Jacques' heart is haunted by the faded ghost of a distant father he has tried to forget, and by the tender shadow of a girl's smile he cannot remember. To dull his pain, he falls into hedonism: exotic locales, thrilling escapades and above all, beautiful women. Fleeing his wife's alcoholism, his memories of his first love, and his fear of becoming like his father, Jacques struggles to find an escape. He finds it in the embrace of a string of beautiful women he encounters while traveling on business. Women in hotel piano-bars, at reception desks, and throughout his high-flying life, all strive vainly to mend his broken heart. Each of these short-lived love affairs, passionate and thrilling, is brought to a similar abrupt ending. He spurns these tender efforts, carrying deep in his heart a grim determination to find the woman he has always loved, without knowing who it was that called out to him to wait for her.