Bill decides at the last minute to stay in his hotel room Wednesday evening rather than go out drinking another night with Saul and Ellen. He stares at his phone wondering if he should respond to Laura's text but can't decide what to say. A large part of him wants to meet with her, tell her how he feels, but maybe she isn't ready for that conversation. Another part of him is angry that he allowed himself to fall for a girl so quickly and so thoroughly that he can barely think straight throughout the day. The foolish part of him considers not going, this would be the same foolish part that thought large amounts of whiskey and sex with a stranger would make him forget about her. He decides to turn in early, delaying making any decision regarding Laura until returning to Caprica and speaking with his father.
The Thursday morning meetings are chock full of new information and Bill is grateful he isn't hungover because he can barely keep up even after a good night's sleep. They finish at 11 am, early enough that he can catch the noon transport back to Caprica. His only regret is that he won't get to say goodbye to Saul and Ellen, although he's certain he will see them again soon since Saul will be helping out with investigations until he is assigned a more permanent position.
He returns home at 3:30 pm and goes to his father's study where he finds him working on a case study for a legal journal. After a brief description of the last three days on Picon, Bill informs his father that he heard from Laura, showing him the text message.
"Oh, good. I'm sure you'll be glad to see her again."
"I'm not sure I'm going, Dad."
"Why wouldn't you go? It's not like you to stay away out of spite."
Bill massages his temple with his index finger while he sits across from his father in a large chair in his office. "I spent some time on Picon trying to forget about her," he says dragging his index finger from his temple to the scratch on his cheek. "Convinced myself it was the best thing for both of us."
"Oh? Did it work?" Joe asks, eyeing his son's response.
Bill shifts in his chair, closing his eyes and recalling his failed encounter with the blond. "No. Not at all. What should I do?"
"You know I won't tell you what to do. But ask yourself, what's the downside of going?"
Bill doesn't want to answer that question, the thought of it giving him an uneasy feeling in his gut. "If I don't go, then it's over for sure."
"That's not what I asked. What's the downside of going? Why not go even if it's just to obtain some closure and say goodbye?"
"I don't know," he sighs knowing his father is trying to lead him down a path he is reluctant to travel on.
"Be honest with yourself - I think you do know," Joe says quietly.
Because it hurts more than it should. Because when I see her I'm going to want to hug her and hold her and if she rejects me again, I don't know what I'll do. "Are you going to be able to help me tonight?" Bill asks, changing the subject.
Joe smiles to himself before he responds. "Sure. After dinner, okay?"
"That works," Bill replies before leaving his father's office.
Laura meets with Dr. Galloway Thursday afternoon and presents her new idea regarding her research. While Dr. Galloway likes the idea of rewriting some of the classics so they are more age-appropriate, she doesn't think Laura will have time to complete her dissertation and present a rewritten novel with it. She suggests choosing a few passages from a novel and rewriting them for middle school and upper elementary to illustrate her point. Together they develop a list of passages from various novels that she can choose from. For the first time in over a year, Laura is extremely excited about her research topic, and when she leaves her advisor's office, she decides to share her news with her father.
His office door is ajar when she knocks on it, pushing it open enough to slip her head inside. "Daddy!" she exclaims, eager to tell him her news. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were talking to the Dean," she says stepping back into the hallway.
"Laura!" the Dean calls, "Come in! We were just finishing up."
"Are you sure? I can come back later," she offers.
"Come on in, Laura! Dave, if you could let me know by the end of next week, that would be great. I'll talk to you then. It's good to see you again, Laura," the Dean says as he leaves Dave's office.
"Good to see you, too, Dean Stockwell!" she calls after him. "Daddy, is this a bad time? I can always come back if there's something you need to do."
"No, this is great. You seem excited," Dave comments.
"I am! I met with Dr. Galloway and told her about my new ideas for my dissertation and now I have a plan of action that I'm really eager to start on! I think I'll write for a week and see how it goes, then if it looks like I'm making good progress, I'll apply for a summer completion date."
"Laurie, that's wonderful news! I haven't seen you this fired up about your research in a long time. It's very refreshing and I'm happy for you."
"Daddy, it feels good - really, really good. The other news I have is that I filled out an application to be on the lease of Jean's apartment and it was accepted this morning, so I have a place to live for at least a month. Hopefully she doesn't kick me out after that. But if she does, I'm sure there will be openings in the same building since the semester will be over, and I could always get a place by myself. The rent is cheap there because the apartments are so small. I've applied to teach a couple of undergrad courses for the summer semester and that should be enough money to cover my living expenses."
Dave sits back in his chair, a broad smile on his face, staring at his first-born child who seems so completely different from even a week ago. "You have no idea how happy I am for you right now, Laurie. Things are finally coming back together for you. I'm so proud. Your whole life is ahead of you."
She lets his words sink in, giving her confidence and warming her heart. "I hope you didn't get into trouble with the Dean for skipping the dinner the other night."
"I didn't. But he was hoping to speak with me about something Monday night, which is why he stopped by today. He offered me the position of Dean of Research."
"Daddy! That's amazing! When do you start?"
"It would start with the fall semester after the current Dean of Research retires. I'll have to think about it. I'm not sure I'm ready to give up teaching."
"You wouldn't be able to teach at all?"
"Probably just one class per semester. But I would have more time to focus on my own research, maybe even write some books that I've had on the backburner for quite a while. And I could retire early because my salary will double."
"Double?! I didn't realize it was the big of a jump in pay. If you don't take the job, I will!"
"I'll mention that to the Dean if I decide to turn it down. We can swap out one Dr. Roslin for another Dr. Roslin. Can you stay and chat for a while?"
"Sure, Daddy. Is something wrong?"
"It's just nice to hear good news for a change. I've missed talking to you like we used to do when you were on campus. What else is new?"
"I'm running every day. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I started again. And I've quit smoking. I go back to the therapist on Tuesday, and I'm actually looking forward to it."
"Are you free for dinner on Saturday night? I thought it would be a good idea for you to stop by again before the next family therapy, you know, since things didn't go so well with your sister the other night."
"That's a good idea – I'll be there at 6. Is she giving you a hard time?"
"That's an understatement, but don't worry about it. I'm learning to handle it. I have my own therapist now and he specializes in parenting after the loss of your partner."
"Mine specializes in relationship trauma, trust, and intimacy issues. Do you like your therapist?"
"We've only had one session but so far, so good," he replies before a small frown forms on his face.
"Are you sure you're okay, Daddy? You seem kind of down."
"I don't want you to worry. And I certainly don't want to bring you down."
"We need to communicate better as a family – that's what you told the family therapist, right? Please tell me what's wrong."
"It's Sandra. She's angry with me about contacting the school and her friends' parents. She knows how to get under my skin. I took her phone away from her and she tried to manipulate me by saying your mother never would have done that and I lost my temper. Then the day got worse from there. After behaving like a brat instead of helping me grade papers, she stormed off and played loud music on her computer, so I took it away from her. Then she refused to eat lunch and she also refused to speak with her therapist, sitting mute on the sofa in my office for 45 minutes. The therapist told me if Sandra didn't take part in therapy, the judge would send her to juvenile detention for the remainder of the 8 weeks. I managed to convince her to talk to the therapist for a good 20 minutes after that, but she is still angry and punishing me."
"Do you know what Sandra told me the other night when I first got to the house? She said you were the best dad ever. That's how she really feels about you."
"I'm not so sure. I tried to hug her last night while I was making dinner and she just stood there stiff as a board, didn't try to hug me back. No expression on her face. Didn't even tell me goodnight when she went to bed."
"She's trying to get you to back down and give her phone back. You did the right thing. It's good that you hugged her because it shows her that even though you're upset with her behavior, you still love her unconditionally. Daddy, are you taking any time for yourself outside of work? Maybe you should have dinner with me one night a week, or with a friend - just to get away. Maybe we could go to a boxing match like we used to, or a pyramid game."
"You sound like my therapist," he chuckles. "Do you want to have dinner with me next week? Maybe Wednesday night – that's my work-from-home day so it would be good to get out afterwards."
"It's a date!"
After unpacking, doing some laundry, and putting his clothes away, Bill decides to turn in early again. It's a clear night and the stars twinkle brightly through his bedroom windows making him reminisce his time in space as a viper pilot, back when relationships were simpler, if he could even call them relationships. Endless patrols, constant battles, shared quarters, and shared bathrooms don't really allow for anything serious, but sex is always readily available. Sex was all he was looking for on the dare when he met Laura. He's not even sure how he went from wanting to get laid to starting a relationship and then developing feelings for her.
He recalls Saul's words to him at lunch Wednesday on Picon: All that commotion last night over a woman you haven't even slept with? You've got it bad for her, don't you?
If he wasn't so miserable, the irony would make him laugh. I haven't even slept with her! Pre-Laura Bill wouldn't have gotten so drunk at the strip club. That Bill would have taken at least one woman back to his hotel room, bent her over his desk, and made her howl with pleasure before moving onto the next one. Problem solved, Laura would be gone from his life forever.
He pulls his phone from the nightstand and clicks on the text from her. After staring at the message for a few minutes, he finally begins to type:
I won't be there. I thought I'd let you know so you don't waste a trip. Goodbye, Laura.
His thumb hovers over the "Send" button as he rereads the text, once, twice, then again, and again. I can't do this. He deletes the message and sets his phone back on the nightstand. It was my idea to meet again – I'll go.