Else Ramos, divorced mother of two year-old Max, flees her stifling apartment after a distressing confrontation with her controlling ex-husband. Gabriel. In the sweltering July sun, on the sidewalk outside a store, she meets a handsome foreigner, Lendar Marl. When Lendar brings her home after their first date, Elise warns him of Gabriel's violent ways. Lendar assures her that he knows hot to deal with brutes. Outside her apartment, Lendar easily defeats the drunken Gabriel and Elise begins to believe Lendar might be the man she's been praying for.