- Back in New York City, Clarissa Vaughan is puttering around her apartment, getting things ready for the party.
- After she arranges a big bouquet of yellow roses on her coffee table, Clarissa hears the buzzer buzz.
- Turns out it's Clarissa's old friend Louis Waters at the door—the third corner of the love triangle that Clarissa and Richard had created together when they were eighteen and nineteen years old.
- Clarissa buzzes him in, and when Louis appears in the hallway they hug and take stock of each other, each evaluating what age has done to the other.
- Louis and Clarissa make small talk, and Louis looks around the apartment as Clarissa goes into the kitchen to get them some water. Then, the two old friends sit together in the living room and talk.
- Clarissa and Louis talk about the state of Richard's health, about Louis's life in San Francisco, about Richard's novel (which none of the critics, and few of its readers, seemed to like), about the old days and their teenage love affairs, and about Louis's current infatuation with one of his students.
- As Louis tells Clarissa about the student he's dating, he starts to cry.
- After a moment, Louis and Clarissa hear a key turning in the door, and Clarissa realizes that her daughter, Julia, is coming in.
- Louis tries to dry his eyes before Julia comes in, but he doesn't quite succeed. He stays just long enough to exchange polite "Hellos," then makes a quick exit.
- As Louis walks out into the sunshine and begins to make his way along West Tenth Street, he decides to move back to New York City, live in the West Village, and enjoy what remains of his youth. As he does, he remembers the feeling of total liberation that he felt more than twenty years ago, on the day he left Richard for good.