CC de Poitiers is a self-absorbed, middle-aged woman having an extramarital affair with a photographer named Saul Petrov. CC is married to a man named Richard Lyon.

At 52, Saul grows bored with his circle of friends, with himself, and with CC. Saul feels that he hates his lover, a narcissist who has written a self-help book called Be Calm. Her own behavior doesn’t reflect the clichéd advice she offers. After seeing the manuscript rejected repeatedly, she self-published the book, insisting it would help people find happiness.

Saul and CC have met in their usual spot, a room at the Ritz hotel in Montreal. Saul notices a discarded portfolio of an unknown artist’s work in the wastebasket. He’s inspired by the beauty of one photograph in particular, and it inspires him to think about a fulfilling, creative future of his own—one without CC:

He flipped through the other pages and slowly felt a smile come to his frozen face and move to his hardened heart. Maybe, one day, if he ever got clear of CC he could go back to his work and do pieces like this (7).