Yay, I got to read the last two parts together and things are moving along so nicely.
I found it interesting to read all the comments for the previous chapter, how so many people are bothered by the fact that Lois clearly unashamed in her attraction to Clark ("acting single") while she's married. Yet her carefree attitude toward him is exactly why that never bothered me -- to me, it was clear that her "marriage" isn't the kind of marriage that would hold Lois back from having a romantic relationship with another man. Certainly, she grew up in the US, but she's been gone a long time ... and the fact that her marriage never enters her mind as a roadblock told me that, for reasons that we hadn't learned yet, it
wasn't a roadblock. So I was glad to see that Chapter 14 just seemed to reinforce that theory.
Clearly there's more to Lois's marriage than meets the eye. I don't know what the story is yet -- perhaps all single women are considered "wives" of the chief until they are "given" to their true husbands? -- but it's clear to me that the Western definition of marriage doesn't apply here. I'm looking forward to finding out more.
Now Clark's marriage, that's certainly another story. But even there, I find it hard to give it more than a passing thought. Yes, he may still be legally married to Lana, but she had already either filed for divorce or was planning to do so immediately when she left him, so they are likely already legally separated. And given how the country seemed to react to his alien-ness, I wouldn't be surprised if she were able to have the courts give her a quick annulment. (Can an alien enter into a legal contract with a human?)
But even if the marriage is still legal for a time, given that neither Lois nor Clark intend to go back, it still doesn't bother me. In this case, intentions and circumstances mean much more than a piece of paper. Heck, if they didn't, then you'd also have to believe Clark was cheating on Zara by continuing his engagement to Lois after learning about New Krypton. Yet I've never seen FoLCs say that he should have broken up with Lois once Zara came to town.
Carry on, Corrina! I'm enjoying the heck out of this story.
Kathy
