Author's note: A big huge shout out to my reviewers Slytherin-Angel44 and Ryan T. Morris. Also thanks to articblonde for adding this story to your alerts. I hope this next chapter will make you look forward to the things to come in this story.
Nikki awoke early the next morning having been unable to sleep because she wasn't quite used to sleeping on a ship. She went over to the tiny closet in which she had stuffed her suitcase and looked through her clothes to figure out what she wanted to wear. Realizing it was still early; she decided to head out to the ship's pool for a swim. With her towel tied around her waist she left her room making sure to lock the door behind her. She glanced across and looked at the room that she now knew was occupied by Tommy. She thought about knocking and inviting him for a swim but decided against it since she would be meeting him later for breakfast.
"You're up early today," a crew member, who was tending to the pool, said as she approached the pool.
"I couldn't sleep, if the pool's not ready I could always come back later," she told him.
"I was just finishing up, it's all yours, though I should warn you that there won't be a lifeguard on duty for a few more hours," he replied.
"No worries, I'm an excellent swimmer," she promised. She watched him leave and then pulled the towel from around her dropped it on a nearby deck chair and dove into the pool.
"We've got to stop meeting like this," Tommy commented as Nikki came up from under the water.
"Good morning," Nikki called to him as he put down his towel and got into the pool.
"I just thought I'd take a quick swim before breakfast," he told her.
"I guess great minds think alike," she said.
"So you must have done lots of swimming as a kid, living on the coast I mean," Tommy said as they floated in the water.
"Yeah I spent a few summers on the beach with my cousins, I'm pretty good on a surfboard," she replied.
"I like surfing, my brother was really into it, we even entered a few competitions but I never won, David suggested I stick to what I know best," Tommy told her.
"And just what would that be?" Nikki inquired.
"Martial arts, I've been practicing it since I was a little kid," Tommy answered.
"You'd get along great with my aunt, she studied martial arts when she was younger mostly for self defense but then she really got into it and she's made sure that every girl in my family has studied it too, when I was younger I loved watching her practice and I wanted to grow up to be just as good as she was," Nikki told him.
"Does that mean you still practice it?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah I work out every day after work," she replied.
"Maybe we can work out together sometime," Tommy told her.
"I'd like that," she said.
"I don't know about you but I'm kinda hungry, what do you say we go and get ready for breakfast," Tommy told her.
"Sure that sounds great," Nikki said as they both got out of the pool.
Twenty minutes later, both having showered and changed they met outside their respective rooms and walked to the dining area.
"So tell me more about this huge family of yours," Tommy said once they had gotten their food and were seated at a table.
"Let's see where should I begin," Nikki remarked.
"How about your parents, what do they do?" Tommy asked.
"Well my dad is a parole officer but it's kind of hard to describe what my mom does, I guess you could call her a sort of guidance counselor, she pretty much helps anyone who calls her," Nikki informed him.
"I'll bet our dad's would really get along, mine's a police officer and I'm sure they could swap lots of stories," Tommy told her.
"What about your mom?" Nikki asked.
"She's a nurse and she was pretty relieved when I decided to leave racing and go to college," Tommy answered.
"Did I just hear you right, you were into racing?" Nikki questioned.
"Yeah, my Uncle John has his own racing team and I actually considered becoming a racecar driver, I started training with him after I graduated high school," Tommy told her.
"So how do you go from driving a racecar to studying about dinosaurs?" Nikki inquired.
"It turns out racing was only a fad, after doing it awhile I just simply lost interest in it, so I enrolled in college and eventually became interested enough to want to pursue paleontology," Tommy explained.
"My little brother wants to become a chemist," Nikki told him.
"How old is he?" Tommy asked.
"He just turned 17 so he still has a year of high school left, Sami and I think the only reason he likes chemistry is because if you mix the right or should I say wrong chemicals together you can blow things up, he's kind of a handful," Nikki informed him.
"Well, I imagine it was kinda hard on him growing up with two older sisters, I'll bet you guys teased him a lot," Tommy commented.
"Yeah but he was such a little pest, he used to play all kinds of tricks on us, it drove our parents crazy the three of us always fighting," Nikki replied.
"Sometimes I wish David and I had know each other when we were younger," Tommy told her.
"You don't see each other a lot now?" Nikki asked.
"Not since I moved to Reefside, we used to try and get together every couple of months but teaching has kept me pretty busy," Tommy replied.
"You should have brought him on the cruise with you," Nikki responded.
"Maybe but then I might not be sitting here talking to you and as much as I love my brother, he's no match for a beautiful woman, and you are definitely beautiful," Tommy replied.
"Thanks for the compliment, you know the more I think about it, the more I'm glad that Sami forced me to come here alone," Nikki told him.
"Does that mean you wouldn't mind spending some more time with me once we reach Hawaii?" Tommy asked her.
"Is that your way of asking me out on a date," Nikki replied.
"I thought we were already on one," Tommy told her.
"No, this is just breakfast," Nikki said as she smiled at him.
"Alright then Ms. Mitchell if that's how you want to play it, would you like to go on a date with me in Hawaii," Tommy replied.
"I'd love to," she answered.