he will be.  when he can't write, he drinks.
i am sorry, it's so embarassing.
i'll be fine.  are you a writer, mr fink?
i'll tell bill you dropped by. i'm sure he'll want to reschedule your appointment.
perhaps the three of us, mr. fink.
barton. you see, barton, i'm not just bill's secretary – bill and i are.  i love. we-
i know this must look.  funny.
we need each other. we give each other.  the things we need –
i'm sorry, mr. fink. please don't judge us. please.
that's hamburger grease, bill.
that doesn't help anything, bill.
you should read this, barton. i think it's bill's finest, or among his finest anyway.
bill –
maybe you better too, barton. before you get buried under his manure.
not anything, bill. don't test me.
stop it, bill!
coming back to barton.
let him go.
oh barton, i feel so.  sorry for him!
no, sometimes he just.  well, he thinks about estelle. his wife still lives in fayettesville. she's.  disturbed.
he'll wander back when he's sober and apologize. he always does.
barton. empathy requires.  understanding.
hello.
who is this?
barton, i'm afraid it's not a good time-
all right barton, i'll see if i can slip away-
if i can. he gets jealous; he-
i'll try to slip out. if he quiets down, passes out.  i'm afraid he thinks – well, he said you were a buffoon, barton. he becomes irrational–
hello, barton.
now that's all right, barton. everything'll be all right.
oh, he's.  he drifted off. he'll sleep for a while now. what is it you have to do, exactly?
it's alright, barton. you don't have to write actual scenes?
yes, i'm afraid i have.
well, usually, they're.  simply morality tales. there's a good wrestler, and a bad wrestler whom he confronts at the end. in between, the good wrestler has a love interest or a child he has to protect. bill would usually make the good wrestler a backwoods type, or a convict. and sometimes, instead of a waif, he'd have the wrestler protecting an idiot manchild. the studio always hated that. oh, some of the scripts were so.  spirited!
barton.
look, it's really just a formula. you don't have to type your soul into it. we'll invent some names and a new setting. i'll help you and it won't take any time at all. i did it for bill so many times –
well.  this.
well, the basic ideas were frequently his-
before what?
well, bill was always the author, so to speak-
barton, i think we should concentrate on our little project-
barton!
barton, honestly, only the last couple-
and my input was mostly.  editorial, really, when he'd been drinking-
it'll be fine.  don't judge him, barton. don't condescend to him.
it's not as simple as you think. i helped bill most by appreciating him, by understanding him. we all need understanding, barton. even you, tonight, it's all you really need.
she rolls onto her back. her eyes are wide and lifeless.