At a port in the United States, Natalie says good-bye to Willard, her current boyfriend, as her ship sets sail across the Atlantic. She is planning on visiting some relatives in London before traveling through southern Europe. When she gets to her room on the ship, she lies on the bed and thinks about her good-bye as Willard is left behind. This reminds her of an experience of hers twelve years ago. At the time, she was living in Mexico with an American expatriate artist named Carlos. He was friends with several other expatriates. Though she loved him, Natalie was worried that he was too in love with his expat community and his art, and thus ignored her. One Sunday, when they all had off from work, Natalie, Carlos, and his friends all visited Maximillian's palace for a picnic. The palace itself was old and trashed, but the grounds were nice. Carlos had been asking Natalie to marry him for some time, and he expected an answer at the picnic. She pulled him away from the others for a few minutes, but still hadn't made a decision. When Simon, one of Carlos's friends, interrupted them to show them some flowers, Natalie was relieved. They rejoined the others. The men of the party went down to a waterfall to swim while the women sat on the picnic blanket and set out the food before making leaf crowns. Storm clouds rolled in, bringing thunder and a downpour. The women took the picnic and ran to take shelter under the awning of the palace, and then they were joined shortly after by the men. As they waited for the storm to pass, Natalie went over to Carlos and leaned on his shoulder, but, to him, it was as if she were not there; he was enthralled by the storm. In that moment, Natalie knew she couldn't marry him. When the storm cleared, the group went home, planning an outing for the following Sunday, but Natalie already imagined herself packing her things and leaving Mexico. Back on the ship, Natalie decides to get out of bed and go see who else is on the boat. She touches up her makeup, wanting to be presentable because she never knew who she might meet. She thinks back to Willard, who is a few years younger than she is, and knows that he will have moved on to a different woman by the time she returns to the United States in two months.