The Accidental Hacker

Chapter Five

AN: Although Harry can work in a range of styles from detailed portraiture to impressionist, when I picture Harri’s geek paintings, I picture the slightly impressionistic style and colours of Leonid Afremov. I think his style would work fabulously with the bright colours of superheroes.

Chapter Five

Three days after our Shakespeare night, I suddenly got an email from the Missoni Gallery. I knew them, of course, they were a fairly new gallery, not huge but respected and known for their pop culture inspired works.

Their email said that they had found some of my work online, unfortunately they weren’t using my professional email (that would be geekfreak@hotmail) they were using the one I’d used to send pictures to Tom, which was my initials and age (well it was my age, when I set the account up).

I'd left my phone in my studio so I tried the webcam app and surprisingly, Tom answered almost immediately.

“Darling.” I could still see his smile but not much else.

“I just got an email from a gallery asking me to bring some samples of my work in. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” I was cross and it showed.

“Ah.”

“‘Ah’? Is that all you have to say? You had no right to show those pictures I emailed, or my site, to anyone without my permission!”

“But you’re so talented! You deserve recognition and if I could help you get a little, I didn’t see the problem with that.”

“It’s because I want to make it on my own, not because you have a friend. Now I’ll always be wondering if my work is good enough or if they were doing you a favour.”

“I see your point but please, darling, let me assure you, they won’t take your work if they don’t like it, not even if they do know me and besides, everyone needs a hand. People helped me get a foot in the door and I was hoping I could do the same for you. Whether you succeed or fail will be down to you, I just made a phone call.”

I felt like a total bitch now.

“You’re right, I’m sorry, I-”

His phone rang.

“One second,” he said and pushed his chair away from the desk, turning to reach behind himself for his phone and for a few moments, his face caught the light. It wasn’t much light, probably from a street lamp outside the window, but I knew that face. The whole frigging world knew that face!

Tom, my Tom, wasn’t some jobbing actor, he was Tom freaking Hiddleston!!!

I closed the webcam app and proceeded to freak out, wandering around my apartment with my head in my hands, wondering how I had been so blind! I’d actually sat there and watched him in Wallander a few nights ago and discounted him as being too famous. Why hadn’t I noticed his voice? Surely I’d know that voice anywhere, wouldn’t I? I was such an idiot.

Oh, and the email address! I just assumed that the real Loki wouldn’t ever use that name. I mean, why would he? It was a double bluff, because only not-Loki’s would use Loki as their email handle. Oh, he was a crafty son of a bitch, that one.

I heard my phone ring a few times but I didn’t really notice until it rang while I was in my studio, where I’d left it. I picked it up and the caller ID said Captain Hammer.

I couldn’t talk to him, not yet so when the call ended, I brought the phone back into my living room, curled up on the sofa and opened the message app.

He’d already texted me.

‘Darling, are you all right? It was stupid of me to do anything without discussing it with you, I’m sorry.’