Tommy Harrington

Tommy Harrington, a character in the A Very Scandalous Proposal series, is Simon/Ava Montjoy's best friend. He is first seen in Chapter 3.

Appearance
Tommy has gray eyes, short dark blond hair, and fair-to-tan skin. His casual outfit consists of a white dress shirt and blue blazer. When you first see him, you note him to be slim.

Personality
Tommy appears warm and friendly to you. He knows how to navigate the upper crust of British society and as a "commoner", he doesn't appear to look down upon you. He hides his discomfort at spending profligate amounts of money to keep up appearances in front of Simon/Ava's more affluent friends. Rather than drink a cocktail costing over 2500 pounds, he sticks with a gin and tonic and says the fancier (and hence pricier) drinks are wasted on him.

Background
Unlike Simon/Ava, Tommy was not "to the manor born" and only managed to get into the right schools. His family has no title and nothing like "old money". He may be upper crust, but not the kind that counts according to him. He works at a hedge fund.

A Very Scandalous Proposal

 * Chapter 3: Mind your Manners
 * Chapter 4: Everyone Who's Anyone
 * Chapter 5: Secrets of the Estate (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 6: Out on the Town
 * Chapter 7: Apartment Hunting (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 8: The Royal Ascot
 * Chapter 9: The Charity Gala
 * Chapter 10: Treachery Afoot
 * Chapter 13: Facing the Music (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 14: Revelations (Mentioned; Physical Appearance Determinant)

Simon/Ava Montjoy
Tommy has been Simon/Ava's best friend for as long as he/she can remember. They have known each other since they went to Fulton together as "nippers" (young children), utter "hellions" as Simon/Ava puts it. They liked to play a game called "Robin Hood" which involved climbing trees and falling on top of each other while shrieking bloody murder. Tommy practically lived at the Barrington house during the summer after year five. He and Simon/Ava would spend hours exploring the hidden secret passages of the house, and his room (which even Margaret Montjoy has nicknamed the "Tommy room") shares a passageway with the Blythe Suite.

They also attended Kingsbridge College together. When he stays at the Barrington house, he stays in the Pevensie Room. During your dive into the Montjoy past, you find photos of tween-aged Tommy and Simon/Ava in a tree fort, on horseback, and even a sleepover selfie. If asked, Simon/Ava will say that Tommy is his/her best friend. Simon/Ava confided in Tommy about the reason he/she ended the engagement with Arabella Fitzwilliams.

Your Character
In Chapter 3, you meet him when Simon/Ava invites you to meet his grandparents. As a fellow "commoner", he appears to be helpful when you're navigating through the social nuances of British society. When you meet up with Simon/Ava's lot of friends, Tommy is there. While the rest are nonchalant about throwing their credit cards around and spending enormous amounts of money, you catch glimpses of Tommy bracing himself or cursing under his breath about the costs. In Chapter 8, if you learned about Arabella's affair and mention it to Tommy, he is surprised because he thought Simon/Ava had only told him.

If you spent time looking through Simon/Ava's album in his/her London loft, you find a handwritten note paper-clipped to a voided check for 15000 pounds. There Tommy writes Simon/Ava thanking him/her for the thought but to not send him money. When you bring it up to Tommy in Chapter 9, he is embarrassed and you apologize.

In Chapter 13, after Simon/Ava tells you about (or shows you in a premium scene) the hidden passageways of the Barrington estate, you realize that it had to have been Tommy who sold the story to the Daily Star.

Trivia

 * His character model resembles the Magnusson triplets from Bachelorette Party.
 * He shares the same surname as Beckett Harrington from The Elementalists series.