Sebastian Cork: Forget Me Not

by Neal Davies

  Sebastian Cork

  Forget Me Not

  Neal Samuel Davies

  Sebastian Cork

  Copyright © 2015 Neal Samuel Davies. 2nd Edition 2016

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  A copy of this publication can be found in the National Library of Australia.

  ISBN 9780980874853 (hardback)

  ISBN 9780980874891 (ebook)

  Publisher: Cathie (Catherine) Anne Davies

  CONTENTS

  COPYRIGHT

  Chapter 1 THE CREATION OF INSPIRATION

  Chapter 2 A REALITY CHECK

  Chapter 3 TONY AND FRANK’S STORY

  Chapter 4 SEBASTIAN’S NEW LEASE ON LIFE

  Chapter 5 FIRST DAY ON THE JOB

  Chapter 6 A VISIT TO FRANK’S APPARTMENT

  Chapter 7 THE TUSCAN TAVERN

  Chapter 8 A RE-VISIT TO THE SHELTER

  Chapter 9 THE INTERVIEW WITH GINA

  Chapter 10 DEBRIEF WITH JIM

  Chapter 11 A CLOSING CALL

  Chapter 12 THE CORONER’S OFFICE

  Chapter 13 THE CEMETERY

  Chapter 14 SECOND INTERVIEW WITH GINA

  Chapter 15 DR ANDREW KEENY

  Chapter 16 SAM’S HOUSE

  Chapter 17 SECOND INTERVIEW WITH GINO GAMBINI

  Chapter 18 SEBASTIAN TELLS TONY THE WHOLE STORY

  Chapter 19 THE CONFESSION

  Chapter 20 REWARDS ALL ROUND

  Chapter 21 SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

  Chapter 22 DECEIT AND DECEPTION

  Chapter 23 THE INTERVIEWS

  Chapter 24 A TIME TO REFLECT

  Chapter 1

  THE CREATION OF INSPIRATION

  Sebastian is in the bedroom and has just finished putting on his tuxedo jacket when his slender, brunette wife walks in from the adjoining bathroom, where she’s been working on her makeup, “Sebastian!” she barks, like a mother chastising her child; even though he towers over her. “What’s up with you tonight? You’re normally the first to be ready and always hurrying me along.” he continues to fidget with his jacket and is seemingly deep in thought. Now annoyed, she calls his name again, “Sebastian!” only this time her voice roars through his head like an express train through a station.

  “What is it woman? Can’t a man get dressed in peace?” he retorts back, as her words jolt him from his trance. Cynthia glides over to him with her bare feet kicking the hem of her black evening gown and begins straightening his bow tie.

  “What’s going on? You’ve been irritable for days now, and when you’re not jumping down someone’s throat, you spend the rest of your time walking around like you’re under some kind of hypnotic spell!” His chin hits his chest as he looks down at his beautiful wife brushing and fidgeting with his jacket. He can’t help but inhale her aromatic perfume that she only wears on special occasions. Sebastian’s a tall figure of a man, with salt and pepper wavy hair and just a little overweight.

  They’re a debonair couple, who met in university. She was studying law and he was studying psychology. It was almost like they were drawn to each other from the first year and their commonality was extraordinary. Neither had siblings, both were from farming families and the two of them had been presented with scholarships to attend the best university in the country, due to their exceptional academic abilities. Cynthia had admired him from afar and could see that nothing would eventuate if she didn’t make the first move. It was pouring rain the day she decided to make her move and Sebastian had just come back from visiting his parent’s farm on the weekend. He pulled into the university car park and got out of the Bentley that his father had given him, put his umbrella up and started his long walk to the dormitory. All of a sudden he was startled by someone grabbing the stem of his umbrella and snuggling in close to him.

  He’d never formally met Cynthia but had often seen her reading by herself while sitting under the oak tree on the university lawns. Sometimes he’d glance over the top of his book just to get a moment’s glimpse of her long glossy brunette hair and warm, hazelnut eyes, but he’d soon bury his head back down into the book with embarrassment when he found her doing the same thing.

  As far as women went, Sebastian was a bit of an introvert in his younger days. So when she snuggled close to him under the umbrella he found himself way out of his comfort zone. She had gazed up at him from her hunched position and said, “Hi, hope you don’t mind? I forgot my umbrella.”

  He tilted his brolly so it fully covered her and hesitantly replied, “Ah, not at all.” He’d barely completed his sentence when she immediately responded with another question.

  “You’re Sebastian, right?”

  At this stage he was wondering if this was some sort of a prank, “Yes, how did you know my name?”

  Trying to catch her breath while they scurried through the pouring rain and wanting to get in as much conversation as she could before they reached the dorm, she swiftly explained, “I asked around. I’ve noticed you reading on the bench near the oak tree and I was curious to find out what you’re majoring in. Someone told me Psychology, is that right?”

  Still overwhelmed by her interrogation he hesitantly answered, “Um, yes, that’s correct.” They’d just about reached the main entrance and Cynthia needed to make her intentions clear.

  She firmed her hands on the umbrella and pulled them both to a halt, looked up at him and smiled, “Sorry, my names Cynthia and I’m majoring in law. Would you like to join me for lunch in the cafeteria today? I’m not normally this forward but you have a friendly face and I’d like to know more about you.” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing as he’d felt the same way about her and had no idea the feeling was mutual,

  “Sure that’d be great!” She eased her grip and they started scurrying again, with her chattering all the way. The more she spoke, the more comfortable he felt with her. After that day they become inseparable.

  It was inevitable they’d marry and both agreed not to have children, as they were still busy carving out careers. Although this may bother a lot of women, it’s never been something that Cynthia’s given second thoughts to. Her life up until now has been filled by Sebastian’s eccentricity, absent mindedness and reliance on her to take care of his basic needs. He is still surprised by the way she makes things magically happen for him. There’ll often be times he hass absentmindedly misplaced or forgotten something of importance and she’ll appear in the room holding it while asking, “Are you looking for this?” or “Did you forget something?” The years have been good to her and Cynthia’s mature beauty is a thing to behold. She’s a patient woman with a loving nature and a smile that lights up a room but when pushed beyond her patience she’s a force to be reckoned with.

  As she’s doing up the top button on Sebastian’s jacket he sees her eyes are filled with concern and he gently asks, “Have I really been that bad?” Cynthia sighs deeply.

  “Worse!” she replies. He’s cut by her words as he absolutely adores her and his feelings have not only been further enhanced with maturity, his infatuation hasn’t waned at all over the years.

  Sebastian is saddened by the thought she’s upset, as he would never intentionally hurt her. He assumed the way he’d been feeling wasn’t noticed outwardly by others and has underestimated the impact it’s been having, especially on Cynthia; so he attempts to explain his inner thoughts. He places his hands on her shoulders, hesitates, swallows and humbly apologises, “I’m so sorry my love! As you know I’m fast approaching my 60th birthday and I’m feeli
ng as though there’s something missing in my life. Before you begin to jump to any conclusions or assumptions I must say this; I’m not, I repeat not, entering into a mid-life or any other aged crisis and I’m still madly in love with you after all these years. I just feel my life no longer holds the challenges I so keenly desired and embraced when I was younger.” She looks at him adoringly,

  “My darling Sebastian, after all the wonderful work you’ve done for so many years, tonight you’re deservingly being presented with the highest award in the country for your exemplary work in the field of psychology. You’re at the apex of your career, so of course it’ll seem a little flat for awhile. Especially as you feel you have achieved all you can achieve. But as sure as I’m standing here, new challenges will arise. And trust me, there’s no age limit set for taking on new challenges.” He pauses while he thinks about what she’s said.

  “I have no idea why I’m receiving this award anyway. You’re the one that deserves it. You’ve always had the answers for me when I’ve needed them most.”

  Before he allows himself too become to sentimental, he gently grabs both her arms and kisses her on the forehead and says with a grin, “Come on my dear, you’re keeping me from my award and if you don’t get a move on we’ll be late.” He proceeds to walk around her and heads towards the stairs “Are you coming?”

  “Yes dear!” she replies sarcastically, totally jilted by the moment and knowing she’s been ready well before him. Yet apparently it’s her holding him up now.

  The lengthy black limo Cynthia ordered a week prior is waiting for them downstairs and Sebastian is a little uncomfortable with the thought of arriving in it. He adapts well when he’s outside of his own environment, but he dislikes personal change. Sebastian still has the old Bentley his father gave him and would prefer to take it, instead of riding in the limousine. He isn’t one for all the airs and graces but his wife has gone to a lot of trouble and he’s grateful for her thoughtfulness. He looks up the stairs and can’t see any sign of Cynthia emerging from their bedroom. “How much longer are you going to be?” he bellows from the landing.

  It’s not long before Cynthia calls out “I’m just grabbing my hand bag. I’ll be down shortly.” Sebastian is becoming impatient and fidgety as he waits. He amuses himself by grabbing the large black umbrella from the antique oak hall tree, looks himself up and down while checking his teeth in the mirror and then sits on its seat. The wait is driving him mad, so he stands up again and is about to open the umbrella but Cynthia yells from the stair, “Don’t even think about it Seb! You know it’s bad luck!” He glances back up the stairs at her.

  Frustrated he turns, rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath, “Whatever!”

  It’s a cold, miserable night. The rain has been torrential for the past week and this evening is no exception. Sebastian has to wait even longer as Cynthia heads for the kitchen to retrieve the front door keys. He takes a seat on the hall stand again, puts his head in his hands and murmurs to himself, “My goodness woman, how much longer?” It seems to him that she’s taking forever, but in reality it has only been a matter of minutes. Cynthia soon scurries out of the kitchen and comes to an abrupt halt in front of him. Sebastian sits there unmoved, head still in his hands and unaware she is standing silently in front of him. She feels this is the perfect opportunity for him to see how his behaviour upstairs affected her. “Sebastian! We don’t have time for you to be sitting around twiddling your thumbs. You’re going to make us late! He raises his head, looks her glaringly in the eyes, sighs and smirks, then pushes his hands down on his knees to get up from the seat.

  “That is hilariously funny my dear! I don’t think I’ll be able to stop laughing all the way to my early grave!” Although he’s quite apt at understanding empathy and getting others to understand it, he can become complacent about it when around those he feels most comfortable with.

  She locks the front door; while he opens the umbrella and puts his arm around her. He draws her close and looks down with a grin, “bring back memories my love?” She snuggles closer, as she had all those years ago and says, “How could I forget? It was the beginning of everything I ever wanted in life. Now get me out of this rain before I get soaked!” They hunch over and scurry through the torrential downpour to the awaiting limo.

  On arrival at the convention centre they are escorted to their table while constantly being stopped on the way by well wishers and old friends who Sebastian hasn’t seen in years. The Monterey room where the function’s being held is like a journey back in time. With its heritage green walls, large gold framed landscape paintings and polished timber floorboards, it has the ambience of a bygone era. This is enhanced further by the men wearing tuxedos and the women in their multiple coloured evening gowns.

  Cynthia is incredibly proud of her husband as she glances around and sees some of the most gifted minds in the country. The reason the award is being presented to him isn’t just because of his unique psychological counselling skills but also the time he has selflessly given at his own cost to lecture at universities that would not normally be able to afford a professor of his standing. His theories on the dynamics of human behaviour, opening the doors to communication and body language has drawn acclaim by numerous noted figures in these fields.

  There’s something hypnotic about this softly spoken man that encourages people to share their darkest secrets. They all hold on to every word that melodically leaves his lips. His ability to open their hearts and minds while freeing their inhibitions seems effortless. Others in his profession struggle to break down the barriers as quickly or efficiently as he does.

  They have a table of their own close to the podium and although Cynthia isn’t a stranger to gala events, due to the fundraisers she often attends, she is impressed by the tulip shaped lamps that light up a silver glow on the satin table cloth. It reminds her of a moonbeam dancing on the tips of a wave on a dark night.

  A constant array of guest speakers continue to overwhelm Sebastian with their talk of fondness and adulation for him, Cynthia is so enthralled by what they have to say that she doesn’t notice Sebastian drifting off into the abyss, as he did prior to leaving home. He becomes oblivious to everything around him and begins to time travel in his mind to his days at university and the man who mentored him; Professor John Simmons.

  He thinks about the 3 reasons that inspired him to become a psychologist. His first inspiration came to him as a young boy with an inquisitive mind. He couldn’t grasp why people were so different. He believed this inquisitiveness came from his parents being total opposites. His mother was an academic and had a degree in psychology, but never practiced. She was content to be a stay- at- home- mum and spent many hours of the day conversing and encouraging Sebastian to develop an enquiring mind. His father was a drover’s son with a character poles apart from his mother’s. He was regimented in his ways and found it uncomfortable to sit and have in-depth conversations. Sebastian had problems connecting with his father and became desperate to understand what makes people who and what they are.

  The second inspiration came from compassion and the thought of helping others. He had been through a couple of very traumatic events as a child. One of his good friends at school had committed suicide and not long after that he lost a Grandparent he was very close to. During this time he was sent to a very inexperienced counsellor and always felt he had never really gotten over the emotional torment of that period in his life.

  The third inspiration was and still is one of challenge, constantly pushing for answers to questions that were seemingly unanswerable. Sebastian is forever seeking out client’s issues and creating solutions that can enable them to overcome their problems. Many of his methods of helping them are quite unorthodox, and some have said, unprofessional. That is until his incredible results are documented and acknowledged by others of high distinction in the same field.

  Sebastian smiles to himself while thinking about the middle aged client who suffered from low self
esteem and had been having problems standing up to the older sister who was constantly putting her down. In their second session Sebastian had told her he had stood in something quite vile and asked her to remove it from his shoe. Without hesitation her head drew back and anger engulfed her face. Her immediate response was; “Definitely not!” She was from a very wealthy family and for anyone to even ask such a question was a total insult. He responded by questioning where she drew the inner strength from to resist his request. And if it were her sister would she have reacted the same way? It was these kinds of antics that brought fast results and the more difficult the issues the more he could engage his creativity to empower his clients.

  His professor, John Simmons, was one of the most popular tutors on campus. He was a tall, lean, quietly spoken man with a charismatic personality who had taken particular interest in Sebastian after recognising his extraordinary talents. Sebastian vividly recalls a lecture of John’s that sparked new meaning into all the knowledge he had acquired from university and books. John had touched on the subject of, “What do we really know about others, that isn’t judged by our own actions and personal beliefs?” Normally Sebastian sat arched over his books and pad taking notes, but on hearing Johns posing question, he couldn’t help but sit bolt upright. John continued his oration as he paced backward and forward in rhythm with his baritone voice, “What we are learning here, most days, is coming from books, journals and lectures that mainly academics have written from case-studies. So tell me, where else can you acquire knowledge to enhance your future in the field of psychology?”

  Sebastian recalls answering without hesitation, “Unless we get involved with what others do or mingle with those who have less or more, we’ll find it difficult to comprehend their emotional and/or physical status.”

  “Very good!” came the reply, “So how do we do that?” There was a pause and John continued, “Let me tell you, by becoming a part of life. Forget about how and what your life was like before today. That will remain in your subconscious, whenever you’re outside of this campus. Study the books around you. Real people are your books! Listen without judgement, accept the unacceptable and relate to the objectionable without losing focus on your own morals, beliefs or ethical standards. Ask yourselves, if you were given the same neighbourhood, family and circumstances as the people you meet, how would you react? How can we possibly walk a journey with others if we don’t understand the intensity of their happiness, sadness and emotional pain?”