Blake Porter stands in his twenty-fifth-floor office at the Manhattan firm Coble & Roy, recalling that six months earlier a colleague, Quigley, tried to jump from the same spot but was stopped by security when the window would only open a few inches. Quigley has since been sent to a retreat upstate, and Blake has taken over his job.

Blake revels in his new office—the leather chair, matching brown leather sofa, Peruvian walnut furniture, and a nameplate that reads “Blake Porter, Vice President.” He admires the skyline view and thinks disdainfully of Quigley for not handling the pressure, declaring that he can.

His fiancée, Krista Marshall, calls to check on him. Despite a heavy workload and constant emails, Blake insists he is managing and, feeling guilty about recent late nights and missed celebrations since his promotion and engagement two months earlier, he promises to leave early to take her to a nice dinner. He reflects on their domestic life in an Upper West Side brownstone, their decision to get a goldfish named Goldy as a low-responsibility pet, and his desire to provide better security than he had growing up in Cleveland with financially strapped parents.

Blake considers the balance between work and home, justifying his drive by the need to support their lifestyle and mortgage. He briefly describes his appearance as he gazes at his reflection in the office window, reinforcing his self-assured, ambitious persona.

Stacie, the boss’s secretary, arrives at his door to say that Wayne wants to speak with him immediately. Her unusual avoidance of eye contact strikes Blake as odd. He agrees to go, planning to leave soon afterward, but as he follows her out, he notes ominously that his life is about to come crashing down.