Frédéric, a young and successful partner in a Paris business firm, is happily married to Hélène, an English teacher, and father to one child with another on the way. Yet something gnaws at him. He moves through his days with a quiet restlessness, memories of a time before marriage when he could be with any woman he wanted and could feel the deep thrill of anticipation as he chased them. At one point, he indulges in a vivid fantasy about a magical amulet that would bend all women to his will—a dream sequence that nods to the women from Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales and reads to him as a strange measure of how strong his love for his wife actually runs.
One day, Chloé, [Zouzou], a woman from Frédéric’s past, stops by his office. Chloé had once been the girlfriend of an old friend of Frédéric, and she had caused that friend a great deal of grief. At first, Frédéric suspects she is after cash and company, but as she tries a series of jobs to find some stability in her life, to the increasing amusement of the secretaries in Frédéric’s office, the two begin spending afternoons together, talking about a lot of things Frédéric finds himself unable to discuss with Hélène. He discovers the pleasures of having an attractive mistress without the guilt of adultery, while she enjoys the presence of a man who will give her what she wants without requiring marriage or deep commitment.
After the birth of Frédéric’s second child, Chloé decides that a child could give focus to her aimless life and tells Frédéric that he will become the father. She has no desire to be tied down by marriage, so she treats the fact that Frédéric already has a wife and family as largely irrelevant. Although Frédéric’s attraction to Chloé continues to grow, he consistently manages to stop himself from crossing the line and acting on temptation. Then, one afternoon, he arrives at her apartment to find her in the shower. When she emerges, she asks him to towel her dry, and then invites him to bed. He begins to undress, but catches his reflection in the mirror, seeing his face peek out from the neck of his turtleneck—an image that recalls a game he once played with his daughter. He leaves Chloé naked and waiting, and slips away to go home to Hélène, who is alone. They share a tentative conversation as they navigate their feelings, and, in the end, Hélène breaks down in tears. Frédéric consoles her, and the couple heads to their bedroom together, the moment marking a uncertain, intimate pause in their lives.
