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Was she hinting at something?

Wait. Had Ashton said that? Quin swung her head around and gave her partner a look that echoed the one that had settled on Maurice’s face.

”I was not talking to you.” she said primly, trying to figure out an answer to Ashton’s second question.

What had Ashton’s second question been?

Oh. Right.

”I feel great.” she said, finishing her drink.

”But that was my last one.” she said.

”Tomorrow is not a day off. Like today was supposed to be.”

Quin took the hand she was offered a bit awkwardly and nearly over-balanced herself on her bar stool. Apparently she’d had a little too much to drink. Oh well. It was her day off.

Maurice. That was a cute name, and Quin managed a small smile despite her dark mood.

”Finally?” she asked, as Mike sat another drink down in front of her and knowing that she should be more socially adept to this new friend. It had to be the alcohol. This would be her last one.

Yes. Ashton was allowed to sit at the bar, as long as he kept his distance and minded his own business. Mike was a man of few words, but he was an excellent listener and Quin decided that he often said more with a single word than some people said in an entire conversation.

The man moved away to get her partner a drink, and Quin finished her first. Yeah. It was going to be that kind of night.

Mike came back, another drink already in hand, and Quin glared in Ashton’s general direction. She should have been cooling off by now, but for some reason her indignation just seemed to be simmering.

”I could be on a date right now.” she said, downing half the next drink and not minding at all that she was basically talking to nobody.

”Nothing. Yeah. That pretty much sums it up.” Quin said, looking out the passenger side window at the fat raindrops that were starting to hit the car . It was late. Too late to text Nate back and see if he was still available for that date he’d offered.

Too late to salvage anything of the day she’d been supposed to have off.

Man, she needed a drink, but she was not inviting her partner along this time. She didn’t want to bond. She didn’t want to bask in the glow of camaraderie. She wanted to sit. And drink. And probably bitch to someone about the fact that she’d had her first opportunity for a date in ages ruined by her partner.

”You called me in on my day off for nothing.”

Tension was an interesting thing, the figure in the back seat of the car mused as the unwitting trio made their way down the street. The two up front couldn’t see him, but he could see them, and something about the pretty redhead had piqued his interest back on the street. Maybe later they’d get a chance to know each other better.

Quin nodded and laughed as Nate connected the dots to spell out the name she’d come up with for their picture.

Then there was more kissing then…and more paint smearing. Quin could tell that Nate was pleased with himself, but what he hadn’t realized was that she’d already smeared her hand in paint and was likewise smearing the side of his face.

What a date indeed.

She broke the kiss this time, and shook her head, wondering what she looked like in a mirror.

”We should take a picture. ‘We are the artwork.’ “ she said.

Great. Yeah. She’d splattered some paint on a canvas and outlined it with black. Nate actually seemed impressed though. Quin tilted her head slightly and stared at the canvas. People always said that beauty was in the eye of the beholder, the redhead decided that must be true.

They were still very close and Quin simply relaxed, leaning back slightly into Nate as he guided her arm and draped an arm around her waist. He mentioned that a painting never got named until it was finished, and then he kissed her cheek. And then he kissed her neck. Three times.

Quin squirmed just a bit at that, and a small chuckle escaped her as her arm went a little wayward and the brush slanted across the canvas in a wide arc, a wide band of black in its wake.

”Whoops….” she said. ”I wonder what the audience will see in that bit of expression.”

Nate sent the spider off to its room, and Quin had to smile a little as the thing skittered to obey. ”He seems well trained….” she said. Which was impressive for something she always previously thought lacked a brain. As the little guy retreated, Quin decided that there really wasn’t anything wrong with owning a pet spider like that, and that maybe she needed to give him a bit of a chance.

”Thanks for the warning.” she added, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. ”I’ve got this…thing about spiders.” …A thing that was usually the source of great consternation, especially if it manifested itself in front of her coworkers.

Nate wasn’t a coworker, and Quin smiled. ”But you’re very good with Parker…so maybe you two can alter my perception.”

And then, they were done with the spider and Nate was pointing out that life was an empty canvas.

There was a brush, and a pallet, and Quin wasted no time in getting some colors from the bottles that Nate had indicated. They were bright colors, and where there weren’t ones she liked, she made them. Teals and purples and bright blues and greens that probably made the real artist in the room cringe. Quin liked them though.

She wondered for a moment exactly what the paints were made of and was disappointed when she had absolutely no control of them, but picked up the brush nonetheless. Part of her wanted to revisit elementary school and draw a giant sun in the upper left-hand corner of the paper, she resisted the urge though, and instead bathed her brush in purple before painting a wide swath diagonally across the page.

She turned and smiled at Nate, ”I guess I’m not going for realism.” she said, then went after the canvas with her blue, this time flicking at the canvas with her brush, delight evident in her face and the laughter she couldn’t contain.

”You should help.”