After Hours

- Punch. Punch it in. Okay. Right.

Okay. Let's, first of all, refresh the screen here...

...all right, and go in a format ruler.

- There. - All right.

- Now, file? - Right.

Right.

- And it's in memory? - Right.

And...

...mark this down in the prefix file codes.

- Prefix code. Right. - Okay.

Good. Yeah, you got it. Another week, you'll have it down.

- It's temporary anyway. - Huh?

I said, it's temporary anyway.

I do not intend to be stuck doing this for the rest of my life.

- Don't tell Mr. Digman I said that. - Okay.

Because what I really wanna do is, I'd really like to get into publishing.

There aren't any openings right now.

But what I would love to do is just create a magazine, my own magazine...

...which would be, like, a forum for writers and intellectuals...

...who can't get into print anywhere else, who could, you know...

I'm not into editing or trying to reach a particular audience.

Getting it out there, they would get some momentum going...

...and, you know, do something with...

- With, you know... - Excuse me, one second.

I love that book.

I love that book.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I think Miller's really great.

"This is not a book. This is a prolonged insult.

A gob of spit in the face of art.

A kick in the pants to truth, beauty, God... "

Something like that.

That's very good.

That's all I remember.

I've read this before. I mean, I don't... I'm just rereading it.

I don't reread books that often...

...but this one's my favorite.

I like it better than Capricorn or Plexus...

...or Sexus.

You know, he used to kiss himself after he ate a good meal.

It's mostly...

Let me ask you. Does that cashier seem a little weird to you?

He keeps making these strange movements.

God!

I think he's just waiting to be discovered.

Do you want another coffee?

No. I'm gonna head over to my friend's house.

- Which way you headed? - Downtown, SoHo.

Oh, nice. Nice. A loft?

Yeah. She's a sculptress.

Lately, she's been making these plaster-of-Paris bagels and cream cheese.

Really.

She's trying to sell them as paperweights. You wanna buy one?

Paperweight?

Yeah, I would. How much are they?

I don't know.

If you think you might be interested, her number's 243-3460.

243-3460. Okay.

- Her name is Kiki Bridges. - Kiki Bridges. Okay.

- Nice talking to you. - Yeah. Great talking to you.

Excuse me. Can I borrow your pen?

Thank you.

Yeah? - Yes. Is Kiki Bridges there, please?

- This is her. - Hi.

You don't know me. I'm calling because I'm interested in your paperweights.

- Yeah? - You're the sculptress, right?

KIKl: Uh-huh.

A girl I met tonight at a coffee shop told me that she was staying with you...

Oh, you mean Marcy.

- I don't know. She didn't say her name. - Hold on. I'll get her.

She told me about these paperweights and the work that you do.

Hello?

- Hello? Marcy? - Yeah.

Hi, this is Paul Hackett. We met earlier tonight.

Hi. Sure, I remember.

- How are you? - All right. I'm all right.

I just got in...

...and I opened up my book and saw your number and...

Good.

I'm glad you called.

So...

So do you work near that coffee shop or live in the neighborhood or...?

No, I was just over at a good friend of mine's.

Actually, we had a terrible argument.

That's too bad.

Yeah, it is.

I'm sure, whatever it was, I'm sure you'll straighten it out.

You think so? Do you think I should try to make up?

Well, I don't know, I mean... You know... Maybe you're better off.

You know, I don't know what the circumstances were, but sometimes...

You know, I don't... It's not even... It's not my business.

- Maybe you should come over, Paul. - What?

- Maybe you should come on over. - Sure. Sure. Now?

Yeah. Why not?

Where to?

I'm at 28 Howard Street. Near the corner of Crosby.

It's in SoHo.

- The name on the buzzer is Franklin. - Not Bridges?

Bridges is crossed out.

Just press the buzzer.

Okay. About 45 minutes?

- Yeah, great. I'll see you later. - All right.

- Paul? - Yes.

I'm really glad you called.

Me too. Me too.

Okay. I'll see you later.

- Bye. - Bye.

- I've only got a 20. Can you break it? Yeah, sure. No problem.

No hurry.

[CUADRO FLAMENCO'S "EN LA CUEVA" PLAYS]

Oh, shit!

Excuse me, I just... Damn! Oh, my God!

Excuse me.

My money flew out the window.

Okay, that'll be 6.50.

Listen, my money just flew out the window.

I put it in this cradle...

...and you went so fast around that corner that I don't have any...

What I'm saying is, I don't have any money. I'm really sorry.

Look, let me show you something.

Look, that was... I had $20.

And now I don't have any more.

I'm really sorry.

Franklin. Franklin.

Franklin.

Franklin.

- Are you Paul? - Yeah.

Here, catch.

Hi. KIKl: Hi.

- Your keys. - You can just put them on the table.

I like that.

- Do you? - Yeah. Very much.

It reminds me of that Edvard Munch painting.

What's it, The Shriek?

- The Scream. - The Scream. Right.

Yeah.

Sort of like a three-dimensional version of that painting.

Is Marcy here?

She had to go out to the all-night drugstore.

- Is she all right? - It's under control.

This place is huge.

Do you share it with anyone?

KIKl: Hey, would you like to work on this for a while?

- I could use a break. - What?

It's not hard.

What are you talking about? This is yours.

- How would I know what you want? - Look, it's real easy.

Just take some of this stuff and slap it on like this.

KIKl: All right, I'm coming.

Yeah?

Of course he's here. You invited him.

That's your problem, Marcy. I'm not gonna tell him.

I'm not telling him.

I can't talk any louder.

All right, hurry up.

- How's it going? - It's great.

I'm just giving him a shoulder.

Look what you did to your shirt.

Oh, good.

- Give it to me, I'll throw it in the wash. - No, that's all right.

It'll only take 20 minutes.

That's okay.

Come on.

You wanna look nice for your big date, don't you?

All right.

- Twenty minutes, huh? - Uh-huh.

- Put this on while you're waiting. - Thanks.

You do that all day and your own shoulders get pretty sore.

Want a massage?

- You read my mind. Would you? - Sure.

I'm not too good at this.

Just know a few basic moves.

Just make it hurt and you're on the right track.

That's all I know.

Okay.

- You have a great body. - Yes.

Not a lot of scars.

That's true.

Never occurred to me.

I mean, some women I know are covered with them head to toe.

Not me.

- Scars? - Uh-huh.

Horrible, ugly scars.

I'm just telling you, now.

I don't know.

I know, when I was a kid...

...I had to have my tonsils taken out.

And after the operation...

...they didn't have enough room in Pediatrics.

So they had to put me in the burn ward.

But before they wheeled me in...

...this nurse gave me...

...this blindfold to put on...

...and she told me never to take it off.

If I did...

...they'd have to do the operation all over again.

I didn't understand what my tonsils had to do with my eyes either.

But anyway...

...that night...

...at least I think it was night...