Who: Alex & Mike What: Random encounter Where: Joyland Cafe When: Afternoon, 10/09
Mike had run into his dad downtown which was always a little funny since they lived together but kept doing their own thing. Before parting ways they decided to get some coffee at Joyland because why not. It was a beautiful day and Terry wasn't in any rush to get back to work. It gave them a chance to catch up on some stuff they hadn't really talked about and simply spend some time together which they both liked.
They'd been there a while when Terry pointed out that the barista who came in on a late shift looked a lot like Mike. Mike didn't see it but Terry was adamant that the guy even moved like him. There were some doppelganger jokes and Mike rolled his eyes at it, but laughed. "He better not steal my spot in the band," he muttered good naturedly and glanced back at the guy working. Okay, he supposed he could see it. They had similar features but he couldn't really judge for himself if they 'moved' the same.
"Maybe you had a twin," Terry whispered excitedly and Mike groaned softly. "Yeah, let's call him over here and ask if he has Reiner's Syndrome," he muttered and then turned a little apologetic since he hadn't meant to be a downer about it. "I saw your doppelganger in Paris," he shot back. "So maybe it's more common than you think."
Terry just laughed at that. "There's plenty of guys who look like me. It's the beard, see?" He put down some money for their drinks as he started to get up. "See you at home? Or do you have practice?"
"I'll be home," Mike promised, glancing back at the new barista curiously before smiling up at his dad. "Catch you there."
The cafe was busy enough that, at first, Alex didn't pay much attention to the young adult and his father. He looked familiar but from where, he wasn't sure. Not the cafe, somewhere else. Another context. That was all he knew.
He was halfway through making another customer's order when it clicked. His mother's dreams, the guy had been in them. But how? Those dreams were from when she was young. If it was the same person, he hadn't aged. Maybe he was the son? The old guy didn't look familiar but he was a very generic father figure type, beard and all, so… Who knew? He tried not to stare as he worked but kept glancing over, trying not to be obvious.
Alex waited for a lull in customers before he came out from behind the counter to clear a couple of tables. By then, the father - AIR patient? - had left but the lookalike was still there. He pretended to wipe down the table next to where Mike was sitting even though nobody had been there recently.
“Do people ever tell you that you look like your dad?” Alex asked the guy sitting there, trying to be as casual as possible.
Mike had started up a mindless game on his phone when his dad left, not in any rush to leave yet. He still had a drink in hand and he had nowhere to be. He looked up when Alex approached, then laughed at the question. "Good one," he said and leaned back in his seat. "I tried to have his beard but he's pretty attached to it." He supposed he could see what Terry meant now that Alex was closer and he couldn't help but think how weird it would be for Vicky to have a threesome with them. It was mostly a joke but interesting nonetheless. "You're new here, aren't you? I don't remember seeing you around."
At least that answered part of Alex's question; that had been the guy's father. And he looked old enough to have been at AIR when his mother was… Though it was the son who looked like the boy from his mother's dreams more than the older guy. How was that possible? He smiled at Mike's joke then paused, straightened up and glanced around to check there was nobody waiting before he answered the question. “A few months,” he shrugged. ”I moved here over the summer. What about you?”
"As long as I can remember," Mike replied easily even if there was something vaguely unsettling about talking to the guy. He couldn't pinpoint it at all, maybe it was the doppelganger thing, he sounded a bit like Mike too and he found himself looking at him more than he probably should, trying to suss out just how alike they really looked. Not enough for identity theft or anything, but it was hard to tell when he couldn't really compare them side by side like he could if it was someone else. "I'm Mike," he said then before it got weird. "Mike Alton."
Alex paused for a moment as he tried to remember if his mother had ever shown him a name of any of those with her in the hospital but he couldn’t think of any. He realised Mike was witing for an answer then shook his head slightly as he cleared his thoughts. “Hey Mike, I’m Alex. Alex Woodard.” He set the spray bottle down on the table and wiped his hands on his pants. This was the second big lead he’d gotten since he came to Point Pleasant, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass by just going back to work. But what to say without sounding crazy… He forced a smile, slightly wider than he normally would give to hide the unsettled feeling inside. Like he was missing something. “You know, somebody told me you’re not a local if you haven’t been here for multiple generations. Your parents grow up here too?”
"Is that so?" Mike asked with some amusement and a little surprise. "Well, shit. Guess I'm not a local. My dad's from here but my mom's from Seattle." He gave Alex a calculating look before adding, "My biological mom was from Arizona so I guess I'm not a local at all." The conversation was a little weird but not in any way he could pinpoint. "Where are you from?"
“I guess that makes you half local,” Alex said. He wasn’t even surprised to hear his father was from there, he’d already known. He was, however, surprised to hear about his biological mother and raised his eyebrows at that additional information. “You’re adopted? That’s… interesting. Did you ever meet her?” He was momentarily distracted from the real reason he’d started the conversation as he considered what that would have been like. He’d never met his father but at least he’d known where he came from, he still had his mother and her family. “I’m from Portland, by the way.”
"Nah she died shortly after I was born," Mike said and it was no real loss to him as he'd never known her. More like an abstract kind of thing that he'd probably feel sad about if he wasn't so attached to what he saw as his real parents. "My mom has her picture somewhere so I know what she looked like and all but yeah." He shrugged one shoulder making it pretty clear he wasn't torn up about it. "So what brings you out here?"
For a moment, Alex almost said he knew what it felt like to lose a mother but he didn’t want to start the conversation with that kind of downer and, anyway, it wasn’t the same at all. He got the feeling from the way Mike was open about it that it didn’t bother him anyway. It was just another fact, like his brown hair or how he was the spitting image of his father… Alex frowned slightly as he considered this. “So… did you ever meet your dad?” he asked, wondering if there was still a biological connection he could trace somewhere. “Your bio-dad, I mean.”
Mike felt another surge of amusement as he wasn't sure how else to feel about the interaction. Maybe Alex was always this curious about other people's families, like that was his thing. Mike wasn't sure what to make of it. "You wanna sit down?" he asked and gestured at the now empty seat across the table. The way he kept looking around told Mike he probably had to get back to work but who knew, maybe he had a break coming up.
Alex glanced around the store as he considered his options. There were a few customers but he was due for a break anyway and nobody was up at the counter needing anything. “Yeah, sure, why not?” he said as he grabbed the seat opposite Mike. He noticed Mike hadn’t answered his last question but decided not to push it. “I can spare a few minutes. So… how’s your coffee?”
"It's good," Mike said and he wasn't the only one not answering questions but Alex looked a little distracted so he didn't push it. "So yeah, I didn't know my dad, a glorified sperm donor really. Why, you think we might be half brothers?" He grinned cheekily. "Is that why you're here?" He had to tack that on, though it was mostly a joke since Alex hadn't answered his question about what had brought him out here.
Alex laughed softly and shrugged. “Maybe, anyone could be. I never met the guy. All I've got of my glorified supermarket donor is a name but it's not Alton so we're probably good.” Of course the names would be different but it was a joke more than an attempt to get information this time. Though if it worked to give him a name… He realised he'd forgotten Mike's earlier question and smiled. “Not really but I'm taking time off college to look into my family history. My mom's side, maybe work on a book, I don't know what I'll do with it yet.”
"Alton comes from my adoptive parents," Mike said and wagged his eyebrows. "But I don't know who my bio-dad is so that point is moot. You write, huh? That's cool. I don't have the patience for that, unless it's music. You play anything?" He felt curious about this guy and was already considering throwing one of the band contact cards at him. The guy was new in town, it could be nice to have contacts and if not then it wasn't like that card contained any deep dark secrets.
“I used to play guitar, nothing serious though. Just if somebody had one at a party or whatever.” Alex shrugged. Even that was probably an overstatement. He knew the chords but had never had the patience to practice regularly enough to do more than fumble over the notes. ”Enough to get girls interested anyway, I was pretty shameless in high school. I'd have been screwed if an actual musician was there.”
"Guitars are chick magnets," Mike agreed with a little titter and he had been no better in high school. He might even say he wasn't much better now. "I would have screwed you over then, good thing I wasn't at your parties," he teased with a devilish grin. To be fair he might have tried to hang back some, he didn't need the spotlight all the time and there were admittedly weeks where he didn't even go to parties but when he did, he definitely felt greedy and a little entitled to the attention he got. "I've got a band, we might be playing a gig on Halloween if you're still in town." He got the card out and handed it over to Alex. Nothing fancy, just an email and a phone number for anyone who might want to contact the Drowsy Getaway.
Alex had no doubt that what Mike said was true. Anybody who was enough of a musician to actually own an instrument could have shown him up, let alone somebody who was good enough to have their own band and a business card to go with it. He looked it over as he took it and smiled. The name reminded him of lazy summers and road trips he never really got to take, thanks to his mother’s illness. “I’ll still be here,” Alex said as he tucked the card into the pocket of his jeans, a little awkwardly as he was still sitting. “I don’t intend to go anywhere yet…” As he said that, he glanced up at the counter to notice there were a couple browsing the menu. He sighed and looked back at Mike. “Well, except now, I guess. Sorry.” He stood up and headed back to behind the counter. He glanced at Mike over the shoulder over the customers. He wasn’t sure if he had a new lead or not but it had also been nice to just make a friend.
Mike hadn't really expected him to stick around for long and he hadn't intended on staying at Joyland for long anyway so he dropped some cash on the table once Alex had left and grabbed his coat off the seat next to him. "Catch you later, Alex," he said as he passed him and he kind of hoped he'd see him again. It was never easy to talk to someone when they were actually working.