Nora waits with her brother Joe in a small VIP Business Lounge before a forty-minute paid talk. She learns Joe has managed her for seven years since she quit professional swimming, and that he has increased her speaking fee. Nora drinks peppermint tea, suspects she avoids caffeine in this life, and considers improvising the talk.

As they chat, Nora pieces together this life: Joe also manages other clients she introduced, went to university in Manchester, and is happily married to Ewan. They debate getting a dog. Nora laments the version of herself who didn’t study philosophy or pursue music, briefly quoting Thoreau as Joe suggests adding it to her speech. Childhood ambitions surface as they recall Nora’s past dream of Arctic exploration and glaciology.

Joe mentions bumping into Ravi, now a cameraman and occasional DJ, who may come to the talk. Nora is uneasy. Joe also shares he is teetotal after struggling with alcohol when their mother died, hinting at a difficult period that reshaped him.

Concerned about her mother, Nora probes the past. Joe reveals their mum had hidden a serious drinking problem—about a bottle of gin a day after Nadia—and died quickly without telling them how ill she was, while Nora had European Championships looming. Neither sibling was there at the end. Joe worries Nora seems off and mentions her tablets; she finds a box of antidepressants in her bag. Priya enters and says, “It’s time,” leading Nora toward the stage.