Somebody That I Used To Know

The Lookalike

Molly holds Tom's hand under the table. He anxiously looks around, making sure that no one is watching them.

"Are you okay, baby?"

"Oh, um, y-yes, darling, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm. What are you getting, Lils?"

"Guess." Lillian smiles.

"Umm... chicken tenders."

"Of course!"

Tom softly smiles and looks down at the menu.

"What are you getting, dear?"

"Oh, um, I think I'll get the shrimp."

"Ooo, that sounds good. I'm going with a nice, fat, juicy, burger." Molly says, making hand motions in the air.

"Hey, I'll be right back, alright? I have to use the restroom."

"Thomas,"

"No, Molly, don't worry, I wouldn't do that here. I'll be right back."

"If you feel sick, hon, come get me and I'll stand outside the door to make sure that you're okay."

"I will, dear, don't worry about me."

Tom gets up and walks to the bathroom. When he opens the door, there's a line of men waiting against the sinks. The urinals were going quicker than the stalls, but Tom wouldn't use one, it bothered him too much.

A man comes out of the stall and Tom's mouth drops. His eyes start to quickly flicker and kind of steps back, breath shakey. He looks again at the man, examining his face.

He was tall, about 6'4 and very built. His reddish brown beard went down to his neck and his head was shaved. His arms were covered in tattoos, along with a dragon on his neck.

"Excuse me," the man gruffly says, stepping in-between a few men further up to get to the sinks. Even his voice sounded similar.

Tom closes his eyes and squeezes the side of the sink, trying to calm himself down the best that he could, but his eyes reopened. He just couldn't keep his eyes off of this man.

The man dries his hands on paper hand towels and tosses them in the garbage. He walks past Tom, and Tom's heart stops.

"Are you okay?" he asks, head coming forward. The man's tone was slightly upset, but the look in Tom's eyes made him ease up. "You've been staring at me."

"I... I-"

The man goes to place a hand on Tom's shoulder.

"So," Molly says to Lillian. "How's your lemonade?"

"It's good, Mummy. I like passionfruit."

"I told you!"

"Excuse me?" the same man says, walking up to the manager.

"Yeah? What can I do for you?"

"Listen, there's this man in the men's bathroom, I think he's uh..."

Molly tunes in while taking a sip of her wine. 

"Not fully there or something, you know? He was staring at me and so I went to see what was wrong and he flipped the fuck out. Some guy's helping him in there but I think he's having a panic attack or something. Like I said, he didn't look... right, but I don't want to scare some poor guy. He has a wedding ring on so I'm gonna guess that his family is here or wife or something. Can you just check on him and make sure that he's alright? He looked really, really, bad. I'm not sure who he is, he looks fimilar but I don't know."

"We'll check, thank you."

"Wait!" Molly exclaims. "What does he look like?"

"Are you his wife or something?"

"Maybe."

"Yeah, no, of course. Um, he's a little shorter than me, not by much. Very slim though. Um... let's see, his hair is kinda like mine color wise but he's very trimmed looking."

"Have you ever heard of Matthew West?"

"Yeah, yeah. He's that guy who... oh," the man whispers. "That's why the guy looked fimilar. My friends used to tease me about how similar we looked when it first made news broadcasts."

"Lillian," Molly says. "Stay here, don't move a muscle. I'll be right back."

Molly runs to the men's room, ripping the door open despite the protesting of the people inside.

Tom sits under the sink, arms wrapped around his legs. He rocks back and forth, eyes frozen forward.

"Thomas," Molly kneels down and places her hands his face.

"D-d-don't... don't please-"

"Baby, baby, hey, it's just me, it's Molly. Shhhh, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you, I just want to get you home."

"M-M-att," Tom says, voice shaking. He points his finger to the man.

"He's not Matt," Molly says. "You're safe, I promise."

"He... he... he looks just-"

"I know he does. What's your name?"

"Um, E-Eric. Eric Daven."

"This nice man's name is Eric. Matt's gone, he can't hurt you anymore."

Tom puts his face in his hands and falls forward. Molly takes him in her arms, providing a comforting embrace. "You're okay."

"I'm so embarrassed."

"Shhhh, just breathe, baby, just breathe."

After getting Tom off of the floor, they slowly walk back to the table. "Baby, come on."

"We're leaving?" Lily asks.

"Yeah, we'll get something on the way home."

"I want chicken tenders."

"You can get them anywhere, come on."

Molly slams a $20 on a the table and takes Tom outside with the breeze. Molly unlocks the car and helps Lilian inside. She then hands her her phone and locks the car again. "Tom."

"I'm fine."

"You're so shaken." Molly whispers. "You're white as a ghost."

"I thought I saw one." Tom quietly says. "I... I'm just so embarrassed."

"Don't be."

"What if someone recorded it?"

"It's illegal to take footage in a bathroom or changing room, you can sue."

"It was so crazy, Molly. Nothing has ever looked more real. I don't understand how they're so similar."

"Some people have lookalikes, babe, that's how it is. It's just unfortunate that you saw your abuser's lookalike."

"It's... whatever. I'll get over it. Let's go home, okay?"

"Okay."