T.R. Baskin

Jack Mitchell, a middle-aged salesman from Utica, meets his old friend Larry Moore in Chicago on a Sunday afternoon. They talk about the city and its possible connections, and Jack asks if Larry knows any 'girls' in town. Larry provides the phone number of T.R. Baskin, setting the stage for the rest of the story.

Jack phones T.R. Baskin and invites her to visit him at his hotel. The invitation marks the next step in their uneasy encounter and foreshadows the intimate, awkward moment to come.

T.R. arrives at the hotel; their conversation is awkward. They get into bed, but Jack is unable to perform, and T.R. laughs uncontrollably. The moment exposes vulnerability in both and pushes her to revisit her past through flashbacks.

T.R. leaves Findlay, Ohio, for Chicago and informs her parents of her absence via telegram. She arrives in Chicago and begins to navigate a new life. The journey marks the start of her precarious urban experience.

Upon arriving in Chicago, T.R. first checks into a room at the YWCA and then moves into a run-down studio apartment, the only option affordable to her. The cramped space underscores the financial realities of her new life. She begins to build a basic routine in the city.

T.R. finds employment as a typist in a large corporation, entering the city’s white-collar world. She befriends Dayle Wigoda, who helps her social circle by arranging a double-date. These connections introduce her to a broader urban existence while highlighting her isolation.

Dayle arranges a double-date for T.R., but the man she meets proves to be a misogynist and bigot. T.R. ends the date by sharply insulting him, refusing to tolerate the disrespect. The episode reinforces her sense of alienation in the city.

After the failed date, T.R. begins spending her evenings alone in her apartment, a pattern that deepens her loneliness. She reflects on her life choices and the widening gap between her dreams and reality. The city’s bustle feels distant from her small apartment.

One night, leaving a crowded bar, T.R. notices Larry reading a book through a cafe window and joins him at his table. They talk about their lives and regrets, and she ends up spending the night with him. The encounter offers a temporary escape from loneliness but stirs deeper questions about intimacy and choice.

The next morning, T.R. discovers Larry has slipped a $20 bill into her coat pocket, mistaking her for a sex worker. She feels betrayed and humiliated by the misunderstanding. She leaves Larry’s apartment and wanders the desolate early-morning streets.

Back in her own apartment, T.R. calls her parents, who are presumably furious about her absence. She apologizes earnestly and breaks down in tears, confronting the emotional costs of her choices in the city. The moment underscores the strain between her new life and family expectations.

Later in the hotel, T.R. and Jack discuss how city life has affected them, and Jack shares his desire to retire to small-town Florida. He offers to see her again, but T.R. declines, choosing her own path instead. The conversation crystallizes their different outlooks and futures.

They share a warm hug before parting, and T.R. walks off into the bustling Chicago streets. The moment signals her choice to continue her life in the city on her own terms. The scene closes on the lively urban backdrop that frames her ongoing journey.