When Van Dusen is called into his boss’s office, he expects something much worse than the notification of a promotion and raise. Ecstatic, he makes his way home to his wife, Peggy, and tells her the news, spinning her around and giggling with their baby boy. Peggy then tells him he has received a telegram and that it is waiting to be read. When Van opens it, he reads that his brother, Bill, is stopping by to visit them and pay back the money he once borrowed from Van. Thrilled to be receiving both his brother and $500, Van prepares food and a place to sleep for Bill. Peggy is also excited, and when Van greets Bill after he arrives at their house in his new car, the first question Bill asks is where Peggy is. The three spend time together, listening to Bill’s adventures working as a seaman and oil representative in Asia. He shows them a picture of him in Japan wearing a green kimono, which he took home to use as a dressing robe. The entire time, Bill also makes most of the commotion about him and strays from the celebration around Van’s promotion. Peggy also pays extreme attention to his stories.             After Van and Peggy begin showing Bill some of their photos, Bill suggests they spend a night in town. The couple lets Bill lead the way, and he takes them in his car first to an Italian restaurant to buy whiskey, then to a music club. At the club, Bill and Peggy dance together, and Van remembers how his mother told him Peggy should marry someone full of energy and freneticism—like Bill. Van brushes that sentiment aside, reflecting on how well he and Peggy work as a couple and how worthwhile his struggles over the past few years have been. He and Peggy then have a dance, and as the night progresses, Van drinks himself into intoxication. As it is his first time being drunk, Van has immense trouble moving around and staying conscious. Bill drives the three of them to the Italian restaurant and tries to wake Van up with coffee, but Van barely manages to tell Bill that he should settle down and marry before collapsing. Bill requests that Van sleep in the room above the restaurant for the night and leaves with Peggy.             The next morning, Van forces his hungover body out of the bed. After a nauseating ride on the train, he arrives home with a reinvigorated appreciation for the orderliness of his life. Peggy meets him with a kiss, pausing from cleaning the living room, and tells him that Bill has already left. Van decides to take a bath, but while removing his sticky clothes, he drops a collar button beneath Peggy’s bed. When he reaches for it, his hand pulls out the silky green fabric of Bill’s kimono, forcing him to re-evaluate his luck.