Marina has an affair with a man who has a family, while Alexei married «by accident»—and although the marriage didn’t work out, he is painfully attached to his daughter. Fate keeps bringing them together, but Marina and Alexei turn away from its obvious signs. Each has a gift: he is a talented artist, and she can read other people’s thoughts. Both keep terrible secrets, and both will have to pass through fire, water, and copper pipes on the way to happiness.