Posted by Lieutenant Commander Royal Sinclair (Counselor) in Counsellor’s Quarters- Corinne

Posted by Lieutenant Corinne Dalton/SARAH (Ships AI/Avatar) in Counsellor’s Quarters- Corinne

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Royal Sinclair (Counselor) in Counsellor’s Quarters- Corinne
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

“I tried to,” she said with agitation. “But then he was going on about how he had kept it from everyone and I wasn’t special in that regard, and that it was about his daughter and I shouldn’t take it out on her and said when I was done having a pity party, maybe I would consider having dinner with them,” she said with a bitter laugh before covering her mouth as her eyes went wide and tears fell. Why now? Why lately did she finally develop tears? She was trying to figure out if it was a subconscious thing on her part but it was definitely a new and interesting development.

~Corinne Dalton

Sinclair watched in silence. After a few moments he said “Well, one advantage to being a hologram… your mascara is still flawless.” with a kind smile.

Cori gave him a slight withering look, but her overall expression lightened ever so slightly and her hands rested tightly together in her lap.

“Let me ask you this… you said you feel betrayed, which is understandable and a perfectly normal reaction. Do you feel guilty about feeling that way?”

Sinclair, CNS

She considered the question for a moment and thought back to her earlier statement. Dalton nodded slightly. “Our breakup was an amicable one. We just were in different places and my disappearing, which he considers a death, was hard on him. I should be happy for him that he’s moved on and found love and has a family now. But…” She wiped away the fresh tears. “I can’t ever have that. And that hurts and I don’t know if I can sit in front of his child and not feel resentful that all this time that’s what he ultimately wanted, even if he didn’t know it. And I’d never be able to give him, or anyone for that matter, that.” The thought hadn’t fully formed in her head but now it made sense. That little girl represented everything Cori had lost. She’d never have a child, never be a mother, and so far it was proving exceedingly hard to find anyone who’d ever want to be in a relationship long term with someone in her circumstances. It made her previous feeling of loneliness that much more profound.

~Corinne Dalton

Sinclair listened and picked up on the pain and the loss… and the anger and resentment. “All of that that you are feeling is completely natural. Why shouldn’t you be angry that you were lied to? Anyone in your position would be, and have every right to be. And as far as saying you ‘should’ feel anything specific… well, that’s just kind of absurd, don’t you think? Allowing a social construct to dictate how you feel? Yes, you were in a relationship. Yes, you cared and obviously still care for him. But relationships are tricky in the best of circumstances… your current predicament I think rules out ‘best circumstances’.” and he gave her another understanding smile so she knew he was not being antagonistic. “You should not feel anything more or less than what you do. Because how you feel is a core part of who you are as a person. I don’t want you to feel as if you are doing him or his daughter a disservice by feeling angry or resentful. These are natural responses to being deceived… which you were. What you need to be mindful of is how you are going to express those emotions and, by expressing them, work through them. Does that make sense?”

Sinclair, CNS

She nodded slowly and then looked at him directly. “You want to know what makes this even worse?” Cori said with a shaky voice. “That this isn’t the first time I was betrayed by someone who said they loved me. And that mess before only proved that that person really didn’t love me, that I was just a pawn in the game played by others. And the irony, Counsellor? The person who was brave enough to tell me the truth about that, about the circumstances that led to that bodily death on the holodeck, was Jarred. I’d laugh if it weren’t so absurd!” she said darkly.

~Corinne Dalton