Zenia quickly debated on whether she should open the door. She swung it open and was met face to face with a man she had not seen in almost 6 years.


“Michael?” She questioned. She looked at the man before her who she once was completely in love with. He still looked the same to her, gorgeous green eyes, his brown hair in a clean shaven buzz cut against his smooth, milky skin. She caught herself staring for a second before she decided she was quite perturbed that he was there — unannounced at that. The last time she saw her child's father was when Grace was an infant. He had come to visit one day and decided then he wasn't ready to be a father. She had not seen him since and Grace had no recollection of him at all.


“Zenia, we need to talk,” He began, looking her up and down. She suddenly felt uncomfortable wearing her pajamas in his presence.  She didn’t want him to see her this way. He didn’t deserve to see her at all. 


“You want to talk? About what, Michael?” 


“Aren’t you going to let me in?” He asked, looking past her into the apartment.


She hesitated then stepped aside, allowing him to enter. 


“What do you want?” She asked, following closely behind him as he walked to the living room area.


“I want to see my kid. That’s what I want,” he said. He made himself comfortable on the loveseat. Zenia instantly regretted letting him in, and was already wondering how she was going to get him out of her home. 


“Since when do you care about seeing MY daughter?” Zenia retorted.


“Since you have been parading her all over town with Justin Timberlake. That’s my kid, Zenia. Not his.”


“Oh, so this is what this is about? You think Justin is going to take your place?” Zenia laughed coolly. 


“Zen, I really don’t give a damn if you’re fucking him, but he’s not going to be around MY kid.” 


Zenia’s blood began to boil. “She has a fucking name. It’s Grace. And it is not your business who I am seeing OR who is in Grace’s life because you never have been!” She yelled. She was angry at him for having the audacity to show up at HER home and demand to see HER daughter. She wanted him out. 


“It is my business. You can either do what I said or I will take you to court,” he yelled back, standing up to meet her icy stare. Deep down, she was frightened as his taller frame towered over hers, but she refused to show it. She broke their stand off, and marched to the door swinging it open. 


“Get the fuck out!” She screamed. She didn’t care who heard the commotion. 


He walked over to her until he was once again towering over her small body, and leaned down to her ear. “All he wants you for is sex. You will never be anything more than that. He’s a millionaire. He doesn’t give a damn about your low life self,” He chuckled lowly, causing a rush of fear to run through her. She had never seen him behave this way and all she wanted was for him to leave. The Michael she knew was a deadbeat dad for sure, but aggression was never anything he had displayed towards her.


“Fuck you,” she spat back, as he walked past her. She slammed the door before he could say or do anything else, locking every lock. She lingered there waiting to hear anything, but heard only silence. After a moment, she looked through the peephole to see he was gone. She put her back against the door and slid down to the floor trembling. She shakily pulled out her phone as the tears began to sting her eyes. She called the one person who she thought she could feel safe with.


He answered after two rings. “Hey, Z.”


She sniffled and tried to control her voice before responding, “Justin… can you come over here?”


Justin sensed that she was upset and immediately began to worry. “Zenia, baby what’s wrong? Is Grace okay?”


“She’s fine. She’s at my mom’s. I just really need you right now,” she cried.


“I’ll be right there, Z. I’m leaving now,” he grabbed his keys and headed out the door.


—


The entire way to Zenia’s, Justin wondered what was wrong. He sped all the way there, not caring if he got pulled over or not. The only thing that mattered was getting to Zenia as quickly as possible.


When he was finally at her doorstep, he knocked rapidly waiting for her to answer. She opened the door and he quickly entered, slamming the door and enveloping her into his arms. She limply fell against him and sobbed. 


“Shhh. I’m here, Z,” Justin soothed . “I’m here. Tell me what’s wrong.”


She looked up at him with her tear stained face. “He’s going to take Grace from me, Justin.”


“Who’s taking Grace?” 


“Michael. Her father. He showed up here unexpectedly and said he would take me to court if I don’t stop seeing you.” 


Justin felt his heart race for several reasons. The thought of Zenia refusing to see him anymore because of this guy threatening her was enough to make him want to hunt him down himself. Secondly, he knew how much Zenia loved her daughter and didn’t want her to have to go through stressful custody battles with a man who had spent little to no time in that little girl's life.


Zenia had not told Justin much about Michael, but he knew from being around the past couple of months that the guy did not exist in Grace’s world. Hell, Justin had spent more time with Grace than her own biological father. 


Justin kissed Zenia’s forehead sweetly, lingering there until her sobs began to subside.


“I promise I will do anything I can do to make sure this doesn’t happen,” he reassured her. He knew he could find the best lawyers for Zenia and that this deadbeat Michael didn’t stand a chance. 


“Maybe we should stop seeing each other,” Zenia sniffled.


“Is that what you want?” Justin asked softly. 


“No. I don’t want that at all,” she confessed, her small hands clutching at the back of his shirt.


“Then we won’t stop seeing each other. He can’t dictate your life,” Justin said firmly.


Zenia merely nodded, still not sure of what was the best thing to do. In this moment, she didn’t want to think about it anymore. She only wanted to continue to be in Justin’s arms.


He walked them over to her couch, pulling Zenia into his lap. He caressed her cheek with his finger, wiping any stray tears that were falling. 


“Thank you for coming,” She spoke.


“Z, you scared me. I was coming whether you asked me to or not,” he smiled, leaning in to kiss her.


Zenia welcomed the kiss. She loved Justin’s kisses, so sweet, so tender.


“J?” She breathed, her mouth still on his.


“Hmm?”


“Make me feel good,” 


Justin leaned back, caressing her cheek again. “Z, you don’t know how badly I want to, but you've had a rough night. You’re feeling vulnerable and I would never want to take advantage of that. I don’t want us to do anything we may not be ready for.”


Zenia knew he was right. She sighed, “Why do you have to be such a good person?”


Justin chuckled softly, “You can thank my mama for that.”


“I plan to.”