CHAPTER 7

Dinner was elaborate but cozy and Laura was surprised at how easily she and Tom fell into relaxing with Jay and Daisy. She was grateful for the distraction. There was so much loss still hovering over her heart - so much still unknown. For a few hours she could leave behind those last images of Colonial One and the fleet. She didn't have to keep reliving all of her mistakes, and gods knew there were too many of those. She realized this chance to forget would only be a temporary reprieve. Later she would lie in bed next to a man she had no business being so close to, and it would all come flooding back. That's what grief did. It lurked and then it struck without warning. Over and over again.

Tom was in his element and had no trouble at all mingling with their new friends. Laura couldn't imagine him ever being at a loss for words. She suspected he'd always been like that. She allowed herself to envision a small school-aged Tom, all shaggy dark hair and wide blue eyes. He would have driven his teachers crazy with incessant chatter and a bottomless supply of questions. He'd challenge authority and get the rest of the class riled up. His natural curiosity would be a delight though. He was the kind of student you'd want to keep very, very busy. Keeping him occupied while handling the adult version wasn't such a bad idea either.

After dinner Jay suggested they return to the sitting room for coffee and dessert. Tom looked longingly toward the window and Laura understood he craved the fresh air and wide vistas of the outdoors as much as she did. People weren't meant to live on ships. It wasn't 'd both been trapped in confined spaces for far too long.

Daisy could put away a lot of alcohol but she didn't appear to be drunk from it. As the hours ticked by, there was a more pronounced brightness in her eyes and a looser quality to her speech.

"I want to hear about how the two of you met," said Daisy, nodding at Jay to refill her glass when he motioned questioningly toward the wine bottle.

"Yes!" agreed Jay. We need a story." He filled Daisy's glass.

"Oh," said Laura with a dismissive wave, "Tom and I meeting. Not very interesting."

Tom leaned forward. "Don't listen to her. It's a fantastic story." He smirked at Laura, a devious spark of challenge in his eyes. "Do you want to tell it or should I?"

Laura caught the look but she wasn't going to take the bait. "Oh, no," she said. "You should."

"I am good with a story, aren't I?" said Tom.

"Yes, dear." Laura rolled her eyes.

"Laura and I met on an unbelievably rainy day in March," Tom began.

"It was pouring," said Laura with a small smile. "Buckets and buckets of rain."

"Torrential," confirmed Tom. "The streets were flooding. Traffic had slowed to a crawl. We were probably the only idiots still out and about on the street. I was heading off to meet a client and Laura was returning a library book on - what was it, honey?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Women's fashion?"

Laura pursed her lips and glowered at him. "Actually, no. It was a pretentious memoir. I can't even remember the author's name. Some political activist."

Tom smiled and that little dimple on his left cheek made an appearance. He gave her an admiring look. Clearly, he was enjoying their covert sparring.

"Well, anyway, Laura and I were both finishing up our respective errands. The weather was so unpleasant it was almost impossible to get a cab. I was soaked but I finally flagged one down and was just about to get in when Laura suddenly appeared out of nowhere. You see, for some reason, she felt she had a prior claim to my cab. But I'd definitely hailed it first."

"That's completely debatable," said Laura. "We were approaching the cab from different sides. And remember - the rain was heavy. Visibility was terrible. It would be very difficult to determine who had gotten the driver's attention first. And we've never reached a mutual agreement about that."

Tom leaned a little closer to her on the loveseat and slipped a seemingly casual arm across the back, just brushing his fingertips against her shoulder. "We grabbed the doors at the same time and we both got in. And that's when the fun really started." Tom grinned. "Laura here launched into a dissertation about how she'd hailed the cab first and had the only legitimate claim. Of course, I had plenty of counter arguments to the contrary. Poor cab driver didn't know which end was up. He was a smart fellow, though, because he asked where we were both going and suggested we share. It turns out my client was only a couple of blocks away from her house. Laura graciously agreed to sharing the cab and splitting the fare with me so we rode together to our respective destinations."

"And then you just had to see her again," chimed in Daisy, twisting her strand of pearls around one manicured finger. She giggled. "And then again and again and again."

"It was certainly convenient knowing where Laura lived," said Tom. Laura watched him compose his features into a masterfully executed expression of muted yearning. "But it still took too long before I got to see her again. And now - of course - she's stuck with me."

Laura beamed a smile at him that could easily be construed as affectionate. "My sentiments exactly."

Tom returned her look with a broad smile of his own. It was more than a little irritating that he took her jabs with such good grace and yet it was somehow part of the fun, too. Laura was still trying to reconcile just exactly how she felt about that.

Turning back toward the other couple, she watched as Daisy's head flopped against Jay's shoulder. He leaned toward her ear and said something in a quiet tone. Her voice, by contrast, was loud. It even lacked its lilting refinement.

"I'm fine, Jay. I don't need to go for a walk."

"I'm warm," said Jay smoothly. "The suggestion was really for my sake."

"It is warm tonight," said Tom.

Jay flashed him a grateful smile. "You're welcome to join us." He rose and offered Daisy his arm. She accepted it with an agitated little huff of her shoulders.

"Yes, do," said Daisy. But her artificial tone said something else.

"You two go ahead," said Laura. "We'll wait."

Jay began escorting Daisy toward the wide glass doors that led out to the garden. "I'll leave some music on for you," he said, glancing back at them. He made a quick adjustment to the record player. "We won't be long."

"She's horrible," said Laura once Jay and Daisy were well out of earshot. She stood up and stretched, wincing a little from the pain of muscles still sore from the crash. Even so, it felt good to move.

"She's not what I would have expected," said Tom. "But who said love is reasonable?" The music Jay had put on for them began to swell and Tom tilted his head toward the record player. "You know, you never did dance with me on Colonial Day."

Laura walked toward the windows, moving deliberately so that her back was toward him. She answered without turning around, shrugging her shoulders. "You didn't ask."

Tom moved toward her until she felt him directly behind her. She listened to the rhythmic click of his shoes and then felt a light puff of breath against the crown of her hair. He waited. She could feel the heat of him. After a long minute, Laura turned around slowly and met his eyes. The familiar challenge was there mixed with a burgeoning curiosity that was - not familiar. Even in her heels, he was still a tad taller than she was. Next time, she decided, she'd just have to find a higher pair of shoes.

"If I were to ask you to dance, would you accept?"

"Such a tentative invitation. That's unlike you, Tom."

He inched closer. "Maybe...I'm learning humility."

She gave a low chuckle. "Not possible."

"Okay, then. Maybe I just want to show off my dance moves."

"Now that, I can believe. Are you sure you're up for this? Sore knee and all?"

"It's a slow one. I can handle it. Once you say yes, of course."

Laura leaned in and placed a hand on his shoulder. He reciprocated without missing a beat, placing his palm against the small of her back and drawing her closer. They began to move together, a little awkwardly at first until they got used to one another's natural movement. But it wasn't long before they eased into a rhythm. Truth be told, Zarek wasn't a bad dancer.

"All thanks to Madame Endora's Dance Studio," he said softly against her ear.

"What?"

"That's how I learned. I was ten. I wanted to take martial arts. Unfortunately, the class was full. And my well meaning mother signed me up for dance instead. Madame Endora was a former prima ballerina. Of course, in her older years, she smoked like a fiend and drenched herself in enough cheap Aerilon perfume to nearly make you pass out. But the woman could dance."

"Madame Endora? You're making this up."

"Nope. It's the absolute truth." He was suddenly and rather miraculously quiet, giving Laura a chance to really soak in the music. The singer had the kind of dusky caramel colored voice she could get lost in."You know what I can't stop thinking about?"

"Whatever it is, you're going to tell me whether I want to hear or not," Laura said dryly.

"Music's not that different, is it? Between these worlds, I mean. Even through all this vast distance. Music. Customs. Dancing."

Laura stiffened. "No, it's not. I'm not sure what to make of the similarities."

"It's been almost a week, Laura, and you haven't mentioned going back to the ship. Why - when you were so adamant about it before?"

She pulled away from him and stepped back. "Because we can't. What you said earlier about being stuck here….we are. Whatever enabled the Cylons to figure out the fleet's coordinates and surprise Colonial One could lead them here. If there is some kind of backup means of communication on Icarus, we can't risk activating it. It could lead them right to this planet. I don't want that on my conscience. So unless - by some miracle - the fleet finds us, we're not going anywhere."

Tom didn't say anything. He just stood and looked at her, meeting her eyes head-on and unflinching. He gave a nod that was so imperceptible she wouldn't have even noticed it if she hadn't been gauging his reaction so intently.

"You're not surprised," she said softly. She was almost grateful for his neutral reaction. No frightened passengers to soothe. No delegates to win over. No military to fight with. Empty resignation. Maybe that was all either of them had left now.

"Not really. You don't think I would have brought it up though. Not after the way you were feeling after the crash."

"Still feeling. And since when is maintaining amicability between us suddenly important to you?"

"We're all we've got left. I'd say it's in our mutual best interests to work together, wouldn't you? Anyway, it could be worse." In a gesture that was almost too smooth, Tom pulled her back into position and resumed their dance. "I could be stranded here with Baltar."

She tilted her face toward him. "I rate above Baltar?"

He smiled. "By a sizeable margin."

"You hate Baltar as much as I do. That's not saying much."

"All right. Fine. You're a much better dance partner than our former president would have been."

"I hope you're not speaking from experience."

"Hardly."

"There's a lot we have to think about," said Laura. "We need to - "

Tom put two fingers against her mouth and Laura stopped speaking mid-sentence, more out of surprise than anything else.

"Can we put it on ice until the morning? Seriously. You add a whole new dimension to the term workaholic. We're at a dinner party in a luxurious mansion. I spent twenty years in prison and survived New Caprica detention, not to mention hurtling through space to my near death. And these days I don't get out much. Can I live the fantasy - for a few hours anyway? I like to recoup my energies in between calamities."

"You know," said Laura, "it's this cavalier attitude of yours that makes me continually doubt your sincerity."

He beamed at her. "I'm sincere about wanting to relax and have a good time tonight."

Laura swallowed back the laugh that was rising in her throat. Encouraging Tom Zarek wasn't a wise idea and she knew it. The corners of her mouth twitched and she angled her face toward the window so he wouldn't see. As she composed herself, she felt another pang of guilt for the people they'd left behind. They certainly weren't enjoying dancing, fine wine, and good music.

The song ended and Tom leaned in a little. "Try for another one? Solidify the image of a happy couple?"

"I don't think we should push our luck," said Laura.

He released her. "I knew you'd say no. Careful. You're becoming predictable." There was an edge in his tone that hadn't been there a few minutes ago. She watched him move toward Jay's liquor cabinet. He reached for the bottle of soda water but quickly put it down. He poured himself a glass of something that looked like ambrosia instead.

Tom took a slow sip. "Blech. This is awful. You wanna try it?"

"Not after you just told me it was lousy. No."

"So whom would you choose to be stranded here with if you had the option?"

"That's a ridiculous question. I wouldn't choose to be stranded here with anyone, Tom."

He smirked at her. "Oh, I doubt that."

"You - "

The side door opened before Laura could finish her thought and Dennis walked in carrying a small tray. He placed it on the coffee table.

"Mr. Gatsby sends his apologies. He's been called away on an urgent business matter."

"Pretty late for business," murmured Tom.

Laura shot him a look.

"Please enjoy the room and the music as long as you like. I brought you some coffee. If you need anything else, just ring."

"Thank you, Dennis," said Laura. She placed a hand on his arm. "Will Daisy be coming back?"

"Mr. Gatsby saw to it she was escorted home."

"You could stay and have coffee with us," Laura said with a hopeful smile.

"Oh, no, ma'am. It's well past my bedtime. Enjoy your evening."

"Thanks," said Tom.

They watched Dennis leave. Laura wished he would have stayed, wished that Jay would come back. Even Daisy would almost be a welcome sight. She and Tom were together too much and alone too often. It was...muddling things. Laura wasn't sure what bothered her more, the way they'd been thrown together - or the unsettling notion that there were moments when she actually enjoyed his company.

Tom set his drink down on the table without looking at her. "I'll be up later. I'm going to get out for a bit."

"Well, good night, then."

"Night," said Tom. And he was gone.