LN Cronan

Favorite quote in Chapter 5 is on page 75, when Eva has finally managed to coax Gideon out of his silent, withdrawn mood via coming on to him sexually in his plane as they're flying west toward Las Vegas (for her and Cary) and Arizona (his destination). Â "What is it with you, sex, and modes of transportation?" Â HAH!

A Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter 5 of Reflected in You  This chapter covers Friday (day 18) starting in the evening and goes through lunchtime Saturday (day 19)  Key plot developments Gideon's mood was withdrawn and pre-occupied all day Friday, with him unusually quiet - making Eva feel anxious he's pulling away from her. She bridged the widening gap between them lovemaking -- taking an opportunity to indulge her transportation fetish by having sex in one of Gideon's private jets en route to Las Vegas Via their weekly Saturday phone conversation, her Dad announced he plans to visit her in New York the weekend after next. She told him she wants him to meet Gideon, taking her father by surprise, who before then had been told the relationship was nothing serious. We readers learned more about her parents' past and some things about her own past, including her recent past from when she lived in San Diego.  After each of us has read Chapter 5, Sylvia would like to know what each of us liked best - either a quote or a paragraph.

Chapter 4 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide  This chapter covers Friday (day 18) starting in the pre-dawn hours and continuing through to breakfast time.  Key plot developments For the first time in ages, Eva suffered one of her own flashback nightmares of being raped. When she'd fallen asleep, Gideon had been beside her in the bed. When he woke her up out of the nightmare, she found him fully clothed in her bedroom (him and Cary both). It turned out he'd gone out for a while after she fell asleep - where, he wouldn't say. Eva asked Gideon to make love to her to chase away the lingering effects of the nightmare. The next morning, while Gideon is still in Eva's room, Cary and Eva have a close friend-to-friend conversation, the first chance they'd had to really talk about the Corrine crisis - from her showing up at the fundraiser to her looking like Gideon f***** her in his office. They also discuss Cary's relationship with Trey, which is falling apart because of Cary's mistakes.  New characters None in this chapter  Eva's present problems triggers her past The chapter opened with Eva in the midst of a flashback nightmare in which her stepbrother, Nathan, rapes her. She woke up struggling hard and crying, literally sick to her stomach, to find Gideon and Cary both with her in her room. In the bathroom, as both her boyfriend and her best friend comforted her, a worried Cary pointed out to her, it's been a long time since she'd suffered one of the nightmares. Early Friday morning, while Gideon was still in Eva's bedroom, she and her best friend talked in the kitchen, the first time they'd had any real time to talk since before Wednesday's night double-disaster (for her, meeting Corrine, for him, the orgy that signified sex life is spiraling into self-destructive mode.) Cary told Eva point blank he believes the stress Gideon has been putting her under is what triggered the nightmare. Cary also noted she'd lost control by hitting Gideon the day before, yet another sign the situation is eating away at her. Coming to the point, Cary said, "And he still won't tell you what's going on. Does that sound healthy to you?" (page 68) In turn, Eva affirmed she wants to fight to make the relationship work, and said that Gideon too is fighting to make things work. "I'm not bailing when things get rough this time. Seriously Cary ... am I really that far ahead if I can't take any waves." (page 68) In her mind, she recalled how Gideon had helped her sexually the night before to chase away the vestiges of the nightmare, taking exquisite care that their encounter did not trigger her physically. However, new doubts already had begun to eat away at her. Gideon had left her apartment earlier in the evening while she was asleep and had stayed out until midnight, something she found out because when she came to from the nightmare, he was fully clothed. And he refused to tell her where he'd gone -- more secret keeping. So this new doubt of his slipping away in the night was added to her fear he did have sex with Corrine the day before. Despite what Eva told Gideon after couples therapy, she was not 100% convinced nothing happened -- and she told Cary she was convinced Gideon's brunette fixation is proof Corrine still has some sort of hold over Gideon.  Cary's past triggers present problems During their one-on-one time Friday morning, Cary and Eva also got to discuss the other big matter they'd yet had time to talk about - her coming home unexpectedly early the other night to find Cary having group sex with three other people. Among the unexpected consequences was that the guy Gideon punched for propositioning Eva wanted to press charges - Gideon broke his nose. Cary had to lie to the guy that he (Cary) had no idea who Eva had brought home with her that night. Cary admitted to Eva he knew he'd screwed up, so much so that the day after (Thursday) he'd called Dr. Travis, their former therapist in San Diego. Talking with the psychologist over the telephone helped Cary put things into perspective. Another talk Cary had Thursday didn't go so well -- with Cary's new boyfriend, Trey. He'd tried to again apologize for having hurt Trey earlier in the week, when Trey caught Cary in bed with Cary's new friends-with-benefits, Tatiana. Trey wants Cary to be gay instead of bisexual. And Trey has seriously cooled off toward Cary. Cary confessed he's now considering whether or not to continue the new relationship, telling Eva, "I'm just not ready for the stress and demands of a complicated relationship right now. I'm working a lot. I'm not stable enough yet to be f***** up in the head." (page 67) Cary added that Eva ought to consider whether she's at a point in life and emotional stability where she's ready to handle a complicated relationship. Cary now clearly had developed doubts about whether Eva can handle being in a relationship with Gideon. Between Gideon's own nightmares, which caused Gideon to become violent toward Eva while he was still fast asleep, and now all the evidence Eva herself has been seriously triggered (the return of her own nightmares and her having erupted in violence herself by hitting Gideon) Cary is worried. But for now, he accepted Eva's assurances she still wants to try to make it work. Both she and Gideon now are in treatment as a couple and Gideon on an individual basis too.

Late with this today ...... usually I post the daily summary of yesterday's re-read twelve hours earlier:   Chapter 3 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide  This chapter covers Thursday (day 18) starting early afternoon and ending that night.  Key plot developments The key development actually isn't in the book at all, but rather, what happened is something Sylvia later revealed in spoiler posts: Nathan and Gideon confronted one another face to face in his office during lunchtime. Chapter 2 ended with Corrine having pulled the "nooner stunt." In this chapter came one of the worst fights Eva and Gideon ever have, with Eva losing control. The fight continued Thursday evening in Dr. Petersen's office, when Eva and Gideon had their first couples therapy session.   What Eva saw next At the end of Chapter 2, Eva saw Corrine looking freshly f****** and being driven away by Angus in Gideon's Bentley. This chapter started with her storming into Gideon's office, discovering more things that totally set her off, convincing her he'd had a nooner with Corrine. One of the couches had been bumped askew several inches, and a pillow had been knocked to the floor He'd apparently just finished taking a shower in his private office bathroom He was changing into a clean dress shirt Eva marched into the bathroom and fished out of the hamper the shirt he'd put on that morning. There was a bright red stain on one of the cuffs.  The fight - round one Once she'd seen the "evidence" she didn't even bother to voice her suspicions -- instead, she tried to flee the office, and when he went to stop her and try to get an explanation, she slapped him hard. Then came the huge argument -- with him getting angry that she basically was accusing him of cheating, when he hadn't the first clue Corrine had even been in building, much less why she exited looking like she'd been manhandled. The real turning point for the worse came when an angry Gideon asked Eva point blank, "I want to know if you think I f**** her. If you think I would. Or could. Do you?" (page 42) Rather than answer yes or no, Eva demanded Gideon explain the lipstick on his shirt. He wouldn't. He wouldn't, we later found out -- not in the book but from Sylvia -- that it was blood on the cuff. Nathan's blood. Gideon wouldn't tell the truth about his shirt, wouldn't even begin to explain why he and his office looked like they did. So Eva was left believing Gideon deceiving her about Corrine, doubts that would poison her in the days to come. "I won't run this time, but you can push me away. You might want to think about that," Eva's parting words to him were as she left his office (page 44.) Something he'd learn the hard way she meant.  The fight - round two Thursday evening, Gideon and Eva had their first couples therapy session with Dr. Petersen, where a still furious Eva ran down the entire list of "evidence" Gideon had done something with Corrine -- Gideon trying helplessly to counter every one of her accusations. During this back and forth, it slipped out that he still had his f*** pad at the hotel where he used to take Corrine and every lover in the years since then. Eva moaned in pain when she found out he still had the room. Then the session turns to the real crux of the problem -- communication. More specifically, Eva's concerns about lack of fidelity and lack of communication. And the fact that sex is used to try to resolve their differences. Gideon believed the sexual relationship is the one thing that is working, Petersen felt otherwise "I'm not sure it is working, Gideon .... not the way it should be," Petersen said (page 50). The doctor suggested a period of abstinence, but Gideon refused to even consider the possibility.  Afterward Finally on the way home, Eva admitted that as suspicious as everything had looked earlier that afternoon, she really can't believe he cheated -- BUT -- his secret-keeping could lead to them breaking up. He begged her to trust him -- but she told him he has to trust her back. However, inside she questioned herself about whether there would come a time when it would be best for them to let go of one another rather than keep stubbornly trying.

There was a major motion picture -- 21 -- that was a hit movie in 2008 and is about card counting. It's based on a true story about how a professor and some students from one of the leading science universities in the United States perfected a scheme of card counting and used their scheme to amass a fortune in winnings before things went bad and they got caught.Â

 There are no criminal laws against card counting, but it is considered cheating, and casinos will throw out anyone they even suspect is card counting. Then they'll circulate his/her picture to other casinos, who will bar those players as well. It even can be dangerous if a card counter angers, shall we say, somewhat shady characters connected to the gambling world (cough, cough)  The trick to counting cards is to never get caught. I imagine Gideon perfected his stone cold chilly exterior while cheating at blackjack, not giving away any "tells" -- tell-tale signs his mathematical genius ability was able to keep track of all the cards played thus far -- and thus being able to calculate in his head how well the remaining cards stack the odds in his favor.  Young Gideon would, however, been breaking the law by going into those casinos while under age 21, the legal minimum age to enter "gaming floors" (the gambling part of a casino resort.) One has to be at least age 21 in Atlantic City (Las Vegas too) to gamble. He's need more than a fake ID -- he'd need to look older. Maybe that's where he started perfecting his ability to alter his appearance -- make himself appear older via wearing power clothes, make himself look unobtrusive by wearing very casual clothes. Stuff I'm sure came in handy later while sneaking around avoiding the paparazzi -- and now avoiding the cops.

 I think at this point (i.e. Corrine being back in the picture only 36 hours or so) Gideon was probably frustrated with himself for repeatedly failed to control the situation -- Mr. Control Freak would have still been thinking, however, that if he just kept trying things his own way, he could regain the situation.  As soon as he spotted Corrine at that fundraiser, in order these were his attempts to totally take control of the situation, everyone one of which failed:  Attempt: Hide the true nature of the relationship on the spot by telling Eva a half-truth (Corrine is an old friend). Then go off with Corrine alone briefly so that he could tell her to keep her mouth shut, because Eva has insecurity/jealousy issues. He asked Corrine to not upset Eva. Failure: He left Eva's side, so Magdalene let the cat out of the bag. Next -- not even realizing what Magdalene had revealed -- he then left Eva unattended with Corrine, thereby giving Corrine her first real shot at messing with Eva's mind. And Corrine landed a knockdown blow by letting it slip Gideon ditched Eva the night of their first date so that he could take urgent phone calls from Corrine in crisis.  Attempt: When Eva confronted him and announced she was leaving, he ought to have left with her at that point so they could have an immediate, honest talk. Instead, he thought sex would be the answer -- reassure her of his feelings for her the best way he knew how. Failure: By going back into the fundraiser, instead of leaving, he again exposed Eva to Corrine. Corrine monopolized Gideon throughout dinner, and in his effort to try to control Corrine at the dinner table, he made matters much, much worse.  Attempt: Tried to physically restrain Eva from leaving the table when Dr. Lucas took total advantage of the situation to humiliate Gideon for ignoring Eva in favor of Corrine. He tried to make Eva stay so that Lucas couldn't further his feud with Gideon, using Gideon's girlfriend as a weapon. Failure: Eva finally snapped, safeworded Gideon to force him to physically release her -- and then pulled a runner.  Attempt: Chased her home and did what he ought to have done much earlier in the night, done immediately upon spotting Corrine -- remove Eva to a place where they could be alone to talk about that part of his history. Failure: He ought to have agreed to what Eva demanded, that he cut Corrine off -- cut Corrine off because Corrine obviously was in love with him and was practically stalking him. Eva was right to ask him to do this. He made a mistake by not taking her advice.  Epic Failure: having handed Corrine mental weapons to use against Eva, Corrine pulled the nooner stunt the next day, sending Eva into an emotional tailspin. Then when Eva freaked out, he belittled her concerns and got mad at her in return. Cutting him slack though, Eva was so triggered at this point that honesty would have been of only limited use, because she was practically hysterical. But what he did instead, defensiveness and evasion, only worsened matters. The result was that Corrine succeeded in undermining Eva's trust in Gideon and thus undermined the entire relationship.  Later, he confessed in North Carolina (pages 189 and 190) "I thought I understood your feelings about Corrine, and frankly, I thought you just weren't dealing with it well. But I had no clue. I was a self-centered idiot ..... I get it now. I didn't before. Sometimes it takes something drastic to shake me up ... I'm disgusted with myself for not being more understanding about Corrine ...."  Epic control attempt: And yet days later, faced with something drastic (Nathan had become a danger to Eva's life) and now knowing how badly his ex upset Eva, he still took a terrible risk by using Corrine to deliberately manipulate a situation -- including deliberately manipulating Eva herself. Faced with an extreme situation, Gideon went right back into Control Freak Mode. Really epic failure: the cover-story part of his plan spun completely beyond his control. In fact, as Entwined opens, the situation still is way beyond his control now. Rather than its original goal of making the cops quickly eliminate him from the suspect list, he's now the chief suspect -- and though the smart thing to do at this point would be to have absolutely no contact with Eva, both of them are taking a huge risk that could bring them both down - bring Eva down too, because now she's colluding to cover up a crime.

I have a family member who developed alcoholism that almost killed him before treatment, including intensive medical treatment, successfully got him sober. He's been sober ten years now. He considers himself in "remission" not cured, because he knows there's no cure for the illness, only treatment. Â This relative lives in fear of ever being put in a medical position -- serious injury, major surgery, cancer -- that would make narcotics absolutely necessary, that he'd have no choice in the matter about whether or not to take them. It frightens him because he knows medically it puts him in a high risk situation because of his own medical history, the complication of addictive illness. Thus far, he's been fortunate, but there may come a day when one problem, severe pain, could create another even more serious problem, addiction.

 Oh God, no -- getting hooked again on drugs most certainly wouldn't be through any fault of his own here. Addictive illness is a very real illness, not some sort of weakness. Perhaps the biggest medical complication of administering powerful narcotics to any patient is the risk of the patient developing "dependence" -- the medical term for addiction. It's a risk with all patients -- but it is an especially high risk with patients who have a personal or family medical history of addictive illness.  Cary had no choice in the matter -- the narcotics were 100% necessary, the only way he'd have been able to start recovering from his injuries. If he develops the complication of re-activated addictive illness, that's no more his fault than if he'd developed a physical complication of infection.

Mental hospitals play a part in the story too -- Nathan had been sent to a psychiatric facility, not a prison, per spoiler information Sylvia recently posted on this site. Gideon feared it wouldn't ever be possible to get Nathan locked up in a prison in order to keep Eva safe -- it'd be more of the lather-rinse-repeat cycle of Nathan being found mentally incompetent, hospitalized, treated, "deemed safe (hah!) and released back into the community. Â Note: it is important to not read something into every last item in these photographs (such as that ticket dispenser, if that's what it is). That picture depicts some sort of in-real-life place that the PR people creating these photos simply used as a "prop." Film studios create fake worlds of sets, building everything from scratch and thus everything in the images was hand picked to mean something. PR photographers, on the other hand, need to go find some real place to take a picture of. Or use in-real-life people in the cases of the pictures we've seen where the image is supposed to represent a fictional character.

That picture is not a courthouse lobby -- I'm giving an expert opinion here. I spent a lot of time at courthouses in my prior career as a journalist. Both inside and out, courthouses are very grand places architecturally. They are among the most important government buildings, given the solemnity of the function they serve. Also, courthouse lobbies are large open spaces, not hallways. Â Hospitals on the other hand have hallways. Lots and lots and lots of hallways.

Most definitely, his being quiet the rest of the day I think was the direct result of learning that he'd triggered Eva, with the return of the rape nightmares being the direct consequence. Â He'd been so careful -- would continue to be so careful -- with her sexually, terrified of triggering her physically. Â The thought that their relationship had triggered her mentally/emotionally would have devastated him inside -- that his mishandling of the whole Corrine situation had resulted in Eva now suffering rape nightmares. He knew all too well how painful those nightmares can be. Â At first, Gideon had thought that Eva simply wasn't handling the Corrine situation well, and he confessed this in North Carolina, confessed it after the Brett situation woke him up to the fact just how serious the ex-lovers problem truly was. But in the meantime, overhearing Eva talk with Cary that morning made him realize the immediate consequences of what his ex pulled in the past day and a half had seriously undermined Eva's trust. Later, he'd have to beg her "trust me" even while he was scared inside (with d*** good reason) that she did not trust him -- and so she'd run away again, maybe for good.

Throwing out there for discussion purposes pages 65 to 68 of Chapter 4 -- the part where Eva and Cary finally talk, for the first time, about Corrine's sudden appearance on the scene 36 hours earlier, and all the mess that has ensued. Â Supposedly, Gideon was still asleep in Eva's room at the time. I actually firmly believe he was awake and was eavesdropping on the entire conversation. Gideon always has woken up earlier than Eva. Eavesdropping is a rotten thing to do, but he probably was desperate to find out what was really going on in Eva's head. Â If he did eavesdrop, this is what he would have learned. Â Cary firmly believed the stress Gideon is putting Eva through was to blame for the reappearance of her rape nightmares. The one she'd suffered the night before was the first she'd had in a long time. When asked point blank whether Eva really does believe Gideon f***** Corrine the day before, Eva said she's "mostly sure" he didn't (meaning she still has lingering doubts.) Eva does admit she's firmly convinced Corrine does have some sort of hold over Gideon still -- Gideon's brunette fixation is proof. Cary now has serious doubts about Gideon, because of Gideon's dishonesty. Cary also fears Eva's self-esteem problems mean trying to work things out with Gideon is just going to cause more damage to her. Eva has doubts she'll ever be able to work out a relationship with anyone else if it turns out she cannot work things out with Gideon.

My daily reader's guide of the chapter we read yesterday (Chapter 3 of Reflected) is going to be late today, because I'm off to meet a friend shortly.

Chapter 4, favorite quote, what Gideon promises Eva in the aftermath of the nightmare she had, a flashback to having been raped as a girl. From page 59: Â "Listen to me, Eva. No one can touch you. No one can get to you. Never again ... They'd have to get through me, Eva. And that will never happen." Â This is especially poignant given what Gideon knows -- but is keeping secret from Eva. Nathan has reappeared in New York, and is attempting to re-victimize Eva all over again, this time with photographs and video of Nathan had taken of her years ago as his helpless victim.

A Chapter A Day Re-Read Project - Today is Chapter 4 of Reflected in You  This chapter covers Friday (day 18) starting in the pre-dawn hours and continuing through to breakfast time.  Key plot developments For the first time in ages, Eva suffered one of her own flashback nightmares of being raped. When she'd fallen asleep, Gideon had been beside her in the bed. When he woke her up out of the nightmare, she found him fully clothed in her bedroom (him and Cary both). It turned out he'd gone out somewhere after she'd fallen asleep - where, he wouldn't say. Eva asked Gideon to make love to her to chase away the lingering effects of the nightmare. The next morning, while Gideon is still in Eva's room, Cary and Eva had a close friend-to-friend conversation, the first chance they'd had to really talk with one another about how crisis erupted in both of their respective love lives in the past couple of days. Eva told Cary all about Corrine, from Corrine's crashing the fundraiser Wednesday night to the possibility that Gideon f***** Corrine in his office during lunchtime on Thursday. Cary told Eva his new relationship with Trey is now in trouble because Cary repeatedly seriously hurt his boyfriend in the past few days.  After each of us has read Chapter 4, Sylvia would like to know what each of us liked best - either a quote or a paragraph.

 I'm certain that's a hospital. My guess is that this ties into Cary. Throwing out a theory - drug addiction relapse for Cary? Twice in Reflected are hints about the danger that medically-necessary pain meds pose to someone who has addictive illness. (When he's first in the hospital, he worries about it, then near the very end of Reflected, Eva has to remind/warn him he's not supposed to be drinking while on the medication. Perhaps the "hurt badly" here means the pain meds reactivated Cary's illness, so for the second time in his life, he'll face the battle of getting clean.  If this is true, the chain of events that led to Cary's addictive illness started with Gideon's love for Eva: Gideon deliberately thrust Eva into the spotlight within 24 hours of her becoming his girlfriend (the kiss photo on the sidewalk coupled with a leak from his PR staff) so that he could make sure all other men knew Eva was now taken. Cary got dragged into the spotlight immediately as the rumor mongers wondered whether he also was Eva's boyfriend, that she was juggling a fashion model along with a billionaire. Some paparazzi even took pictures of them that could be misinterpreted as physical intimacy instead of very close friendship. Nathan believed the lie that Cary also was sexually involved with Eva, and that directly led to him beating Cary. Pictures of Cary also were found in Nathan's room after Nathan's death -- that's how the cops figured out who'd attacked Cary. Even if we stop right here, Gideon's love for Eva hurt Cary very badly -- hurt him in the literal sense of the word. If we carry forward that the hurt isn't over yet, because the absolute medical necessity of having to put Cary on powerful narcotics short-term led to the complication of reactivating drug addiction, well then, Cary's life still is in danger.

Wow, Andie! Outstanding analysis -- especially the part about making the connection -- 22 countdown pictures, and 22 chapters!!! Â I think you're definitely onto something with your theory that the pattern that the snapshot pictures are starting at Chapter 22 and going backwards into the novel, Chapter 21, Chapter 20, etc .....

 You're right - Too Much Information.

Why didn't the subject of period come up during the three years Corrine was his girlfriend?  Er, maybe because he never had been jumping her bones frequently to begin with?  Maybe she had been the one initiating sex most of the time -- so like the hordes of women who later made Gideon offers he couldn't refuse  -- she was careful about her timing?

 Too, he might fear that blood as part of intercourse, blood on bedsheets, could possibly end up triggering her, given the nature of Nathan's assaults on her. The rapes left both anal and vaginal scars, which meant tearing, which meant bleeding. For that matter, blood might be a trigger for Gideon too -- the story strongly suggests he may have been subjected to forcible penetration as a child himself.Â

 Christian who?  HAH!

 Hi Nrock, welcome!  Go to www.audible.com -- then use the search box to find Bared to You or Reflected in You. Online, you'll be able to listen to a sample several minutes long, with the sound quality a lot better than YouTube. The audio quality of the downloads themselves are even better, I think, probably something to do with the fact the digital file is now directly on a computer or tablet.

 Has Brett spent four years dating curvy grey-eyed blondes, unconsciously looking for Eva in other women? Tee hee hee hee.

Corrine might be delusional, but she's not stupid. All along, she'll have been carefully reading Gideon's appearance and behavior, scanning him constantly, looking for hopeful signs. So as Entwined gets underway, Corrine's going to see a change in him -- one that'll set off her alarm bells. Â Tuesday morning, Eva showed up on her doorstep, called her on her s*** and reminded her that Gideon loves her (Eva). Could that be Eva's opening move to try to make a play for Gideon, Corrine would fear. I'm sure Corrine would have spoken to Gideon sometime later Tuesday, to do spin control on what a psycho his ex is. Gideon probably would have refused to even discuss the matter, so Corrine would be left without assurances. Â Fast forward to Wednesday night -- if she tried calling him at home or on his cell, she wouldn't have reached him. No matter how late she kept calling. Now ..... the next time she sees him later that week, she'll discover that haunted look in his eyes is gone. She'll assume the worst -- Eva is after her Gideon. Maybe has managed to lure him back into bed again, while she (Corrine) is stuck in that platonic dating purgatory Magdalene probably told her all about.