In the kitchen, Sookie asks Arlene to thank her boyfriend for helping her out. "I was so flustered I think I might have seemed ungrateful." (Please let me get my period tonight... Even though Rene wants one of his own... I sure don't want him to feel like he's being forced into...) Sookie grabs Arlene, throwing her arms around her without a second thought. "Did you just read my mind?" Arlene asks, pushing her away. Sookie apologizes and explains she's off her game tonight. "My private thoughts are none of your business!" She runs away, and Sam appears, calling Sookie into his office.

"I swear I try not to listen, but I can't always keep my guard up..." Sam asks her if it's true, and she can't hear Bill at all. She gives a tiny nod, and he smiles for her. "God, that's... I mean, that must be very relaxing for you. You know, not having to work so hard not to hear." He's so sweet; she nods at him. He gets it. He smiles and asks if she can hear him; she'd die before admitting she already has, and recoiled from him. The way he smelled her, the strength of his love. There's a picture on the wall between them, a painting, but it's out of focus. "I don't want to hear you," she grins coyly. "I'd have to quit if I read your mind, and I like it here." He promises she wouldn't, but she shakes her head. "I've had to leave every job I've ever had because I could hear my boss' thoughts." Inexpertly, pushing her -- What's the use of having the power to have conversations without saying anything, if not to get past the scary parts? The terror of intimacy is trust, but without the ability to lie there's no fear in trust -- "You might be surprised by what you find." She tries to be smooth, too. "Not all surprises are good," she says, closing the book on it, but he's not done: "Try sometime!" The mysterious painting throbs behind her, on the wall. She smiles at him, he wants her to... Finally he taps her knee, breaking the spell. "Now listen, don't you worry. You got a job here as long as you want one." She smiles at him; the presence of his feelings for her fill the room. "I should get back to work." She hops up, and the picture on the wall finally comes into focus, a fairytale image: the wakeful collie, watching over the sleeping girl. The beautiful and the faithful, together forever. We all just want to be seen. To matter. She leaves and he puts embarrassed head into useless hands. "Come! On!"