A car zooms down a darkened street, screeching to a halt at the water's edge. Out of it emerges an upset-looking woman, who pauses only to take in the sight of a man singing as he swims in the harbor; then, taking a deep breath, she jumps.

The man notices her plummet, and goes after her, but her body has sunk by the time he gets there. He climbs out of the water and walks along the dock, bumping into the woman as he goes. The man is surprised, having thought her dead; the woman is just confused and scared, but determined not to show it. Down the dock, lights flicker on - it is an all-night cafe. The duo enter as a man steps from the shadows. He has a conversation with the audience:

""Do you believe in second chances, hmm? It's human nature, isn't it? But for a second chance, would you face your worst nightmare? The very thing that frightens you most, or drove you to the brink of disaster - hmm? Or would you then... See those good folks? Well, they're about to get a second chance. An

Fay's letters, describing the opulence of the city and her blossoming life, lure her naïve younger sister Ivy to pay her a visit. She arrives with her boyfriend Jesse, who teases her for reading a particular letter so many times and snatches it out of her grasp. As she chases him to get it back, he tosses it away - and it lands in Blackie's hand. He reads it wryly and realizes that Fay has gotten into a lot more than she bargained for. She may have forgotten inviting Ivy to visit her, but the cafe won't let her.

When Blackie returns to the cafe, Fay expresses her desire to alter her past - specifically, she wishes she'd had a mother that listened to her because then she could have lived her life differently. Blackie hints that surely someone looks up to Fay, but the waitress doesn't catch on to what he means.

Ivy and Jesse have arrived in a sleazy part of town on their search for Fay's place of residence, and Ivy is certain that they have taken a wrong turn. They come upon a corner liq