Reading the room. A date between Isabelle and Sam is interrupted by an old flame, Nick, whose refuge from married life has always been Isabelle's bedroom. Only tonight she's with someone else, and his insistence on sticking around in spite of Sam's presence is intended as a challenge to a stranger he now sees as a rival. One of them will be leaving soon, and Nick makes himself comfortable in an armchair. It won't be him. Sam, having long since worked out the situation, confidently sets about his business. Instead of throwing him out or confronting him, Sam just talks to him, affably striking up a rapport until, finally, he offers Nick a place to stay the night. Nick's not in a position to argue, and so he doesn't, while Sam walks over to stand with Isabelle. The simple, skilful removal of an obstacle. No fuss, no drama. A quiet victory for a quiet man, and a defiant act of romance.