Justin nervously bounced his leg up and down as he fiddled with his phone. He had finally gotten the courage to call Zenia. He was in Portland, Oregon on his MOTW tour and had nothing to do for a couple of hours prior to soundcheck. It had taken him days to finally get to this point. He carefully thought of what he wanted to say and hoped that Zenia was open to at least a friendship.


The phone rang twice before he heard her small, soft voice. 


“Justin?” She asked, curiously. 


He chuckled. She must have saw his name pop up on her phone and been absolutely confused.


“Yes, it’s me. Zenia?” He asked, confirming what he already knew.


“What- How did you get my number and why is yours programmed in my phone?”


“Let’s just say, you should probably be more careful with your phone when you’re at the bar,” he joked. 


“I had no idea,” she exclaimed.


“Oh, had you know would you have called me sooner?” He asked.


“Uh, I don’t know,” she stammered. He was a little disappointed in her answer, but totally understood why she would be uncertain.


“Fair enough. How are you?”


“I’m fine. Just taking a break at work. How are you?” She questioned.


“Fine. In Portland, currently. I have a show tonight.” 


“That’s good. I’ve never been to Portland, or much less anywhere else,” she recalled.


“That’s a shame, Zenia. We have to get you out of LA to explore the world.”


“We?” She asked, a playfulness in her voice


“Yeah, as in me and you,” Justin said confidently.


“I like the sound of that, but not sure when I will be able to take time off anytime soon."


"I’m going to be in Paris next week. You should come out. I’ll pay for everything. I have a few days off, I could show you around,” Justin offered.


Zenia’s heart jumped at the thought of spending time with Justin in Paris of all places. Then she thought about what happened at his house several nights ago and immediately her guard went back up.


“I’m not so sure about that, Justin. I wouldn’t want people to get the wrong idea about us.”


Justin suddenly felt like an asshole but calling her and not apologizing or addressing the situation with Jess. 


“Look Zenia, I’m really sorry about the other night. I was just as blindsided as you were that my ex was there. I'm sorry that I put you in that situation. I’m hoping that we can continue to be friends.”


The truth was that Justin liked Zenia a little more than a friend would, but with his current schedule and fact that he recently got out of a long term relationship, he wasn’t sure that he could be anything more to her at the moment. All he knew was that he wanted her in his life, and if a friend was all that she could be then he was happy with that.


“I’d like that. I’d love to be friends.” She agreed. 


"Great. Just promise me you’ll take me up on that trip to Paris one day,” He responded.


“I promise.”


—


One month later


Things were going well for Zenia. Her friendship with Justin was budding. They talked or FaceTimed on the phone at least once every few days. She knew that his tour was coming to a close soon and that he would be back in LA for an extended amount of time. They had already made plans to hang out and she couldn’t help to be practically giddy about the idea. 


She had still not found a way to explain to Justin that she was a single mother. There were several times that she felt the need to bring it up, but didn’t want to interrupt the flow of conversation. She also wasn’t sure how he would react, but she decided she needed to tell him soon.


Grace was out of school for the summer and Zenia was enjoying the extra time she was spending with her daughter. 


It was a rainy day and both Zenia and Grace had agreed to stay in and binge watch movies all day. Grace had picked Trolls for the first movie and Zenia couldn’t help but laugh to herself at the realization that she was watching one of Justin’s movies - someone she had grown a friendship with.


“Mommy, I love this part of the movie,” Grace beamed while she looked at the television. The trolls on the film were beginning to sing another song that Grace began to sing along to.


Zenia smiled and hugged her daughter closer, listening to her sweet little voice as she sang along. 


Days like this just couldn’t get any better.


—


Justin had been back in LA for a day and once he felt somewhat rested from his last show and the late flight home, he concocted a plan to surprise Zenia. She knew he would be back in town soon, but wasn’t sure of the exact date. He purposely didn’t tell her so that he could surprise her. He was very excited about seeing her again, considering the last time they saw each other things went south. He was determined to put that behind them for good.


He had woken up that day with the intention of surprising Zenia and asking her to go on a hike with him. However, it was pouring rain and he knew that idea was not going to happen. He quickly devised another plan that included movies and snacks. After making a couple of stops to obtain those items, Justin found himself at Zenia’s apartment door with movies, snacks, drinks and a small bouquet of flowers in tow.


—


Zenia heard a knock at the door, diverting her attention from the movie. She left grace on the couch as she went to answer it, figuring it was Marie or Nora who often stopped by unannounced.


Thinking it was one of her friends, Zenia opened the door without looking through the peephole. She was met face to face with Justin, who wore an enormous grin on his face, which quickly turned to confusion as he noticed his movie was playing on her TV and a small child was sprawled out on the couch.


Zenia just stared at him dumbfounded, knowing this was not how she wanted to tell Justin about Grace nor was she ready for them to meet just yet. 


"Um, hey." She spoke up, moving to the side to allow Justin to come in out of the rain.


"Hi, Z. Thought I would surprise you. I brought you some movies and snacks, "  He said nervously. "And these flowers are for you."


Zenia took the small bouquet of daisies and smiled warmly at Justin. This small gesture made her heart flutter. She couldn't remember the last time she received flowers from someone. 


"Thank you, Justin. They're beautiful." 


"I see you're watching my movie," He chuckled, pointing in the direction of the TV.


Zenia felt her cheeks warm. She couldn't tell if he was flattered or surprised. 


Just then, Graced popped up from the couch and looked to see who her mother was talking to. "Mommy, who is that?"


Zenia looked at Justin and back at Grace, trying to decide the best way to introduce the two. 


"Um, Justin, I have someone I want you to meet. This is my daughter, Grace."