It was supposed to be "a lovely break." As their mutual friend Helena is the toast of Broadway, stand-up comedian Cissie O'Brien, who is the nation's darling with her popular television series, decides to take the beautiful and troubled actress Maggie Salt to New York to see her. But Maggie, a destructive whirlpool of a personality, is cracking up fast and on arrival she suddenly disappears into the freezing February night. As the search for their friend continues, dangerous cracks occur in the lifelong relationships of Cissie, Helena, and her stoic husband Mark. Helena has always been utterly self-centered and now Cissie, haunted by the outing of her relationship with her lover Jenny back home, disappears as well. Now, two friends are lost separately somewhere in snowbound Manhattan.