I would like to start off by saying thank you to everyone in the comments for trying to help with my situation. I’m sorry I couldn’t reply to some people, but I want you all to know I appreciate each and every one of you. Now, onto the update.
Monday 3:09AM
Mike: Where are you?
I closed the doggy cam app and practically threw my phone across the living room. Kaya woke up in a panic, but I managed to calm her down. The bile started to rise up my throat again, so I rushed to the bathroom. I must have woken Jane up in the process because the light in her bedroom flickered on.
“Lee, what’s going on?” Jane asked. I heard her start walking toward the bathroom. I must have emptied out every meal I ever ate. It took a while for the vomiting to finally stop. Jane came over and started rubbing my back at some point during all of this.
“Ugh… He’s in my apartment,” I said.
“What? Who?” She looked confused, as if she thought this was some sort of dream.
“The stalker guy who’s been texting me through Mike’s phone.”
I told her about the man I saw on the app and his most recent text message. She told me to check the app again. I begged her not to. I just wanted to get some sleep and deal with this in the morning. She agreed on the condition that I call the cops in the morning.
I slept on a futon in Jane’s room, with Kaya curled up next to me. We decided it was safer to stick together. It was probably around 10AM when I woke up, but I still felt extremely groggy. I decided to finally check my phone.
20 missed calls from my boss. Shit. I forgot it was Monday. I was dealing with all this Mike stuff, I ended up forgetting about work. I shot him an email with some lame excuse about being sick and asked for tomorrow off too.
No other messages or notifications. I saw a little note on the dresser from Jane.
Had to go to work. I tried waking you up earlier, but you wouldn’t budge! Also, don’t forget to call the cops. Breakfast in the kitchen xoxo
Yeah, I could do with some breakfast. I took Kaya out to potty and then I fed her some of the dog food I had brought from my apartment. I headed into the kitchen and saw the plate of eggs and bacon covered in saran wrap. Sometimes I wish I was straight so I could marry Jane.
I called the cops after breakfast and told them about the break-in incident at my apartment. They said they’d check the place out but I’d have to go over there to show them the footage from last night, along with the text messages.
I was worried about what this could potentially mean for Mike. I mean, the police would have to contact his family about the whole thing. They would find out about us. I know it’s kind of a ridiculous thing to worry about at this point, but I know what it’s like to be outed without consent. A message notification snapped me out of my thoughts.
Monday 11:42AM
Mike: I thought we were supposed to meet up yesterday.
I felt my breath catch in my throat. This was the first time he’s contacted me during the day. I know a lot of you said that he probably knew where Jane lived too, and that thought sent me into a panic. I needed to get out of here. He probably wouldn’t do anything to me in broad daylight, right? If there were people around… then maybe I would be safe.
I had to go back to my apartment anyway. That’d probably be the safest place, considering the police would be there. I headed to my car, Kaya following close by. I dropped her off at a doggy daycare on the way.
I decided to stop by a cafe to grab some coffee for the road. The cafe I wanted to check out didn’t have a parking spot, so I had to find one a couple of blocks away.
I started to feel like I was being watched again. I looked around, starting to feel a bit paranoid. I sped up slightly. There was a figure just up ahead, but I only caught a glimpse of it. It was a man with long, dark hair. Fuck. I turned around.
That’s when I bumped into Mike. Except, it wasn’t Mike. At least not my Mike.
His dimple was on the wrong side of his face. The tiny freckles that peppered his nose weren’t there. His eyes were the ‘wrong’ shade of blue. He looked skinnier. His skin looked weirdly smooth. It was almost like someone tried to make a wax figure of Mike, but had a shitty reference photo.
I don’t know how long I was standing there, just staring at this… thing that was so obviously not Mike. Should I play along? Should I make a run for it? Beat him up? Scream?
“Lee? You don’t look so good,” not-Mike said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Huh? Oh. I… I’m just… I haven’t seen you since the breakup. I guess seeing you feels kind of unreal,” I managed to say. Although, kind of unreal is a gross understatement. I need to find out what the hell is going on here.
And so, I decided to play along with whatever the fuck this was. Not-Mike invited me to have coffee with him to discuss our breakup. Right now, I’m sitting in a cafe, waiting for him to get back from the bathroom. I already wrote the rest of this update beforehand, so I decided to write the rest while I still can.
You guys might think I’m being crazy right now. I can already feel the kind of comments this post is going to get. Please don’t judge me. I just want to know what happened to Mike.
I miss him so much. I know that this guy isn’t Mike, but… he looks like him, and he sounds like him. Maybe that’s enough for me.