A Lovely Smile

By Morgana <cynthia.mccoy533@gmail.com>

Rated: G

Submitted: February, 2013

Summary: She is mentioned only once, during the series pilot
while Clark and Lois glide across the dance floor at the White
Orchid Ball. But the Nigerian princess who taught Clark Kent how
to dance ballroom-style pops up every now and then in fan
fiction. Here's my take ...

A big thank you to the following folks: KenJ and Bob for beta
reading; they kept looking this fic over to make sure it was
correct. Also much thanks to Sydney for the tiny, but important
details about Paris; it made a huge difference to the accuracy of
the story!

As always, here is the following legal disclaimer: The characters
in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and
Warner Bros. No copyright infringement is intended. I have just
borrowed the characters for a small bit of time to play in their
universe.

***

One pleasant early September morning in Paris, Professor Abrihet
Senai delicately sipped from a cup of strong, freshly brewed
coffee, savoring the different notes of flavor dancing over her
tongue as she opened the French edition of the Daily Planet. The
headline fairly jumped out at her:

*SUPERMAN SAVES SPACE COLONISTS!*

She spoke aloud, "What is this? A human who possesses super
powers? How can this be? Ah, he is very handsome... but such a
serious expression mars the face."

The dance teacher turned Maitre de conferences (assistant
professor) of French Medieval history at the Sorbonne University
examined the picture intensely; her inquisitive dark brown eyes
traveled over his well-muscled torso and then returned to his
face. There was something oddly familiar about the chiseled
features. Unfortunately, the elusive thought of *where* she might
have seen such a man refused to crystallize into being. She
looked at the author's name of the piece: Lois Lane. The Daily
Planet's reporter had always been associated with truth and
decency, so this article could not be a hoax.

Abrihet thought, <The newspaper account relates how this Superman
lifted the Prometheus rocket carrying the colonists into outer
space after preventing it from being destroyed by a bomb hidden
onboard. This reads like science fiction! But the Daily Planet
has *never* been a newspaper that went in for sensationalism.>

After reading the front-page stories, she turned to another page
and read several other articles. Eventually she came to one about
an old theatre in Metropolis that had been razed to make space
for a parking lot. The theatre had been a popular showcase for
French actors and actresses traveling to the United States in the
twenties. The writer's style was warm and comforting,
transporting her to America and the time when Warren G. Harding
was president and Prohibition began. Abrihet pondered the strange
word, 'Prohibition,' and then checked the author of this piece.
The by-line read: Clark Kent.

Her eyes crinkled with recognition and delight -- Monsieur Kent!
One of the last students she taught ballroom dancing before
taking up her position in the Sorbonne's history department. The
amusing memory of how gauche and nervous he was in the beginning
made her chuckle. <The young man was so nervous, he held me like
I was fine china!>

Still, it had only taken a few lessons before the clumsiness
smoothed out and the young man danced with confidence and a touch
of style. But despite the gushing admiration his female
classmates showered upon him, Clark Kent never became arrogant or
boastful. He was quite different from the other young male
American tourists she had met.

She remembered talking to him about his travels. He had come to
Paris from Borneo after working on a small paper there. Before
that, three months working with the boiler room crew on a tramp
steamer, traveling from Buenos Aires to Bangkok. He had been
living in a tiny attic apartment in the city's Porte d'Orleans
section and working as a stringer for one of the smaller Paris
weeklies. The name of the publication utterly escaped her.

Because of his warmth and candor, Abrihet had told him about her
own life in Nigeria. How, at the age of twenty, she defied her
family and fled Lagos rather than be forced to marry a tiresome
man twice her age. She arrived in Paris with enough money to
build a life of her own. It gave her immense pleasure to live
here and she could not imagine having a life anywhere else.

He had stuck her as a Renaissance man ... a true gentleman, but
one who was searching for a permanent place to establish a life
and call a city his forever home. She suspected that although he
loved Paris and was enchanted by its beauty, this was not the
city for him. In the meantime, he'd enjoyed learning new
things... like ballroom dancing.

Not long after Clark's final dance lesson, he'd moved to
Madrid. She'd never seen him again, but his kindness and the
brilliance of his smile always remained firmly fixed in her
mind.

Her meditations on young Monsieur Kent had caused her to lose
track of time. The wall clock chimed 7:30. If she did not hurry
to catch the Metro at Odeon station she would be late for work.

***

Over the next few years, Abrihet read numerous accounts of
Superman's exploits, both in America and around the world. He
had visited Paris on several occasions, but unfortunately, she
was never able to see the Man of Steel up close. Still, whenever
a picture of the handsome stranger from another planet appeared,
a sense of familiarity continued to nag her.

Several reporters had written about his brave deeds, but she
favored reading The Daily Planet's version of the events,
especially articles by the reporting team of Lane and Kent. They
wrote many stories separately, but it was the articles done by
*The Hottest Team in Town* that always garnered her attention. It
pleased Abrihet no end that her former dance pupil was now an
internationally respected journalist.

***

It was a fine Saturday morning in autumn. She was drinking coffee
and nibbling on a fresh, hot buttery croissant from Chez Morel on
her terrace. A light, slightly cool but refreshingly pleasant
breeze caressed her face. The city of Paris was slowly beginning
to awaken from its evening slumber. Abrihet saw a large picture
of Superman on the front page; he was smiling, a wide grin,
something he normally did not do. Apparently he had been visiting
a Paris orphanage and playing games with the youngsters brought
out the superhero's tender side. It was a good smile, pleasant
and honest. She turned the page and another photo jumped out at
her; it was the picture and wedding announcement of Clark Kent to
his partner Lois Lane. Monsieur Kent's face glowed with
happiness; his smile was brilliant as he gazed intently at his
new wife.

Abrihet looked hard at the picture and then muttered to herself,
"Mon Dieu! C'est impossible..."

She hurried into the apartment and returned with a pair of
scissors and a black pencil. She quickly cut out the picture of
Superman and laid it next to the wedding picture of Clark Kent.
She then drew a pair of glasses around his eyes.

After staring from one picture to another, Abrihet chuckled
softly to herself. The handsome, mysterious stranger from another
planet and her former dance student were one and the same.
Apparently he had found a home in Metropolis and someone precious
to share his life with.

She touched the black and white newspaper photo with deep
affection and whispered, "Your secret is safe with me, mon aimee
... you always did have a lovely smile..."

THE END