The story opens with a thirty-year-old man who is a member of a well-to-do family. He is a bachelor who works as a designer for a large company. He has just returned from a party where he met another man who works for the same company. The man is the manager of the company's department of design. The two men discuss the party, which is being held in a private room, and the man is surprised to find that the man next to him is also there. He asks the man if he has come to talk to him about work, but the man replies that he had come to a colleague's gathering. The men discuss how they have met and how they will meet again in the future. The first man says that he has never been to a party like this before, and that he is ashamed of himself for being late. The second man asks if he can smoke in the room, but he is afraid of the enclosed space. He says that the room is full of smoke, and he will have to leave when he has time. He tells the man that he must make up with another man before he can join the next party. The third man says