An author is stuck at the airport, when he bumps into a former classmate, Jeff. As they wait, Jeff tells a fascinating story of his life. Alone on a beach, he saved a drowning man from the surf. He developed a fixation on the man, getting a job at his gallery. Yet Jeff brushed his concerns about this man aside convinced that their encounter on the beach was fated, even as the nature of their relationship grew darker... With distinct shades of Patricia Highsmith and Donna Tartt.