Dear Abby Sema'J

[Sam_SemaJ 0]

"Dear Abby Sema'J"

A Joint Log from Lt's Kent and Sema'J

SD 10809.20

 

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Sam Sema'J sat in a new office. It was the counselor's office, adjacent to sickbay. It was much bigger than his Chief Engineer's office, which was a small, utilitarian cube with space for a desk, two chairs, and all the padds you could ever shelf. This room was about three times its size, and wonderfully not cube shaped. It had plush carpeted walls and extremely comfortable chairs of various shapes placed around the room, including a freudian style fainting couch. Sam liked that touch, it was delightfully tacky. These chairs were all arranged to face a wide slab of a desk with a small control panel on it. This panel allowed the user to quickly and easily set the tone of the room, lights, music, temperature. It also had the useful feature of clouding the two soundproof glass doors to the office (one into the corridor and one into Main Sickbay) to dark gray opaque, a very useful feature for privacy. Sam couldn't exactly complain about the office change. Behind his desk was a chair that matched the comfort of the others, he imagined he would be sitting in it a lot. Behind this was a low book shelf with a computer console on it, it was sort of an awkward place for a console...but Sam supposed it probably shouldn't sit between him and his patients, so he decided to get used to it. It was at this computer that he sat, throwing himself into his new position by working up an efficient scheduling system for the floods of patient's he was expecting.

 

It was because he was so engrossed in this task that Sam failed to hear the swoosh of the glass door, thus defeating the purpose of it being glass. Samantha Kent rubbed her neck a little nervously as she walked in. She felt she had to talk to someone about what had been going on lately with Brian and Malik. She wasn't sure it should be a relative stranger, but she had decided to take her chances. Samantha saw that the man behind the desk had not heard her come in. She paused slightly before giving a little cough to rouse his attention,

 

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Lt. Sema'J."

 

Sam jumped and then turned around, slightly embarrassed, "Oh! I'm sorry. I'm Lt. Sema'J, please call me Sam. Can I help you?"

 

She laughed softly seeing the slightly older man jump. "Ah, oh...um, I'm Lt. Kent". She paused as she grinned, "You can call me Sam too, I guess. Samantha..." she trailed off.

 

He gave a slight laugh as she nervously got the words out, "Well that might get confusing. I still don't know how I can help you" he said with a smile.

 

Samantha gave a small chuckle, "Right...I, well, I was hoping to have someone to talk to, I guess. I've had a lot on my mind lately."

 

Sam nodded as he smiled again, "Well that's exactly why I'm here." He motioned to the assortment of chairs, "Please have a seat anywhere," he offered as he pressed the console on the desk and the doors clouded. "What's on your mind?"

 

She returned his smile, feeling a little more at ease with the situation and his welcoming tone as she slid herself into one of the chairs behind her. She looked at him, considering how to begin. "I...well, it's probably not exactly a unique problem, you probably get this all the time, but...ah, well, I've had...romance complications lately."

 

Sam's jaw dropped in his mind. He was dumbfounded that this was his first case. He of course kept a sensitive poker face, but was truly internally stunned. "Alright, well that can be a very important and confusing area in many people's lives, would you mind giving me some specifics?" Sam slid his chair back and tossed his feet up on the desk, preparing for what he suspected could be a long haul.

 

Samantha chuckled again and returned to her nervous neck rubbing, "Well...there are two guys who have been interested in me lately and...well, I think I've been leading them on. I haven't really handled it well, to be honest, start to finish."

 

Sam suddenly put two and two together in his head and got four. He realized that he'd seen this woman's personnel file up on a screen in engineering. He had been busy at the time and hadn't really taken note of it, but now that he thought about it, Archie had been flipping back and fourth between the profile and his research on the Ineiche biotech. Sam's jaw dropped once again in his head...but he was still able to maintain an expressionless exterior. "I see. Well, describe your interest in both these men...and then talk about why you consider your handling to be 'bad'".

 

She thought for a while, "Well...Mal...that's Malik Pilot, he's in security, and Brian Riley--helm...I got to know both of them pretty well during the Axrekrav affair. They both started showing interest in me, and...they're both worth it...made it a pretty hard situation and I've been trying for months not to really choose. And...that's not really a good choice, I don't think...20/20 hindsight and all that, It was unfair."

 

Sam nodded as he took this in, "You say they are both 'worth it', what is it you are looking for. I think you should have a clear picture of that in your mind, or your heart, whichever way you choose to look at it. What kind of relationship seriousness you're in search of is a good thing to know for yourself. Depending on how serious that is, you should be up front about that to people with whom a relationship is a possibility. That's one way to look at it. The other way is that you should simply let yourself relax about any prospects of the future, or 'right' choices and just enjoy time spent with a person, and trust that the rest will follow." He paused momentarily, "It sounds as though you feel like some damage has been done. Have you made any kind of "choice" at this point?"

 

Samantha let out a dry laugh, "That's the problem...I hadn't quite figured out what I wanted to do, and so I was concentrating on just not hurting anyone. but...yes...I did, and don't know if it made the problem better or worse."

 

He nodded slowly, "So you're between a rock and a hard place." Sam pondered for a moment while he tried to find some direction for her, "You said that you became close with both...would you go as far as to say that the one who was *not* chosen still cares about your best interest, that is, what's best for you purely on the basis of being your friend?"

 

Samantha showed a worried look and spoke emphatically, "I hope so! Mal's a good man, I think. He said he wanted to remain friends...but he may have just been saying that to make me feel better. I know I hurt him..."

 

Sam quickly answered, knowing where he was going now, "But *that* can't be changed. You need to make whatever remorse that you yourself are feeling clear to him, but what I think is more important is that you: #1, know that the choice you did make is the right one for you, because knowing yourself is a *huge* part of being in a relationship. And #2, make it clear to Malik that the choice is right. If he wants what's best for you as a friend, he should be ok with that. But knowing yourself, and making what's right for you known to others is all that's in your control. What are your thoughts on that?"

 

She paused, taking his words in. She was definitely feeling a little more relaxed just having someone to talk this out with. She answered slowly, "I did the right thing...I'm pretty sure I did, at least. Brian...Brian needs help, and I think I can give it to him. Malik will make it one way or the other...but I think I need to talk to him again. The last time we talked wasn't...hostile, exactly, but definitely awkward."

 

He nodded with a slight smile, "I'm sure it was...if I had the answer to how to make situations like that un-awkward...I'd probably have a higher position than this one." Sam became serious again, "I'd be careful though."You said you entered into a relationship with Brian in order to help and support him. That's not a bad thing, but balance is *critical* in areas like that. You can't become his sole support and his issues can't 100% keep him from being a supportive partner to you. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

 

Samantha nodded, acknowledging his point, "I know that...and I know that I may be setting myself up for trouble, really...but I can't back out on him." She paused, "I love him, I want him to be happy, I want him to know that I can stick with him."

 

Sam nodded, deciding not to touch on the 'declaration of love' thing, "Ok, well I'd advise against such commitment to an unbalance of support. But like I said, knowing what is right for you is up to you. So I think that you should take some time to think about that commitment and what's right for you. I think you should make that clear to both men, and I think that we should talk about this in a week so you can tell me how that all went and what your thoughts and feelings are after you've had time to let all this settle. What do you think?

 

She nodded, thinking that this other Sam might be making sense, "Yeah...I mean, I know I need to talk to both of them again. It's just...an odd situation, one I haven't really been in before. I mean," she said with a laugh, "I'm not one of those scientists who brries herself in the books *all* the time but...this is a little beyond my scope. And..yeah, I would like to talk to you again I think." She paused as a grin spread across her face, "It's..it's good to have someone to listen, which is probably a little cliché, but it's true."

 

He returned her smile, "Well I'm glad I could help you hash things out a little. Does this time next week work for you?"

 

Samantha nodded, "Yes..that should be fine"

 

"Well alright then," he said as he punched her name into his new schedule. "Thanks for coming in." He tapped his desk and the doors faded back to clear.

 

She nodded and smiled one last time, "Thank *you*, Sam...I appreciate your time.

 

"Certainly," he said with a final smile as she got up to leave.

 

Sam shook his head...He figured he couldn't be choosey with this being his first and only case...and it still felt good having flexed his therapeutic muscles helping her talk this out. He noticed a figure approaching the sickbay-side door. Sam's face drooped as he saw Dr. Ty approaching with a slightly too cheery smile. It was time for flexing Ty's therapeutic muscles...on Sam's neurological condition. Why did the offices have to be right next to each other. Sam got up and left the office, trying his hardest not to return the cheery smile.

 

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