A woman's fulfillment lies in marriage and children. A career in business is merely a way to kill time until the right man comes along. Emjay Howe age thirty-three had been hearing this all her life. As a girl she heard it from her mother and aunts and now she heard it from her contemporaries as well. Emjay Howe was still single at thirty-three, but she had finished her B.A. degree and was well on her way to a career at Newtelco. The way she looked at it; the sky was the limit. She had set her sights on a possible V.P. sometime in the next fifteen years. Her mixed heritage, i.e. Cuban and Negro accounted for her fair skin, dark brown curly hair and light brown eyes. She was a striking figure; tall and slender and lithe from exercise and strict attention to food intake. Her feelings about her racial mixture was a constant source of unrest for her. Whenever she was thwarted in love she blamed her mixed blood. But she also felt her career goals acted as a shield against any serious personal involvement. As the story unfolds. Emjay is ending a five-year relationship with Phil, an account executive, nineteen years her senior. Phil is white, divorced twice and says he will never marry again. Harry Howe, Emjay's brother is a closet alchoholic, who has a high paying job in city government. He and Emjay view their mixed background differently. He says it hasn't prevented him from having anything he really wanted. His skin color is darker than his sister's and he is married to Joan who is darker than he. They have no children. Joan has something of a possessive attitude towards Hal, their next door neighbor because he gave her a set of keys to his apartment so she could look out for his mail when he was out of town. She has tried but has not successfully been able to befriend her sister-in-law, Emjay. She feels Emjay looks down on her because she is less educated and has a darker skin color. Joan cannot forgive Emjay these feelings. Hal Braeden is a white, anglo-saxon, self-made millionaire who lives in St. Thomas, V.I. half a year and the other half in New York during the football season. Whatever time is left he travels extensively following his favorite team when they are out of town. He is married to Amanda, an attractive black woman ten years his junior. They have a son, Steven who is a miniature of his father. Amanda has a teen-age daughter from a previous relationship. Amanda after seven years with Hal has discovered a whole new world beyond her marriage. Hal introduced her to the world of business and she wants to try it on for size. In New York, Hal lives in the same apartment building as Harry; the same floor; four apartments down the hall. This coincidence accounts for the friendship between Harry and Hal. Hal's idea of an open marriage with freedom to date for both parties, when he is out of town has added a sense of non-caring and boredom to their union.
