When julie got home that night, she unblocked his number and all his social handles that she had initially blocked him on. She did not want it to look weird, that he called and could not reach her, how would she explain that there was nothing going on between them when she blocked him on all socials and even blocked his number.
She spent the day at home with her daughter. They had danced, played and even cooked together. The joy she felt was immeasurable. She did not think about anyone else, as long as she was concerned, it was only the two of them against the world.
The weekend began the next day and she was even more glad, she had two more days before she had to face her troubles again.
She had gone on a date with Tim on Sunday night. She was going to break it off with him and she was going to stay away from justin. Maybe she just needs to be on her own for the time being. She needed to focus on her daughter, she was more important to her.
When he brought her home after the date, after she unfastened her seat belt, she hesitated for a minute. The cold julie won in the end
‘ Tim, I am sorry, but I don’t think I can go out with you’
‘ what?’ his smile slowly faded from his face. He looked at her more seriously.
‘ you are a great guy, and I am sure that  there are a lot of women out there who would love and appreciate you more than me’
He was staring at her like she was not making any sense.
‘ Tim, I’m sorry. I had a great night but I think this is going to be the last time.’
‘ did I do something wrong? We can just talk about it’
‘ you did not do anything wrong. Its just… I am trying to focus on my daughter right now, she is the most important person in my life. I don’t want to be distracted from being there for her’
‘ did something happen to her? Did her father threaten you? You can tell me if you need help’
He sounded genuinely worried. She could see the look of despair on his face. Why did she always have to be the one to cut people she needed off. Seeing his face, made her realise then how justin must have felt when she suddenly forgot him and let him go. She was doing this for their own good she told herself. She did not know how long she could hold out with Tim before she ended it with him, especially now that she has confirmed that she still had some old feelings lurking for the man whom she loved first.
Tim was a good guy, he did not deserve to be treated like that. Maybe she was really the problem. She had always run away before she became too emotionally attached to someone. She did do that to justin only it was a bit too late. He had left her with the most precious gift only he might not be able to witness how amazing and truly precious that gift was. And for that she was deeply sorry.
 
Tim looked away from her and scoffed.
‘ wow, I just got rejected’
‘ I am sure you would find someone even better than me’
‘ I hope I do’
He looked away, avoiding her eyes. She saw it was an indication that he was done talking. She quietly unlocked the door and got down. She watched him drive away with sad eyes. She let out a deep breath finally glad it was all over. Now she had to get rid of justin too.
 
 
When she got to work the following morning, she was told that the boys were in the dance studio for practice. She had meetings lined up concerning the upcoming tour. She first had to meet up with cole and give him update on how things were going. They still had a couple of things to sort out regarding the tour so she was really occupied and had no time for straying thoughts.
 
She had just left her last meeting and was heading back to her when her phone buzzed, indicating that she had received a text.
She opened it. It was from justin. She had somehow been expecting a call or text from him since the day she had given him her number. She always had a slight scare or jump whenever her phone rang or buzzed from receiving a message.
The message read
‘ where are you?’
‘ my office’ she replied. She saw the text had been read but there was no further reply. She shrugged, maybe he just felt like sending a text.
She was sitting at her desk thirty minutes later when the door handle turned and he came in to her office. She was half expecting him. She was going to tell him to stop whatever it was that they were doing. They were not together anymore and this was her workplace. They were both on the very edge of jeopardizing all that they had ever worked hard for. If they ever got caught, they were definitely going to lose every thing. This was risky yet, they both did not care.
When she saw him come in, she stood up and walked towards him as if to stop him from taking further steps.
‘ did you want to see me?’ she asked calmly
‘ I just wanted to say we were done for practice and I wanted to say good bye’
If they were not in this awkward situation, she would have laughed . it felt good to hear him make jokes even in the midst of all the confusion going on lately.
‘okay?’
 He closed the gap between them and just as they leaned in close, there came a knock on the door. She quickly walked past him and went to open the door. She let out a deep sigh, that was close. The head of the group was standing out side her door when she opened it.
‘ hi, did you come for justin?’ he was just about to leave. And she opened the door wider for him to make his exit. She smiled at the both of them before shutting her door, and leaning against it to catch her breathe.