Marian searches the refrigerator for something to eat; leftovers and expired foods have begun to accumulate inside, and the kitchen has become increasingly cluttered with dirty dishes. The cleaning schedule she once shared with Ainsley has disintegrated and neither attempts to take care of the apartment any longer. Marian takes a bath. She notices her distorted reflection in the two taps and bathtub’s spout, becoming unsettled by how they seem to be different from one another. She feels her grip on her identity and sanity begin to slip, “coming apart layer by layer like a piece of cardboard in a gutter puddle” (240). Still panicking, Marian returns to the apartment to get dressed for the party. The keepsake dolls she keeps in her room seem to be staring at her, and she imagines for a moment that she is them watching herself.

Unnerved, Marian invites Duncan, Duncan’s roommates, the office virgins, Clara and Joe, and Ainsley to the party at Peter’s in an attempt to keep her sanity intact. She dresses and has Ainsley do her makeup and lend her jewelry. Her reflection in the mirror is that “of a person she had never seen before” (244). They are interrupted by their landlady, who has come to inform Ainsley that she must move out for her inappropriate behavior with Len.