Two Of A Kind

Two Of A Kind

After he sat down at the counter, the waitress poured him a cup of coffee then asked if he wanted the usual?

“The usual?”

“Yeah. Scrambled eggs, sausage, toast.”

“How did you know?

“Because that’s what you always order.”

He stared at her confused. “Not me,” he said. “I’ve never eaten here before. I just arrived in town yesterday.”

Now it was her turn to look confused. “What do you mean? You come in here every morning and order the same thing.”

“I think you’re confusing me with someone else,” he told her.

“Well, then, you must have an evil twin or something, because you and Charles Shannon look exactly alike.”

“Who is Charles Shannon?”

“He’s the druggist.” She glanced at her watch. “In fact, he’s late. He should have been here by now.”

Just then, the bell above the door chimed and that’s when the new arrival turned around. The expression on his face could have stopped a train. He found himself staring at . . . himself.

The man who entered was not only wearing the exact same clothes--plaid shirt, tan pants, white sneakers--but exhibited the same slightly over-weight body. Even his salt and pepper hair was styled the same.

The druggist also stopped short and stared. “Who the heck are you?” he said as everyone in the diner turned and looked. “Bizarre,” someone said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Slowly, Charles Shannon eased himself onto the empty stool next to the stranger while continuing to stare at him.

“My name is Sam Keller,” the new arrival said. “I’m a nurse with the traveling nurses programed assigned to Hillcrest Hospital.”

“Where are you from?” the druggist asked once his shock wore off.

“Born and raised in Boston.”

“So was I!” the druggist loudly exclaimed.

That’s when they found out each had been adopted as infants and lived just a couple of miles from each other growing up.

“God, we could have run into each other so many times,” remarked Keller.

Because he had to get to work, the druggist grabbed his breakfast to go and suggested they meet again at the diner around six. Once they did, they spent the next two hours recounting their entire lives.

While they talked, Carla, the waitress, brought over two wedges of chocolate cake and placed them on the table. “Treats on the house for two brothers who just found each other.”

After thanking her, they continued to discover how much their lives had paralleled each other.

At the end of his three months in the visiting nurses’ program, Keller decided to remain with Hillcrest Hospital. Eventually, he ended up marrying one of the female nurses.

And whom did he ask to be his best man? Why his twin brother of course.