prague, honey?"

Sam doesn't answer straightaway and Delinda thinks she may have fallen asleep, but then Sam speaks with a tiny voice, "I remembered I still loved my husband," she confesses as if it is a secret, as if she's scared. "I remember loving him, Delinda. But I love Danny too. I love Danny so much and it's killing me. This is such a big mess."

Delinda curses under her breath and Sam closes her eyes. She feels nauseous and she doesn't want to move.

She doesn't want to go back home.


She stays in Prague a bit longer so that she can hate herself a bit more.

She buys another packet of cigarettes. She finishes them in one day and half, then she throws away her lighter. She stops crying because she looks ridiculous and ugly when she does.

The day before leaving she puts on some make-up, she paints her lips with red and she sees Sam in the mirror and for the first time since she arrived here, she smiles for real.

She is pretty again.


She's home two days later and it's Delinda who drives her back to the hotel. They don't talk about Prague, about her meltdown, or about her marriage. Sam thinks Delinda is her best friend now.

They have breakfast together the next morning, on the terrace, and Sam feels like herself again, never mind her allergies and her cold coffee.