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The holidays were always so busy for her and while she liked it, it made her worry for the new relationship she had with Quinn. Granted they both ran companies [with his being much bigger than hers], which meant not a lot of free time. Sometimes she found herself wishing she could take a vacation without feeling guilty. Her employees would be understanding and even encourage it, but leaving them to handle things on their own felt unfair to her (shes done it before when she was really sick and they knocked it out of the park), considering she lived above the store. Even if she were to take a staycation, it would drive her nuts since she would have to keep herself from checking in on things. There was always flying somewhere, but even then she would be calling or checking the cameras from her work laptop that she was supposed to leave at home.

For now, she had received a text message from Quinn about coffee, which was doable. The preparation for the Valentines rush was already complete and her employees had the day off. The shop wasn't open right now so this would be the best time to do anything non-work related.

His free time was getting shorter and shorter, between work, MJ, and his folks, it was hard to actually squeeze out any time to himself let alone find the time to spend with Anna. Texting like teens wasn’t really cutting it so when he had been given a short window of time in the middle of the day when a meeting canceled he jumped at it. It was only going to be coffee but it would be nice to see her in person. And yet, even with ‘free time’ his time wasn’t completely work free. Quinn strolled into the designated coffee shop they were going to meet while talking on his phone… he was being one of those assholes, but he was doing his best to remain quiet and wrap up the impromptu work call.

Quinn finished up just as the door of the cafe chimed and in walked his date. “Perfect timing Annalise,” He said as he walked over to her, sliding his phone into his pocket where he was determined to keep it during the short window of time he had with her.

Perfect timing?

Anna walked up to Quinn with a smile, “Oh?” She walked up to him, taking his hand in hers.

“You weren’t waiting too long I hope?”

Quinn happily took her hand and pressed a quick kiss to the back of it before guiding her over to an open table. “Not at all. I honestly just got off the phone so you really do have impeccable timing.” He pulled out her chair and once she sat down he helped push it in before taking his own seat. “How has your day been? I know we have been texting like teenagers,” He smiled as he cracked the joke, “But it's so much better to talk to you in person. I just wish we both had more time to spend together.”

He really did need to figure out a way to wring some more time from his already tight schedule. It just didn’t help that they were currently polishing up a few big projects so it really was ‘all hands on deck’, even him. Add in trying to get things squared away with his family, trying to build a relationship with his son, and on the very, very rare occasions he tried to patrol Quinn barely had time to sleep. Honestly that was a lie, his staff did their damndest to make sure he slept properly, ate decently, and even took plenty of breaks. Apparently the whole ‘passing out from over work’ thing from several years ago still weighed pretty heavily on some people’s minds. His included… especially since his ancestor had a wicked swing and a tongue more razor sharp then barbed wire.

Still not used to the gesture, Anna could feel her face growing a bit hot when Quinn kissed her hand. She sat down in the seat he pulled out for her, thanking him with a smile. “That we have.~” She was still trying not to chuckle at the last message he sent her, covering her face with her hand. “It's been…Relaxing. I know it's the calm before the storm known as Valentine’s day, but I think me and the team are pretty prepared. Well, as prepared as we can be.” She already knew there would be some complications, complaining customers, and complicated orders that would come from that dreadful holiday, and while she was prepared, Anna already knew that she would be turning down alot of last minute orders. It's usually because of the timeframe…No, she was not able to throw out a high quality custom piece within two days, but the customers never learn.

She leaned forward to place a kiss on the side of his cheek. “I do too. But it's understandable considering the work we do. How is your mom’s gift? Does she like it?”

“Valentine's day?” He nearly asked a massively stupid question when the answer hit him, “Oh yeah. Totally. I can imagine you guys will be running wild soon.” He did some quick mental calendar checking and winced, there was no way he would be able to do anything for that particular holiday. There were too many balls in the air so taking any significant time off was not going to happen. “You will have to let me know when things calm down so we can set something up for our own little celebration ok?” Quinn twined his fingers with hers and happily accepted the kiss on the cheek. He honestly wanted to do more, a direct kiss or something but he was aware of where they were. As ‘accepted’ as some PDA was he wasn’t going to put Anna or himself into that predicament. That was best saved for private where, if things got a bit too spicy, they could enjoy it without any concern of impropriety.

Quinn started to absently play with her fingers while just listening to her talk so it took him a moment to really register her question. “Mom? Oh she loves the necklace. Rarely takes it off so it was a big hit!” He grinned at her, “I’ll have to see if ‘the artist’ would be interested in another commission when she isn’t swamped with holiday madness.” Quinn winked before glanced over at the counter, “Would you like to actually get some coffee for this coffee date? Or something to snack on? I know both of our times are tight so I don’t want to leave you starving before you get your day going.”

Oh yeah, she forgot that Valentine's day was for couples, something that she shared with Quinn now. Anna was so used to just working on that day that the true meaning for it usually just doesn't amount to anything but a night of special orders. As far as time for their own little celebration, Anna thought about her mental calendar, “We could do something on the weekend?” What, she didn't know but she knew the weekend of that week was pretty much free for her. She wanted to give Valentines off for her employees that were married or in a relationship, which meant that for her single employees they would get that following friday off. It was only on rare special occasions when she would open on a saturday.

When she was going to college for her business degree, one thing that she promised was to never make her future employees work on the weekend if she could help it.

Anna laughed at Quinn’s distracted question, “The artist would love to make another custom piece for her. You just have to let them know what she wants and when you want it done.” Not to be that person, but if her boyfriend (still trying to get used to that) wanted a custom piece done for a loved one she would fit him into her schedule no matter what. “Sure, I could definitely use some coffee. I'll get it this time though,” She was already getting up, “What would you like?”

Back to the mental calendar, a brow went up and an even brighter smile spread on his face. “That's a federal holiday. I don’t suppose I could convince you to take the whole long weekend off could I?” Could he actually take the entire weekend off as well? Honestly? Probably not but if she said yes he would do his best to move heaven and earth so he could at least work remotely and minimally. Since it was a federal holiday on monday most of his staff had the day off, those that didn’t or volunteered to work got paid out the nose so he had at least that one day off as well. If they could only have one day that particular weekend Quinn wasn’t too concerned since he would shift everything he could over to that Monday and make up for the change then.

He chuckled and shook his head, “Nothing right now but I am sure we can come up with something in a few months time. Maybe a pair of earrings to go with the necklace.” Quinn didn’t want to over stretch herself by piling on any more commissions. Besides, his mom’s birthday wasn’t for months yet so unless he wanted to do a ‘just because’ or a mother’s day gift there was no rush at all. The, not so terribly young any more, man looked over the menu and after a moment stated, “You know… I’ve never tried a London Fog before. How about that? It sounds interesting at least.”

Take the whole weekend off?

Anna was sure she could manage.

“Sure~ I can take the whole weekend off.” She gave Quinn a look then, “But could you take the entire weekend off?” Seeing as they were both workaholics, she figured her boyfriend would try to do some of his work should they take the entire weekend off to spend time with each other. An idea started to form in Anna’s mind while she went to get their coffee, waiting for the order to finish before making her way back to their table. “Alright, just let me know and I will add it to the que.” She would have to go back pretty soon, but she figured she could stay a bit longer.

“Weeeeelllllll,” Quinn shrugged sheepishly. They both knew how precious time was. “I’ll see what I can do. This is our first Valentines together so I want to make it special.” He thanked her for his tea and nodded before moving the conversation on to other things. Their time really was limited. One cup’s worth, if that. He would do his best to make it one damn good cup.