Lillian is commissioned to do a painting for Jake Gregory, who owns a Los Angeles construction firm. As they proceed up to the top of a project in a cage elevator, the attraction between them rises even faster, and after the usual romantic and personal interludes, the two of them decide to marry. On their first anniversary, Jake gives Lillian diamond earrings, and a painful ear-piercing ensues, played out with sexual undertones. The couple have no major problems until one day they meet the villainous Sidney who invites them to his home where he introduces them to freebasing cocaine. In the long run, Lillian backs away, but Jake quickly becomes addicted, though their initial reactions to the drug are the opposite. During the remainder of the film, Jake's life deteriorates steadily, as no one and nothing is able to come between him and the cause of his destruction.