Lives Lived and Lives Lost

Life # 143: That time Tom and Harry were A-list actors

London, UK, 2014

They met at the premiere of a movie Harry had a small, supporting part in. Tom had worked with the director in his breakout role some years prior, so naturally he was invited to the premiere of the director's latest project. They literally bumped into each other during the party after everyone had seen the movie.

"Hi," Harry said, mind still reeling as he stared at Tom with wide eyes. This wasn't the first time they were celebrities by any means, but this was the first time that Tom was wearing the body of a very talented and desirable A-list actor who just about the whole planet seemed to lust after in some capacity or another.

"Nice to meet you," Tom said, quickly recovering from the shock of getting his memories back and acutely aware they were surrounded by hundreds of people and thus had to keep up appearances at least for a while. "Sorry, mate, but I didn't catch your name."

"Tim," Harry said with a sheepish smile. "Or Timmy, whatever you want."

"It was a great movie," Tom said as he sipped his drink. "Your performance was more than solid."

Snorting, Harry gave a careless shrug. "Sure, for all three minutes that I was in it."

"It was at least five minutes," Tom said with a grin and then nodded knowingly. "Small parts like that can get you noticed, though, so don't discount them."

"Oh no," Harry said quickly with a vigorous shake of his head. "That's not how I meant it. This is my first part in a big production and being a part of it felt so... epic that I hadn't realized how small my part actually was."

While they were chatting they had slowly but surely manoeuvred through the crowd to a more secluded corner of the room for a bit more privacy. "How old are you?" Harry asked urgently when they were no longer surrounded by people on all sides.

"I'm 37," Tom whispered. "You?"

Harry swallowed. "I'm 19."

"Bugger." Tom pursed his lips and stared down at his shoes. "We're going to have to play this very carefully if we don't want to mess up our careers."

"Yeah," Harry said in complete agreement. Not only were they both men, but there was also a significant age difference. Marrying someone your own gender was still not fully accepted for A-list stars like Tom was at that moment, especially not if his spouse was still a teenager. "I suggest we hold off any official relationship for at least a few years. Perhaps start with a friendship that's slowly made public and which can then evolve into a romantic relationship."

"We could easily make something like that work. I've got a couple of big projects lined up, so I don't have time for a relationship anyway." Tom gave Harry a curious look. "You've got anything interesting coming up?"

Harry heaved a deep sigh. "Yeah, maybe. A starring role in a small project but they're having trouble getting financing. Other than that, nothing, but I'm hoping I'll get some good publicity from this movie."

"It really is a good movie so you're bound to get offered something new," Tom said optimistically, but unfortunately, for once he was wrong.

For months nothing happened for Harry and his blossoming acting career. He got so bored doing nothing he ended up writing a few scripts. One a dark comedy about a dysfunctional family, one a psychological thriller about a serial killer and one a straight up horror story about a demonic possession.

Harry's agent gave him a very peculiar look when Harry handed her three completed scripts during their next meeting.

"You've got hidden talents," his agent said as she paged through the first script. "I don't usually sell scripts but I'll see what I can do."