Charles Cuvelier is a successful ad executive who is on his way to check out a luxury apartment. Riding up to the proper floor, the ornate, central-well elevator breaks down, trapping him. A woman, Carole Valmer, comes out of her apartment but refuses to help. The next morning, the woman says she has called the repair man while sitting on the floor in front of him to eat breakfast. She says that in order for him to win his freedom, he must seduce her over dinner.