- The morning after getting home from his aborted trip, Herzog wakes up to hear the phone ringing. He picks up and hears Ramona on the other end. She says a friend of hers saw Herzog at the train station the day before, and Ramona was afraid that Herzog was running out on her.
- Herzog reassures Ramona that he wasn't running away, although this is exactly what he was doing.
- To cover for his lie, Herzog asks Ramona to dinner at an Italian restaurant. She's skeptical at first, but agrees.
- When he hangs up the phone, Herzog looks at his desk and realizes just how many letters he's been writing. Now it's time to get dressed for his dinner with Ramona. He throws on some clothes and thinks about what Ramona would think of them.
- Herzog thinks back on when he first fell in love with a Japanese friend named Sono Oguki while he was married to Daisy (his first wife). Once Daisy's mother Polina became aware of the love, she visited Herzog and gave him a big speech, demanding to know where he expected to end up if he just kept chasing after a new girl every few months.
- Herzog sits down and starts writing a letter to Sono, who moved back to Japan years ago. Back in the day, Sono had insisted that Madeleine would make Herzog miserable and that he should marry her (Sono) instead. But Herzog didn't take her advice and now he's regretting it.
- Toward the end of his marriage with Daisy, Herzog had started seeing Sono. She had grown up in Paris and didn't speak English well, so she and Herzog spoke to one another in French.
- Sono basically treated Herzog like a king while they were together. She did everything he wanted and gave him constant love and sympathy. And still it wasn't enough for some reason. It's starting to look like Herzog would be unhappy with any situation if he were in it long enough.
- When he's done reminiscing, Herzog sets off for his date with Ramona.
- On the subway to Ramona's, Herzog sits and (you guessed it) thinks about things—both personal stuff and huge philosophical questions.
- Outside Ramona's place, Herzog catches one of her ex-lovers hanging around and staring at him (Herzog) as he goes in.
- Once he's inside, Herzog has to convince Ramona that he really wants to see her before they can get down to dinner.
- Herzog is clumsy at flirting, but Ramona doesn't mind. She tells him to sit down so she can bring out the supper when it's ready. When she brings the food out, Herzog is bowled over by how awesome it all is. He thinks that maybe marrying Ramona wouldn't be so bad after all.
- Ramona blindsides Herzog by asking him whether his hesitation in dating her comes from the fact that she's had a lot of men in her life. He denies it, but she doesn't fully believe him.
- Of all things, Herzog's marriage to Madeleine becomes the main topic of conversation. Herzog tells the story of how his ex-friend Val (and Madeleine's new lover) came over to Herzog's one time after Madeleine had left.
- Val picked up some of Madeleine's stuff—including her birth control. Herzog asked Madeleine about it at the time, but she told him he had no right to ask.
- Ramona asks Herzog what he's going to do moving forward. He says he hasn't decided yet whether he's going to move closer to his son Marco (who's with his first wife Daisy) or closer to June (his daughter with Madeleine).
- Ramona begs him to do the sensible thing and not fight for custody of June. She and he both know he'll ruin himself in the process. But Herzog admits that he's worried about how June's being treated by Val and Madeleine (i.e. the story about June being locked in the car while the other two fought).
- Finally, Ramona makes her move and sits next to Herzog. She strokes his ego by saying he's a great person and that he shouldn't let others keep him down.
- This boost to his ego is just what Herzog needs to get into the mood for sex. He starts kissing Ramona. But just as things are heating up, the phone starts ringing. Ramona says to ignore it, since she assumes it's her old lover (hanging around outside) who just wants to ruin their evening. Nonetheless, Herzog stops kissing and talks to Ramona for a while about this ex-lover. Herzog almost feels bad for the guy.
- Ramona waves the negative thoughts away and kisses Herzog again. Then she disappears into another room and tells him to wait. When she returns, she's only wearing a single piece of lingerie and walking in spike-heeled shoes. It's fair to say that she has Herzog's attention. It all gets pretty steamy from this point on…
- When Herzog wakes up later that night, he looks over at Ramona and feels peaceful. That's a good sign, since he'd usually feel nervous or guilty at this point.