"What is this?" he asked, slamming the envelope down on the table. "Why is someone named Mark sending you cards?"
Quinn had just walked through the door after a long day at work, and this was the last thing she expected to find when she got home.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, hanging up her coat.
"This!" he said, holding out the card. The inside read, simply, Dear Quinn, thank you for the lovely time. Mark. "Who is Mark, and what was this 'lovely time?'"
"Are you reading my mail?" she asked, remembering that she'd left the card sitting on the dresser that morning before heading out to work.
"No, it was on the dresser, and I just thought I'd see who it was from. And if you don't want me reading things, then don't leave them lying around!"
"Artie, what do you think is going on here?" she asked, sitting down on the couch. "Because I'm pretty sure you're way off base."
"Yeah, I'm way off base. You're having a lovely time with Mark, and I should just be ok with that?" he muttered. "Whatever," he added, preparing to leave the room.
"ARTIE!" she said, getting up and moving in front of him. "Would you just sit still and listen to me for a second?"
"Why, so you can tell me about Mark? About your lovely time? Or maybe you could tell me that you're leaving me for him, is that it?" he said.
"Could you please just be quiet?" she asked wearily. "You're completely overreacting to this. Whatever you think is going on here...it's not like that."
"Of course I'm overreacting!" he said. "I read this and thought you were having an affair or something. Are you?"
She stared at him. "If something like this makes you think that, then you either have a serious problem with the way you view me, or an even bigger problem with how you view our relationship. Do you honestly think I would cheat?"
"I...no," he said, his face turning red, and his expression softening. "So...who is this Mark?"
She sat back down on the couch. "Mark is an 84 year old client that I worked with yesterday. I helped him with his lunch, and then played cards with him for a bit. While I was finishing up what I had to do, he wrote me that card and slipped it into my jacket pocket. And if you would have just been quiet, I would have told you this ten minutes ago and this entire conversation would not have happened!"
"I'm...sorry," he said, looking down at his hands. "I really shouldn't have reacted like that. I should have just asked you. Today hasn't been the best day, and I guess I was just looking for something that I could grab and make a big deal out of to validate my feeling like this day sucks."
She took one of his hands in hers. "I know sometimes days aren't the greatest, but, in the future, could you just ask me instead of overreacting and getting mad about something like that? I was actually going to tell you about it this morning, but I was running late and you were already gone by the time I was out of the shower."
He nodded. "Forgive me?"
She grinned. "I do."
A/N: QUARTIE FICATHON NOW IN PROGRESS! All the fics that have been posted so far are AMAZING, and anyone reading this should go read them all!
Or...better yet...join us and write some! Details can be found in the Quinn/Artie Forum, or you can PM me!