A year and a half after her wedding, Vanessa goes into the city to meet Sam. That night, she realizes how far she and Sam have drifted apart and that she has already begun to distrust her husband.

Vanessa makes reservations at a nice restaurant. When she meets Sam at their old apartment beforehand, Vanessa she notices the changes in Sam, who is healthier and happier than she remembers her. At dinner, they struggle to relate, Vanessa’s new lavish domesticity contrasting with Sam’s stimulating single life. Sam calls Richard “the Prince” in passing, and Vanessa seizes upon it, wondering if that has been Sam’s nickname for Richard all along. Vanessa asks if Sam sees Richard as her rescuer and asks her friend to admit that she never liked her husband. Sam is uncharacteristically evasive, so they drop the subject.

After dinner, Vanessa goes to Richard’s apartment in the city. There, she notices that the framed photograph of Richard’s parents is missing from its usual place. Finding this strange, she goes to their storage unit in the building to locate it. She finds the photograph wrapped in newspaper in a bin, but her curiosity overcomes her, and she searches the rest of the unit.