Natalia Kuznetsova, a young, outwardly prosperous and successful woman artist, lives in the centre of Moscow. A plumber comes to fix a clogged sink in her bathroom, who turns out to be a man from her distant past... The meeting evokes memories of her first love: in her youth she was friends with Igor Turbin, who was from a large family, and although he had abilities and talent, he did not go to university, but went to work for the sake of his two younger brothers. She married Makarkin, a carefree and successful classmate. She, the daughter of the creative intelligentsia, was self-assured a place in the art academy and a secure career and future, and the husband should have been appropriate. But happiness did not turn out. Years later she realised that she had betrayed her love and married a complete stranger....