Peter Neverov, a classical concert pianist, is plagued by recurring thoughts of leading an inauthentic existence, as he travels from concert venue to concert venue. Feeling trapped in the life that he once dreamed for himself, Peter now reaches blindly for the human intimacy that his career has never afforded him.

One night, at a hotel bar in Budapest, he meets Erika, a stunning call-girl. Initially shocked with her proposition to spend the night with him, he accepts her offer, hoping for a temporary palliative for the gnawing malaise from which he suffers. To his surprise, Peter discovers in Erika a charming and intelligent young woman who-much like him-is trapped in her own circumstances. Following a night that brings him not only physical pleasure, but, more important, an emotional respite, he becomes convinced that without her he will sink back into his unrelenting anxieties. He desperately tries to persuade her to remain with him for a few days longer, until his concert in Prague. There, he pleads with a reluctant Erika to follow him to New York, unmindful of the profound consequences such a move would have on both their lives.