The following day, Margaret experiences a strange recurring condition where she becomes unaware of her surroundings and actions, and her thoughts become hazy. Her behavior can be peculiar, such as attempting to use her fork to trace the pattern on the china or putting a wrapped cookie in her mouth.

Valerian and Ondine share the belief that Ondine's drinking is the root cause of her troubles. Valerian frequently nags her during these times, finding fault with everything she does, including how she eats, pronounces words, quotes poetry, behaves with his sister, and raises their son Michael.

After Valerian insults Margaret by calling her a high-school dropout, she leaves the table in tears. Jadine then steps in to defend Margaret, but she believes that the couple's argument is a result of their age gap. Valerian, being over 20 years older than his wife, is becoming more reserved and introverted, while Margaret is still full of passion and energy, like a sun that is about to set.

Valerian shifts the topic of conversation towards his son while Jadine is the only one present at the table. Jadine has met Valerian's son on some occasions. During her time in college, Jadine had argued with Michael about his endorsement of various underdogs like the Indians. Michael had attempted to make Jadine reconsider her position outside of her black cultural background.

Valerian is not happy with Michael, who is now 29 years old, and he thinks Margaret is responsible for their son's lack of progress in life, and that he's always been a "loser." However, the most disturbing thing is that Valerian remembers finding his son, who was lonely and young, hiding in a cabinet under the bathroom sink and singing to himself, avoiding the real world. Even though Valerian hasn't seen his son for three years, he still loves him, and he shares his worries about Michael with Jadine, hinting at what might happen in the future.

During the extended meal, Sydney adeptly presents the different dishes and attends to the desires of all the guests present. He deliberately refrains from making eye contact with anyone and serves each person with the utmost discretion, as if he were not even there.

All of a sudden, Margaret's loud screams startle the people present. She enters the dining room, but she is unable to explain what has scared her. She only manages to utter a few phrases that hint at a black man being involved and something happening in her closet. Sydney decides to investigate and discovers a black man in her closet. He then points a gun at the intruder and takes him to Valerian. Surprisingly, Valerian invites the stranger to have a drink with him, which amazes everyone.