In New York City, the lives of a lawyer, an actuary, a house-cleaner, a professor and the people around them intersect as they ponder order and happiness in the face of life's cold unpredictability.

A physics professor approaching middle age decides to change his life with unexpected results. A rising young prosecuting attorney's plans are thrown into disarray as the result of a single careless act while distracted. A woman reluctantly faces her husband's infidelity. An envious insurance claims manager with family problems seeks revenge on a cheerful coworker, but has second thoughts. And an optimistic young cleaning woman awaits a miracle, only to have her faith shaken by a traumatic event. These ordinary people all find themselves asking the fundamental question philosophers have pondered throughout history: What is happiness, and how does one achieve it?—Anonymous

The lives of a handful of unrelated people are forever changed through chance encounters. They include Gene English, an insurance company manager whose unhappiness with life is exacerbated by a drug addicted and petty criminal son, Raymond; Troy, a young defense attorney with a hard line view of any improper activity, that is until he himself is the cause of the impropriety; Dr. Walker, a physics professor who is in an unsatisfying marriage; and Beatrice, a young woman just starting her adult life working as a house cleaner and who has always had a fateful but positive view of life. Each wonders about what their life would have been like if certain events didn't take place, and wonders about how to achieve true happiness.—Huggo