The end of the meal. Owen is squeezing a lime onto the
table, missing his beer, incredibly drunk. The check is laid
down.

BATEMAN
(Talking to Owen like a child)
Paul, give me your Amex card. Good boy.
Bateman slaps the card down, looks at the check.

BATEMAN
Two-hundred-and-fifty. Very reasonable. Let's leave
a big tip, shall we? My place for a nightcap?

OWEN
No, man. I'm gonna bail.

BATEMAN
Come on, you dumb son of a bitch.

(Helping him into his jacket)

I've got a preview of the Barneys catalogue and a
bottle of Absolut waiting for us.

INT. BATEMAN'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
The living room floor has been meticulously covered with
newspaper.
Owen is slumped drunkenly in a white Eames chair, a glass
in his hand. Bateman is looking through his CDs.

BATEMAN
You like Huey Lewis and the News?

OWEN
They're okay.

BATEMAN
Their early work was a little too New Wave for my
taste. But then Sports came out in 1983, I think they really
came into their own, commercially and artistically.

Bateman walks to his bathroom, taking a large ax out of the
shower. He takes two Valium.

BATEMAN
(Said partly from the bathroom)
The whole album has a clear, crisp sound and a new sheen of
consummate professionalism that gives the songs a big boost.

Bateman comes back out and leans the ax against the wall.
He walks to the foyer and puts on a raincoat, watching Owen
from behind ail the time.
BATEMAN
He's been compared to Elvis Costello but I think
Huey has a more bitter, cynical sense of humor.

Owen is absent-mindedly leafing through the Barneys
catalogue.

OWEN
Hey, Halberstam?

BATEMAN
Yes, Owen?

OWEN
Why are there copies of the Style section all over
the place? Do you have a dog? A chow or something?

BATEMAN
No, Owen.

OWEN
(Confused)
Is that a raincoat?

BATEMAN
Yes, it is.
Bateman moves to the CD player. He takes a CD out of its
case and slides it in the machine.

BATEMAN
In 1987 Huey released this, Fore!, their most
accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is
"Hip To Be Square," a song so catchy that most people probably
don't listen to the lyrics. But they should because it's not
just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of
trends. It's also a personal statement about the band itself.

Bateman puts on "Hip To Be Square."

BATEMAN crosses the room and picks up the ax.

We follow BATEMAN from behind as he walks up to Owen, the
ax raised over his head.

BATEMAN
Hey, Paul?

As Owen turns around, FROM OWEN'S POV we see Bateman swing
the ax toward his face.

Blood sprays onto the white raincoat.