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mercedesdecorazon · 2 years

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Something Real (Henrik/MC)

Part 1/3

Author's Note: Okay this was supposed to be a one-shot but Henrik and Mariah wanted their story to be a bit longer so I'm stuck with three parts instead 🥴

This fic will discuss topics like interracial relationships, colourism, racism and black women's dynamic with black men when it comes to interracial relationships. If any of this is uncomfortable for you, PLEASE skip this fanfic. Thank you 😊

Sorry to my Chelsea and Ibrahim stans but this story is not for you either.

~~~

It all started with some blind date.

Blake had insisted that she went, that it would be good for her.

"Come on, Mariah. It's been a while since you broke up with Ibrahim. It's time to get back out there."

"I don't know. What if he doesn't like me?" Mariah asked.

"Then screw him! You can move on to the next guy," Blake said as she applied some blush to Mariah's cheeks.

"But what if he doesn't like dark-skinned girls? What if-?"

Blake grabbed her hands gently, stopping her upcoming tirade.

"Babe calm down. Breathe," Mariah obeyed, breathing hard. "Now then, if he doesn't like dark-skinned black girls, then he's a colourist and so not worth your time. There are men out there that adore beautiful dark-skinned black women like you. So don't be afraid."

Mariah nodded, "You're right. You're right."

"Of course I am. Now let's get your makeup done."

After Blake fixed her makeup, she wished Mariah well on her date and told her not to overthink. Mariah promised but she knew herself too well.

Most men she dated in the past either didn't like her skin tone, didn't like her African features or thought she was too fat - which is - come on! Black women were known for their curves!

Mariah didn't have much hope for this date. It always went badly.

~~~

Henrik was excited.

He hadn't been on a date for long while, not since Chelsea left him a year ago. Lucas had been adamant about him dating again though.

"You've been hiding in the wilderness for a year Henrik," Lucas told him. "It's time to get back out into the real world."

Despite his optimism, he was worried. Chelsea leaving him was... painful to say the least. He had loved her and he thought that he would be spending the rest of his life with her. Her leaving him for another man had hurt him deeply.

He knew that he couldn't go through anything like that again. He couldn't.

~~~

The date was in a cute little café that Mariah's friend Bobby owned. His pastries tasted out of this world so Mariah was excited.

Blake said that her date wore a dark blue shirt with green cargo pants so Mariah looked around.

And then she saw him.

He was pale-skinned, had long blond hair and kind blue eyes.

He sat by the two-seater by the window, looking out into the street.

~~~

He saw her.

She wore a baby blue dress that showed her curves and a little of her cleavage. Her hair was down and she wore cute baby blue barettes. Her dark brown skin clashed beautifully with the colour of the dress and her skin glowed in the sunlight. She wore very light makeup that highlighted her pretty face.

Henrik was enchanted by her.

He wanted to hold her close and never let her go. He didn't understand why he felt that way but he did.

~~~

He's white?

Mariah didn't understand this. She thought -

Of course! This was a blind date! She wasn't supposed to be know what he looked like.

But what if he's racist? Or fetishi-

Calm down Mariah, you can do this.

She gave him a polite smile, "Hi, I'm Mariah." And held her hand out.

The man muttered something under his breath in a language that she wasn't familiar with but he looked up at her with a smile.

"I'm Henrik. Nice to meet you." He shook her hand.

She sat down in front of him calmly, screaming internally. What if someone she knew saw her? Most of her friends hung out around here. She didn't want them to see her with him.

~~~

Henrik was confused as to why she was uncomfortable around him. Did he smell bad? Did he look bad? That couldn't be because Lucas approved of his ensemble before he left his flat and Lucas was Mr. Posh.

"What's wrong?" He asked curiously.

She looked embarrassed. "Nothing," she answered quietly, not meeting his eyes.

"Then why are you looking away from me? Did I do something wrong?"

She shook her head.

"Do you want to order something?" He asked, trying his best to engage with her. He didn't understand what was going with her but still he would try to win her over.

~~~

This was too much.

She didn't want to do this. This was wrong.

What if he was dating her to prank her? What if her brother found out? What would her father say if he heard of this? She knew that her parents would not approve of this at all. She thought she was ready to start back dating again but she wasn't.

"I have to go." She stood up.

He looked confused and a little hurt, "What? But-"

"I'm sorry!" She grabbed her purse and ran out of the café quickly.

She ran to her car in the parking lot, got in, started it and drove away quickly, her heart beating quickly.

She breathed hard, trying to calm herself. She knew she shouldn't have freaked out like that and ran off but she couldn't take any chances.

She decided to stop off by her friend Genevieve's house, knowing that she couldn't talk to Blake about this.

~~~

Henrik was hurt.

He couldn't understand why she left him. Did he do something wrong? Say something wrong?

He sighed and called Lucas.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Lucas' voice sounded concerned.

"She left. I don't know what happened but she just left. It was confusing."

"Wow. Sorry man. I thought she might've been good for you."

"It's fine. I just thought... it doesn't matter, I might never seen her again..."

Truthfully, he did want to see her again. He wanted to know why she left and why she didn't like him.

She was so beautiful but she looked so sad.

He wanted to make her smile, to make her laugh. He didn't know why but he did.

"Hey, you wanna go hiking tomorrow?" Lucas suggested.

"Sure why not?"

His heart and his mind were still on that woman. He hoped to see her again.

~~~

"I don't know why I did that, Viv, I just freaked out," Mariah explained.

Mariah had sat Genevieve down and explained everything to her.

Genevieve nodded, carefully choosing her words.

"Mariah babe... do you freak out because he was white?" Genevieve asked calmly.

Mariah clammed up immediately, hugging herself. It was true. She freaked out partially because he was white. So far in her dating life, she dated only black men and black men only. Camilo, Mason and Ibrahim... she had loved Ibrahim and he left her. For a white woman no less.

"Babe," Genevieve sighed. "You shouldn't be so prejudiced!"

"I know! I just freaked out!" Mariah covered her face in shame. "I got so intimidated by him. And I've never dated a white guy before so I didn't know what to do!"

"There's no formula in dating white guys. Just be yourself. All men are the same, no matter his skin colour. Just make sure he ain't racist."

"I wish I knew that before I went! Now he thinks I'm weird." All guys think you're weird anyway.

"Oh babe," Genevieve hugged her kindly. Genevieve knew Mariah was a shy woman. Growing up with an overprotective brother and father made it harder for Mariah to come out her shell and boldly take on the world. Genevieve hoped that at some point, Mariah would get her chance to be bold.

The front door to Genevieve's flat opened, and a young black man stepped in, "Hey ladies!"

"Hey Nicky!" Genevieve called. "We're in the living room!"

Nicky walked in, guitar hanging on his back. He gave Genevieve a light kiss on the lips and ruffled Mariah's hair, "Hey little sis."

"Nick stop! You'll mess up my hair!" Mariah protested. Nicky chuckled and sat next to Genevieve on the couch.

Nicholas, or Nicky as he's known as to his friends and family, was Mariah's older brother by two years. Like most good older brothers, he's very overprotective and caring to Mariah. When their father isn't present, Nicky would be the one to watch over Mariah. Nicky worked at the primary school nearby the hair salon Mariah worked at as a Music Teacher.

"So, what were you ladies talking about?" Nicky asked.

Mariah gave Genevieve a worried look, Please don't tell him!

"Just girl stuff babe, you wouldn't care," Genevieve covered easily.

"Fine. I'm going to wash up. Long day at work," Nicky grabbed his things and walked away.

Mariah breathed in relief. The last thing she wanted was for her brother to find out that she had started dating again and that she went on a date with a white guy. After what happened with Ibrahim, she didn't need Nicky's pestering.

While Nicky showered, Mariah helped Genevieve cook some jollof rice, macaroni pie, callaloo and stew chicken - pretty much mixing Nigerian and Trinidadian cuisine together. Nicky came out of the bedroom at some point and helped to dish out everyone's food.

"So," Nicky said as he and the two women began to eat the food at the dining room. "Why are you dressed up so nicely?" He looked at Mariah.

"Because I want to," Mariah replied snarkily.

Nicky raised an eyebrow, "Fine." He decided to ignore his sister's antics for now. "By the way, I hired a landscape designer for Daddy and Mummy's backyard."

Genevieve looked concerned, "Can you afford that?"

"I was thinking that Mariah and I can pay for everything..." Nicky faltered at Mariah's stern glare. "It's Mummy and Daddy's anniversary coming up and Daddy always said that he wanted to have barbecue in the yard. He can't because the backyard is..."

"Cursed?" Genevieve joked.

"Yeah. It needs a lot of work and neither of us are qualified to do it. I just want to do something nice for their anniversary and Daddy's retirement."

It was true. The backyard in their parents' home was... horrible to say the least. The place was dirt and nasty and... ugh.

"Okay fine," Mariah sighed. "But we're going to have to rake up a lot of money though because that yard is bad."

"Ain't that the truth," Nicky groaned.

~~~

One week later...

In his office, Henrik organised appointments for his landscape designing. One particular client had a backyard that was... wow.

"I know," the client, Nicky, had said when Henrik came to his home for the site visit. "It's really awful. My Dad hadn't cleaned up... or anything in years."

Henrik had sighed. This would take a month at the least.

"When is your parents' anniversary?" Henrik had asked.

"In two months, on September. My parents are away in Trinidad visiting my grandparents for those two months. If you can get it done before then, that would be awesome!"

"I can. But it would cost you extra because I have to buy supplies, repair the water pipe, the fountain and everything."

Nicky gave a tight smile, "I was afraid of that."

Henrik shook his head as he recalled that conversation. He was unsure if he could do that in a short space of time but he still wanted to take on the challenge.

As he pondered on his upcoming project, he thought about the woman that he went on a date with. Well, she ran off so it wasn't really a date.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. He didn't understand why but he couldn't stop.

I hope I can get a chance to meet her again.

Little did he know.

~~~

Thanks to Nicky's sentimental gift for their parents, Mariah found herself having to request for more work hours at the hair salon.

"Wow, all that money for some dirt?" Mariah's boss and friend Elisa asked as she booked appointments for Mariah to do.

"Nicky has this vision of this pretty backyard for our parents. It's so annoying."

Elisa Bowens owned the hair salon that Mariah worked at. Elisa had built the business from the ground and up, catering the salon for black women to get their hair done and get glammed up. Mariah's co-workers and friends, Erikah and Thabi, worked at the salon as well; Erikah specializing in braids and Thabi specializing in styling natural hair. While Mariah specialized in relaxed and straight hair, wigs and weaves mostly.

"And what's this I hear about you dating white men now?" Elisa asked, looking at her quizzically.

Ugh. Blake and her big mouth, Mariah thought in annoyance.

"HUH?! Mariah is dating white men now?!" Erikah screeched.

"Aw, that's so romantic," Thabi swooned.

Erikah glared at Thabi angrily, "What?! No! There's nothing romantic about dating colonizers Thabi!"

"That's really mean Erikah! They're not that bad."

"Can you two shut up for a second?!" Elisa snapped, glaring at the two women for a moment before turning to Mariah. "So? What happened?"

"Nothing. I... I left early." Mariah looked away in embarrassment.

"Left early? You ran away, didn't you?"

Mariah sighed, "Yes."

"That's good news," Erikah nodded. "That was the ancestors telling you not to engage with the colonizer."

Thabi rolled her eyes while Elisa glared at Erikah.

"Erikah, can you please stop being a hotepress for a minute. Just one minute?!" Elisa groaned.

"No, it has to be said! We shouldn't betray our black men by dating those men! We have to stand by our black men!"

"Really now? What about the black men who only date white women? Wouldn't they be betraying us black women?" Thabi raised an eyebrow.

"No! If a black man has a baby with a white woman then the baby is still black-"

"Stop. Please stop." Elisa interrupted Erikah, looking at her tiredly. "It's too early for your hotep preaching Erikah."

Erikah huffed and stomped off.

After that, Elisa opened the salon and Mariah was flat-ironing her first customer's hair when Blake stormed in.

"Mariah! Why have you forsaken me?!"

Mariah sighed while her customer looked confused.

"Blake sweetie! We're open!" Elisa called from her station.

"Fine! I'll wait!" Blake sat down on the couch dramatically.

Ten minutes later, Mariah was finished with her customer and after her customer paid and left, Blake stormed up to her.

"Why did you run?!" Blake snapped.

"Why didn't you tell me he was white?!" Mariah snapped back.

"Because it was a blind date!"

"Oh my gosh, Blake, did you set Mariah up with that colonizer?!" Erikah screeched from her station.

Blake glared at Erikah in annoyance, "I don't want to hear from you, Miss Hotep!"

"It's my job to tell my sista what's up! But you wouldn't even understand because you're not fully black, aren't you?"

Blake gasped loudly. "You take that back!" She snarled.

"Enough you two!" Elisa shouted. She turned to Blake. "Unless you're here to get your hair done, you need to leave."

"Fine. I can use a touch up," Blake turned to Mariah. "I can wait. We need to talk."

Mariah sighed, "Fine." She looked at her clipboard. "Colleen Harris?"

The woman smiled, "That's me! But you can just call me Coco."

~~~

After Mariah was finished with Coco's hair, she did a silk press for Blake.

"Why did you run? You promised me that you wouldn't run," Blake said, as Mariah washed her hair.

"I panicked, okay? I got overwhelmed and I got in my head. It was bad."

"I know that you've been struggling ever since Ibrahim left but you've got to get yourself back out there. Don't let what he did hold you back."

"Right..." Mariah murmured. "It's hard though."

"Yeah but it's good for you." Blake smiled at her kindly.

Mariah smiled back.

~~~

After Mariah was done with work for the day, Nicky came to the salon to pick her up.

"Have you seriously started on this project already?" Mariah groaned as Nicky drove.

"Yes, I want it done before Mummy and Daddy come back. And you have to meet the designer too."

Mariah rolled her eyes, "Fine."

When the siblings got to their parents' home, a truck was already parked in their parents' driveway.

Nicky and Mariah got out of Nicky's car, entered the house and walked into the backyard.

There were three men already working, all of them digging the dirt. A fourth man directed all of them, the wind blowing his blond hair.

"Hey Henrik!" Nicky called. "I want you to meet someone!"

Wait, Henrik?!

Said man turned from his work at Nicky's voice, his eyes widening when he saw Mariah. He walked over cautiously, obvious remembering what happened last time.

"This is my little sister Mariah," Nicky said. "Mariah, this is Henrik."

The man stared at her in shock.

"I-I-" Mariah stammered.

~~~

Part Two coming soon!

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