Now that she's secured her job, though at a cost, and found out another secret that John's been keeping, The Protagonist decides to attend her lunch with Vlad over her husband's hearing. Vladimir episode 7 begins with John and Sid waiting for The Protagonist to arrive. But she's out in the car with her head in Vlad's lap... adjusting his seat. Get your mind out of the gutter!
Naturally, the fantasies are on fire in her mind, and she drives them further away from Main Street for lunch. While they drive, The Protagonist receives constant text messages about being late for the hearing. Vlad admits that he knows she skipped the hearing and says that she deserves a break from the whole situation. They order a bottle of wine and start talking about their books.
He's distracted by a situation with Cynthia that he doesn't want to talk about, and The Protagonist promises to make the afternoon about him. He's flattered by her passionate feedback about his book. With many hours having elapsed, Vlad starts to wind down their afternoon, but she secretly orders coffee and dessert and lies to the waiters that it's his birthday.
The hearing begins and the accusers are painting a much different picture than the one Sid has been building for John. When The Protagonist checks her phone, she finds that most of the messages are expressing anger that she skipped the hearing. Hoping to extend their afternoon, she offers to take Vlad to her cabin, but he's worried about making Cynthia mad. When The Protagonist pushes, he calls Cynthia, who agrees that he can go to the cabin.
The Protagonist drugs and chains up Vladimir at her cabin
She pours him a drink (and then another) and offers him time to privately write, but he would rather talk instead. Meanwhile at the hearing, the testimonies aren't going in John's favor. Everyone's reaching out to her, and she briefly plugs the router back in to respond to John telling him that she needs space. She and Vlad sit on the couch with fresh drinks and talk books.
He hands her a heavily annotated copy of her book. She seems to be taken aback by his interest, and even more so in his WIW — "wish I wrote" — notes and confession that he was "hot" for her narrator. She's flustered with the possibility of making a move, but Vlad puts on a record and they dance. They knock over her purse, sending his swimming trunks onto the ground. Awkward!
He asks if he should put them on, but he's not weirded out by her having them in her bag. He changes into his trunks and goes for a swim in the lake. The Protagonist comes to a decision that she will put her crush to rest and move on once they leave the cabin. However, she quickly changes her mind. She crushes pills into a drink, which he immediately downs when he comes back inside.
He exits the shower cold and in quite the state. The Protagonist puts him in one of John's sweaters and tries to help make him feel better. For some reason, that includes zip tying and chaining him to a chair. Once he's settled, she sits on the ground and rests her head on his leg. She opens his phone and sends a text message to Cynthia about cheating on him with John, then dumps his phone into water. While he sleeps, she writes, but he eventually wakes up and panics.