Anne has not seen Marius Fleming, her college professor mentor/lover, in the eight years since she graduated from college. In that time, she had sent him Christmas cards and he sent brief responses. She got married to a man named Tony and had children. Tony will be meeting Anne in Chicago the next morning, but until then, she is in Marius's town alone. Marius suggests that they go to dinner. At the restaurant, Anne feels like a child again, blushing and letting Marius order for her and make all the decisions. She starts drinking, and her face becomes flushed. Marius tells Anne that she has not changed, and she replies the same to him. He asks what she has been up to in these eight years, and Anne does not give a direct reply. She becomes embarrassed and shows Marius a picture of her Tony. Marius gives an indifferent reply, and Anne insists that he is special. After dinner, Marius and Anne walk past the university at which they met. They go to her hotel room and sleep together. She asks Marius why he never loved her, and he replies, "Other factors." Anne says she would have stayed if Marius had asked her to, and he tells her it never would have mattered. Marius's indifference makes it so that Anne feels like they did not sleep together at all, and she will go back to her husband with an easy goodbye from her former professor.