In Los Angeles in 1952, Addie spends another day with Max, a wealthy sculptor who has been falling for her again and again for two months. Over martinis at the Roosevelt, she lets him believe it is her birthday, partly out of boredom with repeating the same patterns and partly to see what he will do for her.

Luc appears at their table in a black suit and immediately asserts control over the situation. When Max asks if they know each other, Addie denies it as Luc claims the opposite, and Luc’s voice overpowers Addie’s attempt to manage the narrative. With a single command—“Go”—Luc compels Max to leave, emptying Addie’s carefully maintained companionship and reminding her how easily Luc can bend other people.

Alone with Addie, Luc needles her about Max forgetting her every night, while Addie admits the relationship’s appeal is simple company. Luc offers himself as an alternative, and Addie—flushed, irritated, and honest about the void Max has left—tells Luc to fill the space he created. Luc takes her away, promising a better night.

Luc brings Addie to the Cicada Club, where a prime table is waiting as if arranged by will alone. Addie listens as a performer Luc calls “Sinatra” takes the stage, and she challenges Luc to dance, comparing him to Max to force his hand. On the dance floor, Luc surprises Addie with fluid intimacy, telling her that even if everyone remembered her, Luc would still know her best, and insisting she is the only one who truly knows him.

The dance turns into confession and temptation as Luc says he wants Addie and always has, while Addie accuses him of wanting to consume her like a prize. Their kiss begins with unfamiliar caution and then deepens into hunger, and the club disappears as Luc pulls them through darkness into a hotel room. They make love with the intensity of a fight finally released, and when morning comes Luc says he should leave because he belongs to darkness; Addie closes the curtains to make the room dark again, and Luc laughs and stays, pulling her back into bed.