At thirty-five, Jane, a freelance translator, realises something rather disturbing. After fifteen years spent building the life she believed she wanted, she's failed. She thought she had everything perfectly balanced - working from home allows her to keep her financial independence, spend time with her daughter and escape office politics - but somehow, instead of combining a rewarding career with a satisfying mother-daughter relationship, she's become an all-purpose dogs body, rushing from crisis to crisis and combining missing deadlines with repairing the dishwasher.
Rupert is also leading the life he planned: a job in the city, a glamorous girlfriend, plenty of money. But he's beginning to have doubts about the dull-but-sensible route he's chosen - and to realise its just possible he wants more out of life. So when he and Jane meet, each escaping their day-to-day life with a stolen afternoon in the peace of the cinema, they both start to wonder whether its really enough to settle for the next best thing.
