Nile is a minor writer, unlike other writers with their fame and fortunes and fancy suits. He goes to his mother's house for lunch and listens to her and her sister chat while he eats. His aunt compares him to his father, and Nile thinks about the depressing progression of his life from bright, promising youth to now. He leaves to go to his girlfriend Jeanine's house, to escape the stifling heat and his own overwhelming feelings of ambition and need. The two talk and drink wine, and Nile thinks about how Jeanine's depth had surprised him. Jeanine is not dismissive, but withholds herself, and Nile feels the need to extoll his own virtues. She leaves to go to a party, and Nile that thinks she has lost faith in him. He becomes desperate and destroys her apartment. He smashes things and goes through her drawers. He leaves, feeling wild, and thinks that he sees chaos all around. He imagines the women around him are glancing at him, attracted. He goes home and plays piano, which upsets his downstairs neighbor. He has an idea: get a car and drive far away. Jeanine meets a famous writer at her dinner party, and the writer becomes infatuated with her. Their meeting is filled with wonder and excitement—the start of something more.