Tommy parked his car in the parking lot of the apartment complex where Haley lived. He climbed the stairs leading to her apartment and rang the doorbell.

"I don't believe it, you're on time for once," Haley said as she opened the door to let him in.

"Real funny Hales, so where's this new roommate of yours?" Tommy inquired.

"She's not home but you'll meet her tonight she's going to be at the banquet too," Haley told him.

"So she's a science major?" Tommy asked.

"No she's not, actually she went as Anton Mercer's date," Haley revealed.

"Wait, your roommate is Anton Mercer's girlfriend," Tommy said surprised.

"She assured me that they're only business acquaintances but you can judge for yourself," Haley replied.

"I guess we should get going then, you look nice by they way," Tommy said admiring the evening dress she was wearing.

"You don't look half bad yourself," Haley said.

"Yeah well what can I say I clean up rather nice when I have too," Tommy joked.

"So you ready to go?" Haley asked.

"Yes, the sooner we get there the sooner we can leave," Tommy answered.

"I know this evening isn't as exciting as going on digs but these kind of events are part of the job too, the more you get to know these people the easier it'll be to get funds for your research," Haley told him.

"You know I never imagined that someday I was going to be associating with rich society people," Tommy quipped.

"You ready for this?" Haley asked as they arrived at the venue where the Mercer Industries Research banquet was being held.

"Ready as ever," Tommy told her as she took his arm.

"Ah Tommy, Haley, I'm so glad that you could make it," Anton Mercer greeted them as they entered the room.

"Thanks so much for inviting us Mr. Mercer," Tommy replied as they shook hands.

"Please Tommy call me Anton, we're going to be colleagues one day," Anton told him.

"I'm looking forward to it," Tommy told him.

"There are a number of people that I want to introduce you both to so don't stray too far but I seemed to have misplaced my date," Anton replied.

"Here she comes," Haley said as a woman approached them.

"There you are Nicole, you already know Haley, and this is Tommy Oliver," Anton said as Tommy was shocked to see the woman he'd met only days ago.

"We've met before nice to see you again Thomas," Nicole said.

"Um, yes it's nice to see you too," Tommy replied not really knowing how to react. He couldn't believe that the beautiful girl he'd been daydreaming about the past couple of days was dating Anton Mercer.

"Well now that we're all acquainted what do you say we get down to business and convince my guests to invest in Mercer Industries," Anton replied.

"I didn't realize you and Nikki had met," Haley said later when they were seated for dinner.

"Yeah she was the girl I told you about," Tommy replied.

"You're kidding; Nikki was the mystery girl that you nearly ran over?" Haley questioned.

"Yes, it was her and she's here with Anton who just happens to be my boss," Tommy told her.

"I told you, Nikki said that they were only business acquaintances," Haley replied.

"Oh yeah, then why hasn't he let her leave his side all night," Tommy commented.

"Somebody seems jealous," Haley told him.

"I am not jealous," Tommy quipped.

"You keep telling yourself that, I'm going to the ladies room," Haley said as she got up from the table.

"Mind if I join you?" someone asked and Tommy looked up to see Nikki standing in front of him.

"No go ahead," Tommy told her.

"We seem to keep running into each other," Nikki said with a smile.

"Are you sure Anton won't mind that your sitting here?" Tommy asked.

"So what if he does, he's not my boyfriend Thomas, Anton is my boss, I work in the accounting office at Mercer Industries," Nikki replied.

"Wait a sec, you work at Mercer Industries?" Tommy questioned.

"Yes, I've been working for the New York division but Anton transferred me here when I decided to go for my master's," Nikki informed him.

"Sorry I hope I didn't offend you by suggesting that Anton might not like you talking to me," Tommy told her.

"It's ok, I know how if might look to some people, but my interest in Anton Mercer is strictly professional," Nikki replied.

"I'm not so sure he feels the same," Tommy said noticing that Anton was looking in their direction.

"Then that's his problem because I'm already interested in someone," Nikki replied looking straight at Tommy but before he could reply Haley returned.

"Am I interrupting?" Haley asked sensing that she had walked into the middle of something.

"No we were just talking, listen Haley do you mind keeping Anton company while I go out for some fresh air," Nikki answered.

"Actually, I did have some questions for him about a project I'm working on so take your time," Haley told her.

"Care to join me Thomas?" Nikki asked him.

"Sure, why not, it is getting a bit stuffy in here," Tommy said as he stood up and followed Nikki out onto the terrace.

"I could tell that Anton's staring was beginning to bother you and I wasn't exactly happy about it myself," Nikki revealed once they were outside.

"Can't say I blame him, if my beautiful date were off with another man, I might not like it either," Tommy told her.

"I knew coming here with him wasn't the best idea but he expected me to come and I've only been here a few days so I guess he assumed it'd be only natural that I'd come with him," Nikki replied.

"I thought we came out here to escape all that so why don't we change the subject," Tommy said.

"Ok, then Thomas why don't you tell me why you gave up racing to become a paleontologist," Nikki remarked.

"How do you know about my racing?" Tommy inquired.

"My uncle is a race car driver and you were in one of the races with him, you were quite good I remember the buzz about the rookie driver who came out of nowhere and started winning like crazy, so why give it up to study dinosaurs," Nikki informed him.

"Your uncle wouldn't happen to be Jordan Hunter by any chance would he?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah that's him," Nikki said.

"Wow, your uncle is one the best drivers out there right now," Tommy told her.

"Yeah I'm really proud of him but that still doesn't answer the question of why you gave it up," Nikki replied.

"I don't know, I mean racing was fun and it did come rather naturally to me, but I soon realized that my heart just wasn't in it, I just couldn't see myself as driving a race car for the rest of my life, I wanted something more stable," Tommy explained.

"Well you must be really good at what you do to have Anton interested in working with you," Nikki told him.

"That's mostly Haley's doing, she's the brains of the whole operation," Tommy replied.

"Don't sell yourself so short Thomas, I know for a fact that Anton is very impressed with your work," Nikki remarked.

"Thanks, I know what a hard person he is to please, so I'm glad I'm doing something right," Tommy told her.

"As much as I'd like to stay here and keep talking I think I better go rescue Haley," Nikki replied.

"Yeah, I'm actually ready to call it a night but I am glad that I ran into you again," Tommy said.

"Well you know where I live now so I suspect we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other," Nikki said smiling.

"I'm counting on it," Tommy told her as they went back inside.