- At the mansion, Norma undergoes a long beauty regimen to restore her looks in preparation for the role that she thinks she's getting, but isn't. It's really quite sad.
- At night, she talks to Joe about the weight she's losing and the way the regimen is working out. She complains that he was gone the other evening, as she discovered when she woke up.
- Joe says that he's not supposed to be locked up in the house, and Norma agrees, but says she needs him around because of her nerves over the movie. In voiceover, Joe reveals that he's been playing hooky to go work on the screenplay with Betty at Paramount. (Artie is in Arizona, working as assistant director on a movie.)
- Joe enjoys the work and likes Betty's writing. Walking around a fake street in a Paramount studio, Betty explains that she loves this fake street and used to play there as a kid—her family was in the movie business.
- She wanted to be an actress and got her nose fixed—but she couldn't make a career work. So she decided to try to become a writer.
- Joe kisses her on the nose, but tells her that she ought to stay at least two feet away from him while they're working on the movie. Wise move, we think.
- Back at the mansion's garage, Joe runs into Max. Max tells Joe to be careful and not let Norma discover where he's been going. Joe admits he's working on a script.
- When Joe tells Max that it's not good to keep feeding Norma lies, Max explains that he's the director who discovered her. He was one of the biggest silent-screen directors and he can't let her be destroyed. He gave up his career in order to become her servant—and before that, he was Norma's first husband. Well that's… sordid.
- Later, while Joe is sleeping, Norma sneaks into his room. She discovers the screenplay he and Betty have been writing, "Untitled Love Story," and feels sure he's betrayed her. Back at Paramount, Joe and Betty are writing.
- Betty pauses to look at him. She tells him that Artie wants her to come to Arizona to marry him—which would be fine.
- But she's not in love with Artie, she's in love with Joe. Joe takes her in his arms.