A love story

It was a hot summer afternoon and Claire had not taken a shower yet, she was one of those meticulously clean people who cannot bear to go out without having everything ready and neatly organized. She was brought up that way. She was half Swedish, half Norwegian, in other words, ivory skin complexion, blonde hair and deep blue eyes.

Markus, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Claire. He was born in the Bronx and his family had never allowed an interracial relationship amongst themselves. He was a rapper, those who like the underground type of hip hop and go to freestyle battles every Saturday night. Markus aka MC Black Power, as his close friends knew him for, was a very humble man and his style was simple. For instance, he did not like to wear big platinum chains or grillz in his teeth, because he thought that it was too commercial. He would only wear a simple earring and Jesus’ cross around his neck.

One day, coincidently, or not, Claire and Markus went grocery shopping on the same supermarket. They were both in row 4, baby and kids section, buying diapers and food supplements for their offspring. Similarly, they were wearing a baby carrier and their kids were facing each other because they were in their parents back. Andre, Markus’ son, was wearing a red and white checkered shirt, jeans and classic all star adidas sneakers. His dad was wearing a blue T-shirt, jeans and matching shoes to him. April on the other hand, Claire’s daughter, was wearing a blue and white sleep n play. Her mom was wearing a formal beige jacket and skirt and she had a bun updo.

Andre started reaching out to touch April and so did she in return. Their parents didn’t even notice it. They were more interested in reading the components of the items they were buying. However, there was a moment in which they felt a strong pull from behind their backs and they looked behind their ears to understand what was going on. It turns out that the babies were hugging each other!

Claire and Markus found that situation a bit awkward and quite funny. So they took off their baby carriers and excused themselves for their babies’ behavior, although they were obviously not sorry for that since they immediately liked what they saw. She had never fell any attraction for a black man before; however, her heart was beating so fast, it seemed like it wanted to jump out of her throat.

Markus was used to having white women react differently towards him, it was almost like they were afraid of him, but with Claire he felt a warm and comfortable energy. Could that be love? He did not hesitate for one second and initiated a conversation with her. They began talking to each other about their children, and then, they talked about one another. The dialogue was so interesting that they did not even realize that they were impeding people from walking in row 4 with their shopping carts.

Then, he said:

“What an air head I am! I didn’t even ask what your name was… My name is Markus, but you can call me Mark.”

“That’s ok, we were both so involved in the conversation that, oh! I’ve just realized something… It’s time to take April to the pediatrician, we have an appointment in less than an hour! It was really nice meeting you Mark. My name is Claire. I am a lawyer, here’s my card, if you need anything,” said Claire.

“Oh, thank you very much, Claire. As I was saying before you will be of great help now, because the record label hasn’t paid me yet! Well, anyway, I’ve also gotta go run some errands. Nice to meet you too. See ya.”

“Goodbye now.”

“Bye.” 

Claire and Markus said goodbye and went back to their routines. However, something was different now. She could not stop thinking about that afro American man �" so charming, what a SMILE �" she would think to herself. He only had one subject in mind when he was at the bar with his close friends, Claire, Claire, Claire… His friends were even bored at the conversation at times, and they would complain that he was not focused in the battle as much he used to. Nevertheless, there was something that made them happy; their friend was finally getting over his divorce to Ashanti.

As for Claire’s co-workers, they noticed something new with her attitude. Her colleagues started observing her more closely, trying to sneak information out of her. As soon as she left her office to go deal with a client, one of them looked at her computer screen and realized her “facebook” page was open. So, she checked for the “recent activity” and the new people she added to her “friends,” which was not something common, and saw Markus.

The gossip in the office was starting to spread and soon it reached Claire’s ears. She realized that her subordinates were not trustworthy and that they had definitely been snooping through her things. She did not do anything about it though, because she was so glad to have found someone she could date again, after her husband had passed away.

Markus was trying to come up with a good topic to talk to Claire about, besides asking her to solve his issues with the record label. He did not want to be pushy or sound rude, because it is not a good idea to call people to ask for favors. After a long time, he realized that there was no better excuse than asking her on a date. And so he did it, he called her and asked her out, she said yes. And that was only the beginning of a true romance; and they never forgot that what had brought them together was their own kids.