The Nest

The Plumb siblings plan to meet Leo upon his recent release from a rehabilitation facility. It is snowing, which is unusual for October. Melody, the youngest, has a drink at the Hyatt bar attached to Grand Central Station. She checks a tracking app on her phone to ensure her twin teenage daughters have arrived at their SAT tutoring session. She thinks of money she needs Leo to repay her: money she has counted on for her daughters’ college expenses. Her husband argues that Leo will never repay the debt.

At a cocktail bar on the other side of Grand Central Station, Jack Plumb is also having a drink with his new husband and longtime partner, Walker. He is nervous about meeting with Leo, but Walker assures him things will be fine, offering to accompany Jack. Jack has not informed his family of their recent marriage because he did not want them to attend the wedding. Like Melody, he worries about finances. He exits the bar for a quick walk before lunch and immediately encounters his sister, Beatrice.

Beatrice has come from a pub called Murphy’s that is perpendicular to Grand Central Station and owned by a man named Garrie, who has become her friend. She brings pages of the new novel she is writing to the bar, recalling her stalled writing career as well as a former job at the magazine SpeakEasy, established by Leo. Leo encouraged and assisted Bea in the writing and publishing of her first book: short stories about a character named Archie who strongly resembles Leo.

Nora and Louisa—Melody’s daughters—skip their tutoring session, leaving their phones in lockers at the facility. They head to Central Park, where they come across Leo, who, on his way to a drug purchase, has tripped and fallen on the ice. Leo does not recognize his nieces, who watch him from a distance.

The Plumb siblings refer to their shared inheritance as “The Nest.” The trust was set up by their father, Leonard Senior, when Melody was 16 and becomes accessible to the siblings when Melody turns 40 (which will occur the coming February). Leonard, an engineer who aided in the development of a new absorbent material, later began his own business that advised other companies on the uses of the material. Less than two years after establishing the trust, Leonard died of a heart attack. The trust is now managed by his second cousin, George Plumb.

At various times, the siblings have asked their mother, Francie, to disburse the funds from The Nest. She refuses to do so each time, until Leo’s car accident.

Leo is discharged from rehab after 12 weeks; he returns home to discover his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Victoria, has changed the locks. Possessing only some cash and no credit cards, Leo phones Stephanie—a friend and past girlfriend from SpeakEasy who is also Bea’s agent. Stephanie gives Leo directions to her home in Brooklyn via the subway.

While Leo is in rehab, his siblings learn that their mother, using her power of attorney, has tapped into The Nest’s funds to silence Matilda Rodriquez. Each of them will now receive 10% of the original amount. They argue with Francie; Jack insists Leo should not receive his share. Francie says they must discuss Leo’s paying them back with him directly. George, however, notes that Leo will be losing most of his wealth to Victoria in the divorce, as she, too, has been paid to remain silent. Both he and Francie stress that successfully keeping the scandal out of the news is money well-spent. Bea is the only one who suggests Leo should be given a chance and that he may indeed be willing to pay them back.

Jack, Melody, and Bea arrive at the Oyster Bar before Leo and discuss how they will proceed. Melody suggests they emphasize that they care for Leo’s well-being, but Jack is less forgiving. He insists Leo should pay them immediately, proposing that Leo likely has money hidden away somehow. Melody stresses the expenses she faces with her mortgage and twins’ upcoming college educations. Only Bea is willing to give Leo the benefit of the doubt, suggesting he may have changed. She notes that she was the only one present at the hospital the night of the accident; neither Melody nor Jack attended their cousin’s wedding. Their conversation stops as Leo arrives.

Leo spends the day assisting with various chores around Stephanie’s house. He admires her tastes and the way she’s made the old house her own, and he teases her about naming the ornate, carved mantelpiece—a young girl—Lillian. They chat over dinner, and Leo is mildly flirtatious. Stephanie, having moved on from Leo, vocalizes that she wants nothing to do with his advancements. He disapproves of her recent decision to sell her agency and join a larger firm, but Stephanie defends the choice. She notes that Bea has been phoning her about a new novel, but Stephanie has been avoiding the calls.

As Stephanie washes the dishes, Leo puts on a record and invites her to dance. She reiterates that she wants nothing to do with him sexually. Then, the power goes out from the snowstorm, and the room darkens.

Leo arrives at the Oyster Bar and secures the group a table. He immediately brings up The Nest, thanking them for agreeing to Francie’s proposal to spend the funds to silence Victoria and Matilda. The three inform him that they were not informed until after the fact. Though Leo has enough money saved in an offshore account to pay them back, he does not reveal this. Instead, he asks his siblings to give him three months—until February, when The Nest was originally scheduled to pay out—to devise a plan to pay them back.