Mimi whacked my shoulder. “Did you see that?”

At first, the man stood there, stunned. The woman went back into her room, shut the door, and pulled the curtain.

“Way to go!” Mimi whispered, loud enough for the men to hear.

Not that they were listening. The man who had lost his phone started shouting in a language other than English, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what he was saying. He went to the door and began pounding on it, until he was dragged away by his friends.

Mimi snuggled up against me. “So which woman would you want to have sex with?”

“You.”

“Sweet, but you have to pick one.”

“No, I don’t.”

“I don’t mean for real,” said Mimi. “Think of it as though you’re looking at a painting. Some people like realism. Some like abstract. How about I go first.”

“How about we go back to the hotel.”

“See the dark-haired woman in the white bikini?”

“Mimi . . .”

“She’s cute.”

“Mimi . . .”

“And I really like the bikini.”

Mimi dragged me up and down several more streets, stopping every so often in front of the lighted windows.

“Okay,” I said at last. “The blonde.”

“The one in the panties and the halter top?”

“Yes.”

“Really, Bird?” said Mimi. “A blonde?”

IT’S ALMOST ONE by the time Mimi and I step out of the hotel restaurant and into the sunshine of a beautiful Prague day.

Mimi pulls out her guidebook. “So now,” she says, “we have our choice of the Prague Zoo or Stromovka Park.”

My stomach is somewhat upset, and my body is beginning to ache, as though there’s a fever in my immediate future.

“I thought we had decided against zoos.”

I don’t think it’s anything serious, but I wonder if I might be getting what Mimi had.

Kitty takes a step backwards. Is it contagious? she asks.

“Prague is supposed to have one of the best zoos in the world,” says Mimi.

“That’s not a recommendation.”

“Then let’s go to Stromovka. It’s the largest park in the city. We just have to find tram 91.”

“You know, we have parks in Guelph.”

“When was the last time we went to Riverside Park?”

“And we could walk the river from Victoria past the Boathouse and all the way to the Hanlon.”

“Stromovka has a duck pond.”

“The Speed is lousy with geese,” I say. “And every spring, we get to see the goslings.”

“We’re not in Guelph.” Mimi’s voice is low and sad. “We’re in Prague.”

Normally, Mimi is able to manage my depressions and bad moods. But every so often, I wear her down.

“Would it be easier for you if we weren’t together?”

I shake my head, but Eugene is already on the job.

Way to go, champ, he whispers.

“Is that what this is about?”