Anna is an aspiring actress from France, who is trying to build her career in New York City. In Manhattan, she shares a loft with two other young women, Nicole, an opera student, and Felicity, who works as an art gallery receptionist and is from an affluent family. One day at Felicity’s gallery, the owner Gracie meets with an artist named Gordon, who is anxious to know if his recent paintings will sell soon. Gracie reveals that there is potential interest, but it may take awhile to find the right buyer based on the lackluster reception of his last exhibit. Gordon admits he needs money right away and begs Gracie to advance him $10,000 against future sales. Although Gracie considers Gordon a friend as well as a talented artist, she is surprised by his brazen request and states that his debts are not her problem. As he persists, she tells him to leave. When Ariel Ainsworth, a collector, visits the gallery in hope of buying a painting from a sold-out art show, Gracie tries to steer her toward Gordon’s latest work. While the two women negotiate, Gordon fortuitously returns to the gallery with a painting in hand and invites Ariel for a tour of his studio. Elsewhere, Anna is engrossed in the paintings of seventeenth century Dutch artist, Johannes Vermeer, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There, a successful stockbroker named Mark notices her and is immediately infatuated. He hands her a note, and Anna reads it, then walks away without saying anything. Later, however, she arranges a date with Mark and brings Felicity along as chaperon. Waiting at a café, Anna tells Felicity that she thinks Mark might be uninteresting, and when Mark arrives carrying flowers, she pretends not to speak English and uses Felicity as her translator. Mark says that he was struck by Anna’s beauty, which reminded him of the women in Vermeer’s paintings. Anna whispers questions into Felicity’s ear for Mark to answer, and he obliges, revealing that he is not married and lives in an elegant apartment building on the Upper West Side. Anna finally makes known that she speaks English, but remains coy. After giving Mark her number, she and Felicity leave. Later, Felicity’s father, Max, pays a visit to the girls’ apartment. Before taking his daughter and Anna to lunch, he and Felicity argue about “socially responsible” stocks. Felicity objects to her father purchasing unethical investments for her, such as chewing gum companies that destroy the Amazon rainforest, but Max does not think his daughter has enough experience with the stock market to make investment decisions. For their next rendezvous, Mark and Anna meet at the top of the World Trade Center. Anna loves the view, while Mark dislikes the experience of seeing everything “small and far away.” Back at the apartment, Anna and Felicity discuss the bad habits and annoying singing exercises of their roommate, Nicole. When Felicity asks if she can rehearse somewhere else, Nicole is irritated and threatens to move out. While Mark entertains Anna at his luxurious apartment, he proposes that she move in with him and help liven up the place. He further confesses that the Vermeer gallery at the museum has provided solace from his frenzied job. Tired of looking at numbers all day, he is ready to quit. When Mark notices that Anna is preoccupied, she admits that she needs help paying the rent, which is $3,000. Mark agrees to give her the money, although he is surprised that her loft is so expensive. Later, Anna confides to Felicity that she misses France and her boyfriend there and wants to return. She is also tired of being one of those actresses who always needs money. Felicity asks if she can join her. After a tough day at the office watching his stock investments plunge, Mark escapes to the museum. Furthermore, he is troubled by a throbbing headache. While looking at the Vermeer painting, Study of a Young Woman, Mark finds blood dripping from his ear. He enters a telephone booth and dials Anna’s number, but her answering machine picks up. He leaves a message that he loves her, then suddenly collapses in the booth from a fatal brain hemorrhage. Meanwhile, Anna and Felicity lock up the apartment as they prepare to leave for the airport, but Anna turns around at the last minute to listen to the telephone message. After hearing Mark’s declaration, Anna rushes to the museum and sees his coat on a gallery bench. Staring across at Study of a Young Woman, Anna disappears into the painting.