- Informed that he has “no friends,” fervent antiques dealer François is stunned. What can this mean, he wonders, that his business partner Catherine would be so rude as to accuse him of such social retardation. After all, he protests, before an inadvertent audience of fellow restaurant diners, he has a best friend, and she can meet him—by the end of the month. Catherine agrees to a bet: if he produces no such person, he must give her a 5th century Roman vase he has just purchased, at no small cost to their business account. Scrambling to find someone willing to pose as his best pal, François enlists the services of a charming taxi driver to play the part.