Deaf Doppelganger part 3
I saw him on a bus a few months after my last visit to the Leeds Deaf Club. I was outside, and saw him through the window. He gawped at me with the stare of recognition. I imagine he must have been thinking "It's him again!"... just like I was. I chased, but didn't catch the bus. That was the last time I ever saw him. It was not yet 1991.
I had thought about him quite a bit. I had alerted all friends that when they saw him, or the redheaded girl, or both together, they were to approach and try to get info. Some agreed but never saw him; others tried to figure out what elaborate practical joke or ruse I must be concocting.
The sightings continued on and off, for years. Acquaintances would comment on seeing me somewhere that I hadn't been, often with the tell-tale aspect of the apparent reluctance to respond to voice conversation, which they interpreted as either "me" being in a right mood, or doing something clandestine, or similar. It all started to tail off.
I moved away from Leeds, but not far. For a long time I have lived near to my now-workplace, in a tiny village between Huddersfield and Wakefield. Leeds is just a place I go to for evenings out, or to meet friends from the "old days".
But suddenly!
In the spring of 2016, Bill, one of my work colleagues, who I have only known for about 3 or 4 years, mentioned over lunch that he had seen me parked in a car park next to a scenic reservoir/lake near Halifax the previous weekend. Odd, i thought, I hadn't been any such place. Indeed, I had never ever been to that particular car park. He asked me when did I obtain the Ford Focus I was in? I don't have a Ford, I told him. We were both mildly flummoxed and then it hit me...
Was I with anyone, I asked him? In the car, at that place. Bill has never met my wife, so he was completely at ease to tell me that yes, I was with my wife. It was "obvious" that the woman in question must have been my other half, which I took (correctly) to imply that there had been a little bit of canoodling going on between "the other me" and the wife or girlfriend in question. Bill informed me that, whoever the chap was, he looked exactly like me. And he meant it - he was certain it was me. Dressed like me, hair like me, glasses (still!) like mine... Bill felt that he should not interrupt the somewhat adult-orientated action that he was glimpsing through a slightly steamed up car window, and had left it at that.
I pounced at the chance. I asked Bill to describe this woman, and sure enough, a redhead. Could it be my doppelganger again, after all these years? And he's still with the same lass? And more to the point, definitely with her, if you see what I mean. He must be near my age of 50, and perhaps has been in this relationship for something like 30 years. They are still making out in the car? I hope my marriage lasts so well.