In New York City, forty-year-old John LeTour delivers drugs to upscale clients for his employer, Ann. He keeps a diary of his experiences, which, he is told, is a sure sign of “burn-out.” When he finishes his deliveries for the night, he returns to Ann’s apartment and drops off his payments. The next day, John meets a dealer named “Jealous,” who asks if John will take over from Ann, who plans to quit the drug business soon. John fears he will be tempted to start using drugs again, and says he wants to get into the music business instead. Before leaving, Jealous warns John that police are on the lookout for dealers, after a well-to-do young woman was found dead with large amounts of cocaine. At Ann’s apartment, Robert, a fellow dealer, tells John he will be joining Ann in her new cosmetics business after the new year, and suggests that John work with them. However, John is waiting for Ann to ask him herself. When John makes a delivery to a longtime client named Eddie, he sees that the addict is strung out, and refuses to sell him a large amount of cocaine, fearing he will overdose. John offers Eddie a small portion instead, and instructs him to go to bed. On the street, John sees his former girl friend, Marianne Jost, waiting for a taxicab, and orders his driver to pick her up. She is surprised to see him after several years, and reports she is not allowed to be around her former drug associates, as she has been “clean” for four years. John shares that he has also been off drugs for two years. Marianne asks if he is still dealing drugs, and John denies it. When his beeper goes off, however, John admits that he still works for Ann, and Marianne orders the driver to let her out. Later, John visits a psychic named Teresa Aranow, who predicts that a woman will soon betray him. She warns him not to abuse drugs. John makes a delivery to a client named Tis, who buys Valium to calm his nerves, after his underaged date overdosed on drugs and was admitted to the hospital. As he leaves, John sees Marianne’s sister, Randi, in a hospital hallway, and learns she and Marianne are there visiting their cancer-stricken mother. Surprised to see John again, Marianne refuses to let him say hello to her mother, but consents to a cup of coffee. John remembers their relationship fondly, but Marianne reminds him how difficult it was. Repeating his plan to leave the drug trade, John asks her to start over with him, but she remains distant. In time, Ann takes John to lunch and admits she is afraid that her cosmetics business will fail. John claims he will always be there if she needs him. Later, he returns to the hospital to see Marianne, and visits her mother. When Marianne sees John gently reaching out to her comatose parent, she kisses him, and they go back to her hotel to have sex. Although Marianne does not regret their encounter, she insists that she never wants to see him again. As she leaves, John professes his love. Later, Ann chastises John for disappearing for several hours. Longing for a change in his life, John believes Marianne is the answer. He telephones her hotel room, but she is not there. He calls back several times and records her voice on the answering machine, listening to it repeatedly. Homicide Detective Bill Guidone accosts John, roughs him up, and accuses him of having ties to a wealthy college girl who was found murdered, with uncut cocaine in her possession. Guidone suspects that the high-quality drugs came from a “classy” dealer such as John, and orders him to gather information and report back to him in one week. John discovers that Marianne checked out of her hotel, and calls the hospital to learn her mother passed away. At the wake, Marianne orders him to leave, shouting until her sister escorts him outside. Randi explains that Marianne feels guilty because she was not there when their mother died. Distraught, John returns to work and gets into an argument with Ann. He reveals his disappointment that she did not ask him to join her new business. Ann apologizes, claiming she did not think he would be interested in a cosmetics company, and invites him to work with her, but he leaves in anger. When John makes a delivery to Tis at his high rise apartment, Marianne stumbles into the room, having recently relapsed. She sees John, and flees to the bedroom, prompting Tis to comment on their association. John leaves dumbfounded. On the street, he hears a woman scream, and turns the corner to see Marianne’s body laying on the sidewalk. He walks away, and later listens to a radio news report about a woman who fell thirty-four stories to her death from a lonely apartment. Early in the morning, John visits psychic Teresa at her home, and begs for a reading. Teresa sees “death” around him, and claims someone was murdered. She insists, however, that he has no reason to be afraid. Later, John telephones Guidone, and tells him that Marianne was not alone in the apartment, as the news reported, and hints at Tis’s involvement. John buys a gun to protect himself, then visits Randi, who reveals that her sister had gotten back on drugs, but dismisses the notion that she was murdered. Later, Tis calls Ann, requesting that John make a delivery, but John refuses to go unless Ann accompanies him. She agrees, and en route, John asks her to mail a letter to his sister if anything should happen to him. When they arrive at a hotel, they are held at gunpoint by Tis’s bodyguards. Tis accuses John of talking to police, and claims he had nothing to do with Marianne’s death. When he orders Ann to wait outside, she shouts “fire” in the hallway. John shoots Tis’s men, and is hit by return gunfire in the arm and leg. Pursuing Tis into a bedroom, he shoots him in the head. In time, Ann visits John in jail as he awaits sentencing. He tells her he expects imprisonment, but incarceration has been a “relief,” and he has been doing a lot of writing. When Ann remarks how much she has enjoyed his letters, John wonders aloud why they never slept together. He shares his regrets at the missed opportunity, and tells Ann it is the only thing he looks forward to. Ann holds his hand and admits she wants the same thing.