Brian Bloom (Anton Yelchin), a struggling 24-year-old writer in New York City, meets a 33-year-old French woman named Arielle Pierpont (Bérénice Marlohe). They feel powerfully attracted to one another. After their second meeting, Arielle reveals that she is married to a diplomat, Valéry (Lambert Wilson), and they have two young children. Arielle and Valéry have an agreement that each is permitted to have extramarital affairs as long as they are limited to the time between 5 and 7 p.m. on weeknights. Brian is perplexed at this information and tells Arielle that he cannot continue the relationship with her, believing it is an unethical affair. Arielle says that, should he change his mind, she will continue to smoke on Fridays at the same place they met.