Marie is thirty-five years old. She loves François. They have been married for twelve years and they have a two-year-old child, Paul. François would like another child but Marie is not sure she wants one, she doesn't know why.
Marie sells encyclopeadias door-to-door. One morning she knocks on the door of a strange man, Bill, a fifty-year- old African American. Bill doesn't speak french. He lives alone in a villa and never seems to go out at all. Their first encounter is difficult.
Marie feels offended at first, and then intrigued by this singular character. Little by little, she begins to enjoy their conversations, coming up with excuses to prolong them. One day she loosens up and takes more and more pleasure in talking about herself.