One Chapter A Day - Re-Read Of Bared and Entwined

[gabri]

Didn't think if that. Just assumed they didn't change it. Good point. But Gideon says everywhere he went people knew who he was, because of his name and what his father did. So I think they kept his name to Cross.

Or perhaps it's the Vidals that Gedeon doesn't want to be connected to at all

[Sharonm745]

Didn't think if that. Just assumed they didn't change it. Good point. But Gideon says everywhere he went people knew who he was, because of his name and what his father did. So I think they kept his name to Cross.

 

Even if they changed his name society people would know him just like they know Madoff's family now.

[Andie]

*starting my postings with the chapters I missed*

 

 

Hello, ladies

 

My Favorites

 

Chapter 5

1. line: And you don't think the airline industry paid for the compilation of those statistics? (p. 69)

 

2. paragraph: Moving out of my mom's suffocating orbit had been one of the best decisions I'd ever made. My dad's qiuetly unshakeable love for me, his only child, had changed my life. He gave me much-needed freedom--within clearly defined limits--and arranged for me to see Dr. Travis, which led to the start of my long journey of recovery and my friendship with Cary (p. 86)

 

3. scene: Eva eating a massive pile of carbs

 

 

Chapter 6

1. line: I'm not sure I like you having a crush on anyone but me, fictional or not (p. 92)

 

2. paragraph: "To point out areas of interest on design schematics spread out in front of me and to fit alongside me within camera range for a teleconference--two things you made very difficult." Lifting his head, he looked down at me. "I was working. You were playing." (p. 93)

 

3. scene: When Eva told Mark about her idea of marketing the blueberry coffee   

[Andie]

My Favorites

 

Chapter 13

1. line: Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what? (p. 222)

 

2. paragraph: I stumbled back from him. There was none of the Gideon I knew in the man facing me. It felt as if the man I loved had disappeared and the man standing in front of me was a total stranger in Gideon's body (p. 233)

 

3. scene: When Eva held Brett's gaze and said, "I'm in love with Gideon"

 

Chapter 16

1. line: Do you realize how many calories are in half-and-half? (p. 274)

 

2. paragraph: No wonder Gideon couldn't stand to look at me. When he'd made love to me the last time, it had been in utter darkness, where he could hear me and smell me and feel me--but not see me (p. 276) *hiks*

 

3. scene: When Eva's mother flashed her megawatt smile at... Victor *wink*

 

Peruse away

[sscrph]

Back to BTY.. Love this thought of Eva's in the limo...

" I wanted to please him, I wanted to know I was capable of reaching into Gideon Cross and there was nothing to stop me but him...

I'd say Eva did what she set out to do don't you??? LOL. :)

[Kirsten]

Back to BTY.. Love this thought of Eva's in the limo...

" I wanted to please him, I wanted to know I was capable of reaching into Gideon Cross and there was nothing to stop me but him...

I'd say Eva did what she set out to do don't you??? LOL. :)

Yes indeed.

[insideofclouds]

Back to BTY.. Love this thought of Eva's in the limo...

" I wanted to please him, I wanted to know I was capable of reaching into Gideon Cross and there was nothing to stop me but him...

I'd say Eva did what she set out to do don't you??? LOL. :)

 

She sure did and then some! 

[jennpenn926]

Chapter 16 This chapter shatters me everytime I don't think I ever will want to re-read its just to emotionally draining. Here is a quote that I can't really say I liked but I connected with. "Sometimes love isn't enough. And if it isn't enough what good is it" Also this chapter is the first and only time I don't hate Monica with a passion. To actually hold comfort Eva while she cried and to be honest about Nathan and the blackmailing were the signs of a mother. I just wish for Eva she had a mother like that all the time.

[julie54]

Homework today was a lot more palatable.

I loved the conversation between Eva and Victor.

"I've got a good life that makes me happy and a daughter that makes me so d a m n proud. I consider myself a rich man because there's nothing in this world I want that I don't already have."

I stopped walking and hugged him. "I love you, Daddy. I'm so happy your here."

Even Monica said something lovely to Cary.

"Almost as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside."

[julie54]

I'm Billy no mates this morning. A forum of one! Where is everybody? :(

[Sheens263]

I love the quote from Ireland. I see them getting close.

so do I and I think Ireland is going to do wonders for Gideon as well but I think for Ireland it is going to be like a new life for her with new people to talk to, I can imagine she is suffocated by her mother 

[Sheens263]

Thanks ladies for the hugs.

yes thanks everyone,

[Bookworm]

I'm Billy no mates this morning. A forum of one! Where is everybody?

Morning Julie, I'm here, always catching up. Lols. Happy Friday HUGGLIES

[Sheens263]

I'm Billy no mates this morning. A forum of one! Where is everybody?

getting there honey, took me ages to get through them all.

 

I loved the interaction between Victor and Eva and the flirtatious looks Monica gave Victor makes me wonder if they are going to hit it off again, I can't see them fully getting back together as Monica loves the money we all know that and I don't think she will be deterred from that but she may stray a wee bit to see if the fire is still there hmmmmmmm

[LN Cronan]

Chapter 16 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide

 

This chapter starts Friday evening (day 32)  and ends Saturday morning (day 33, sixth day of their estrangement and the day Eva ends the relationship.)

 

Key plot developments

This is the darkest chapter in the whole Crossfire story thus far, when within the course of under an hour, Eva got two devastating blows Saturday morning.

1. Her mother told her Nathan had possessed photos/video of Eva as his rape victim years ago, and had been using them to try to extort money from her and Stanton. Eva guessed, correctly, Gideon had seen those photos too.
2. Victor, who now believed Gideon was a cheater, showed Eva an online photo proving Gideon had been with Corrine on Thursday.

The picture convinced Eva Gideon had indeed left her for Corrine but simply was too much of a coward to end things -- so Eva called him to end it herself.

 

New characters

None in this chapter

 

The rest of the police visit on Friday night

The previous chapter ended with the cliffhanger of the cops telling Eva that Nathan had been found dead that morning.

As soon as Victor heard it was a death investigation, he told the cops the interview was over. He wasn't going to allow Eva to answer any more questions without a lawyer (he'd figured out they'd been trying to check whether she had an alibi).

Immediately, the detectives turned on Gideon, wanting to know where he'd been Thursday. He offered to talk to them while walking them out of the building.

He'd already danced around the question of knowing Nathan, and now he didn't want to talk in front of Eva about Thursday. And throughout the whole ordeal, he'd avoided looking at her. She picked up on this, as did her father - who eyed Gideon coldly as Gideon escorted the detectives out.

 

Dad tried to dig

As soon as Gideon left to walk the detectives out, Victor tried to get Eva to explain why she'd practically fainted over what the police had told her. He wanted to know the history -- and he wanted to know what Gideon had to do with the matter.

As for the history, Eva lied to her father, claiming Nathan was a bully who resented the fact his (Nathan's) widowed father had remarried (Monica). As for the Gideon connection, Eva honestly told her father she didn't have a clue. But underneath, her gut told her -- Nathan was what had come between Gideon and her.

Eva decided to go straight to bed, leaving Ireland in the care of her Dad and Cary. As she approached her room, Gideon arrived back in the apartment. They looked at one another, but he said nothing and showed nothing. So wordlessly, she locked herself in her bedroom.

While she was asleep, her father investigated Gideon's love life online. Victor found some promising pictures of Eva and Gideon earlier in the summer -- and he found out about Gideon and Corrine supposedly reuniting earlier that week.

 

First Saturday shocker

Monica arrived unannounced at Eva's on Saturday morning, frantic about the fact she and Stanton had just had a visit from detectives - Nathan was dead. But Eva already knew that, Monica discovered.

Then Monica blurted out stuff Eva hadn't known - Nathan had been trying to extort money from Monica and Stanton. He had photos and video of Eva as his rape victim from years ago. He'd shown up at Stanton's office the week before, demanding two and a half million dollars.

Now Eva thought she understood why Gideon had cut her off, been so tormented the one time he did come to her bed that week. He might still want Eva, but he couldn't live with the images Nathan must have shown him, had to have been disgusted by them. "It has to be this way," words Gideon said to her in the dark on Wednesday, suddenly made horrifying sense.

Eva asked her mother whether Stanton arranged to have Nathan murdered, something she denied. Then Eva wondered to herself whether Gideon hired a hitman.

The cops had found out about the rape history -- all the old files had been unsealed to the investigators. Eva understood that Monica, Stanton and even she herself had motive for wanting Nathan dead. But Eva knew she had an alibi for Thursday, and she learned that Monica and Stanton did too.

 

Second Saturday shocker

Victor had been out running when Monica showed up. He got back just as she was leaving. It was the only time Eva ever saw her parents together, and it was brief -- but brief enough for her to see the pair of them still were in love, despite all the years they kept away from one another.

Once he got Eva alone, he asked her point blank whether she was in love with Gideon, and she admitted she was. Then he asked whether Gideon was in love with her.

"I don't know. I know he wants me, and sometimes he needs me. I think he'd do anything he could for me if I asked, because I've gotten under his skin a bit," was the best she could offer her father. (page 283)

By then, Victor had found out all about the sensational gossip concerning Gideon and Corrine. He'd also found proof that Gideon had been with Corrine on Thursday night. Victor didn't come out and call Gideon a cheater. He didn't need to. The picture he showed Eva of Gideon and Corrine together said it all.

"He had his arm around her waist, and their body language was familiar and intimate. He was very close to her, his lips nearly touching her temple. She had a drink in her hand and was laughing." (page 284).

The occasion was a work-related PR event Gideon hosted Thursday -- and the address given was the hotel where upstairs Gideon maintained his f*** pad, the hotel where he and Corrine carried on their three-year relationship and then where Gideon took every single sex partner since, up to Eva herself.

It was the final straw.

 

Eva ends it

Eva immediately dialed Gideon's cell phone. He answered -- and once again he tried to rush her off the phone like he had Monday night (while definitely out on a dinner date with Corrine) and Tuesday night (when Eva suspected he'd brought Corrine home to his penthouse.) This time, though, Eva wasn't going to let him avoid her call.

Eva did all the talking. Other than to confirm he had seen the Nathan pictures (he confessed he had) Eva did not let him get another word in edgewise, not even when he tried to get her to stop.

1. She started off furious about his deliberately standing her up in front of Dr. Petersen to take Corrine out instead. Anger rising, she then chewed him out for taking Corrine to a PR event involving the company (Kingsman Vodka) that held sentimental value to Eva (Eva's agency did some advertising work for the brand, and the account was how Gideon had first inserted himself into her life.)
2. She told him he'd broken her heart into a million pieces and she had lost all respect for him.
3. But then her shattered self esteem took over, and so she essentially forgave him for not wanting her anymore because of the pictures he'd seen, especially because they somehow triggered his own mysterious trauma history.
4. Dissolving into tears, she tried to say she hoped he'd find happiness with Corrine, but she couldn't get past the word "find ...."
5. "Never mind. Goodbye." (page 286)

Only later would we learn he'd been at the police station when she called -- and the lead detective kept watching him even when he had gotten out of whatever chair he'd been sitting around waiting in and tried to quietly stop Eva from keeping going. By the time the call was over, he looked like he'd just been told someone he loved had died. 

[LN Cronan]

Re-Read a Chapter a Day -- Today is Chapter 17 of Reflected in You

 

This chapter starts Saturday morning (day 33: sixth day of their estrangement and the day on which Eva actually ended things.) It continues through the weekend. Then, because the story timeline revolves around Gideon and Eva being together, this chapter quickly moves through more than a week of utter estrangement. It ends on a Monday (day 42 of the story and two weeks to the day since Gideon began cutting Eva out of his life.)

 

Key plot developments

• After she ended things with Gideon, Eva spent the remainder of the weekend distracting herself by showing her Dad around New York. Talking with him, she learned some more about her parents' history.
• Gideon did not contact her in any way whatsoever after she finished saying her piece on the phone -- not later that day, not that weekend, not the week that followed.
• But the following weekend, she ran into Gideon's family -- and confronted his mother for her role in Gideon being so damaged he couldn't handle being loved.

 

 

Favorite quote or paragraph needed from each of us, for Sylvia, after we've re-read the chapter.

 

The worst of the worst is over -- Chapters 15 and 16. I think we can find something bright.

[LN Cronan]

Favorite part of Chapter 17 -- the turning point for Eva. She'd spent eight days emotionally buried alive, her heart broken and feeling in a way like her life was over. 

 

Now she was about to rise from the dead -- in part because Nathan being dead, she realized, meant she could now embrace life in a way that hadn't been possible before. She no longer needed to hide herself, lest she lure him out of the shadows. No more looking over her shoulder.

 

So now she was going to start to learn how to quit being Old Eva. Starting on the outside to work her way in. From page 292:

 

"I want everything done. I want a new haircut. Something short and flirty and chic. I want my nails painted fire engine red -- fingers and toes. I want to be a new Eva."

[Sheens263]

 

Chapter 16 of Reflected in You - The Readers Guide

 

This chapter starts Friday evening (day 32)  and ends Saturday morning (day 33, sixth day of their estrangement and the day Eva ends the relationship.)

 

Key plot developments

This is the darkest chapter in the whole Crossfire story thus far, when within the course of under an hour, Eva got two devastating blows Saturday morning.

1. Her mother told her Nathan had possessed photos/video of Eva as his rape victim years ago, and had been using them to try to extort money from her and Stanton. Eva guessed, correctly, Gideon had seen those photos too.
2. Victor, who now believed Gideon was a cheater, showed Eva an online photo proving Gideon had been with Corrine on Thursday.

The picture convinced Eva Gideon had indeed left her for Corrine but simply was too much of a coward to end things -- so Eva called him to end it herself.

 

New characters

None in this chapter

 

The rest of the police visit on Friday night

The previous chapter ended with the cliffhanger of the cops telling Eva that Nathan had been found dead that morning.

As soon as Victor heard it was a death investigation, he told the cops the interview was over. He wasn't going to allow Eva to answer any more questions without a lawyer (he'd figured out they'd been trying to check whether she had an alibi).

Immediately, the detectives turned on Gideon, wanting to know where he'd been Thursday. He offered to talk to them while walking them out of the building.

He'd already danced around the question of knowing Nathan, and now he didn't want to talk in front of Eva about Thursday. And throughout the whole ordeal, he'd avoided looking at her. She picked up on this, as did her father - who eyed Gideon coldly as Gideon escorted the detectives out.

 

Dad tried to dig

As soon as Gideon left to walk the detectives out, Victor tried to get Eva to explain why she'd practically fainted over what the police had told her. He wanted to know the history -- and he wanted to know what Gideon had to do with the matter.

As for the history, Eva lied to her father, claiming Nathan was a bully who resented the fact his (Nathan's) widowed father had remarried (Monica). As for the Gideon connection, Eva honestly told her father she didn't have a clue. But underneath, her gut told her -- Nathan was what had come between Gideon and her.

Eva decided to go straight to bed, leaving Ireland in the care of her Dad and Cary. As she approached her room, Gideon arrived back in the apartment. They looked at one another, but he said nothing and showed nothing. So wordlessly, she locked herself in her bedroom.

While she was asleep, her father investigated Gideon's love life online. Victor found some promising pictures of Eva and Gideon earlier in the summer -- and he found out about Gideon and Corrine supposedly reuniting earlier that week.

 

First Saturday shocker

Monica arrived unannounced at Eva's on Saturday morning, frantic about the fact she and Stanton had just had a visit from detectives - Nathan was dead. But Eva already knew that, Monica discovered.

Then Monica blurted out stuff Eva hadn't known - Nathan had been trying to extort money from Monica and Stanton. He had photos and video of Eva as his rape victim from years ago. He'd shown up at Stanton's office the week before, demanding two and a half million dollars.

Now Eva thought she understood why Gideon had cut her off, been so tormented the one time he did come to her bed that week. He might still want Eva, but he couldn't live with the images Nathan must have shown him, had to have been disgusted by them. "It has to be this way," words Gideon said to her in the dark on Wednesday, suddenly made horrifying sense.

Eva asked her mother whether Stanton arranged to have Nathan murdered, something she denied. Then Eva wondered to herself whether Gideon hired a hitman.

The cops had found out about the rape history -- all the old files had been unsealed to the investigators. Eva understood that Monica, Stanton and even she herself had motive for wanting Nathan dead. But Eva knew she had an alibi for Thursday, and she learned that Monica and Stanton did too.

 

Second Saturday shocker

Victor had been out running when Monica showed up. He got back just as she was leaving. It was the only time Eva ever saw her parents together, and it was brief -- but brief enough for her to see the pair of them still were in love, despite all the years they kept away from one another.

Once he got Eva alone, he asked her point blank whether she was in love with Gideon, and she admitted she was. Then he asked whether Gideon was in love with her.

"I don't know. I know he wants me, and sometimes he needs me. I think he'd do anything he could for me if I asked, because I've gotten under his skin a bit," was the best she could offer her father. (page 283)

By then, Victor had found out all about the sensational gossip concerning Gideon and Corrine. He'd also found proof that Gideon had been with Corrine on Thursday night. Victor didn't come out and call Gideon a cheater. He didn't need to. The picture he showed Eva of Gideon and Corrine together said it all.

"He had his arm around her waist, and their body language was familiar and intimate. He was very close to her, his lips nearly touching her temple. She had a drink in her hand and was laughing." (page 284).

The occasion was a work-related PR event Gideon hosted Thursday -- and the address given was the hotel where upstairs Gideon maintained his f*** pad, the hotel where he and Corrine carried on their three-year relationship and then where Gideon took every single sex partner since, up to Eva herself.

It was the final straw.

 

Eva ends it

Eva immediately dialed Gideon's cell phone. He answered -- and once again he tried to rush her off the phone like he had Monday night (while definitely out on a dinner date with Corrine) and Tuesday night (when Eva suspected he'd brought Corrine home to his penthouse.) This time, though, Eva wasn't going to let him avoid her call.

Eva did all the talking. Other than to confirm he had seen the Nathan pictures (he confessed he had) Eva did not let him get another word in edgewise, not even when he tried to get her to stop.

1. She started off furious about his deliberately standing her up in front of Dr. Petersen to take Corrine out instead. Anger rising, she then chewed him out for taking Corrine to a PR event involving the company (Kingsman Vodka) that held sentimental value to Eva (Eva's agency did some advertising work for the brand, and the account was how Gideon had first inserted himself into her life.)
2. She told him he'd broken her heart into a million pieces and she had lost all respect for him.
3. But then her shattered self esteem took over, and so she essentially forgave him for not wanting her anymore because of the pictures he'd seen, especially because they somehow triggered his own mysterious trauma history.
4. Dissolving into tears, she tried to say she hoped he'd find happiness with Corrine, but she couldn't get past the word "find ...."
5. "Never mind. Goodbye." (page 286)

Only later would we learn he'd been at the police station when she called -- and the lead detective kept watching him even when he had gotten out of whatever chair he'd been sitting around waiting in and tried to quietly stop Eva from keeping going. By the time the call was over, he looked like he'd just been told someone he loved had died. 

 

Even when I read this by you LN all typed out like that my heart breaks for these two in this chapter, so sad and emotional and I have to fight hard to hold back the tears, wouldn't do at work now would it ??, people would wonder at me, mind you they think I am crazy anyway so more crazy by me would probably not even disturb them LOL 

[Sheens263]

Favorite part of Chapter 17 -- the turning point for Eva. She'd spent eight days emotionally buried alive, her heart broken and feeling in a way like her life was over. 

 

Now she was about to rise from the dead -- in part because Nathan being dead, she realized, meant she could now embrace life in a way that hadn't been possible before. She no longer needed to hide herself, lest she lure him out of the shadows. No more looking over her shoulder.

 

So now she was going to start to learn how to quit being Old Eva. Starting on the outside to work her way in. From page 292:

 

"I want everything done. I want a new haircut. Something short and flirty and chic. I want my nails painted fire engine red -- fingers and toes. I want to be a new Eva."

I loved in this chapter how Eva was coming out from the dark and starting a fresh with new hair etc, a new lease of life and a whole new braver, stronger Eva, I think this was her turn around in getting some of her strength back, like you said no more hiding away but now she can go an embrace the world.

 

I loved how she tackled Elizabeth and then go on to Corrine and Dr Lucas, you go girl!!!! 

[sscrph]

I loved in this chapter how Eva was coming out from the dark and starting a fresh with new hair etc, a new lease of life and a whole new braver, stronger Eva, I think this was her turn around in getting some of her strength back, like you said no more hiding away but now she can go an embrace the world.

 

I loved how she tackled Elizabeth and then go on to Corrine and Dr Lucas, you go girl!!!!

There is an old TV commercial with Ivana Trump for a hair color ad and she says" gorgeous hair is the best revenge" referring to her highly public split with the Donald...women always go for their hair when facing a painful break-up so it seems!!! LOL

[Kirsten]

getting there honey, took me ages to get through them all.

I loved the interaction between Victor and Eva and the flirtatious looks Monica gave Victor makes me wonder if they are going to hit it off again, I can't see them fully getting back together as Monica loves the money we all know that and I don't think she will be deterred from that but she may stray a wee bit to see if the fire is still there hmmmmmmm

I'm wondering if Victor will ever look at Monica with love in his eyes once he finds out what happened.

[Kirsten]

Favorite part of Chapter 17 -- the turning point for Eva. She'd spent eight days emotionally buried alive, her heart broken and feeling in a way like her life was over. 

 

Now she was about to rise from the dead -- in part because Nathan being dead, she realized, meant she could now embrace life in a way that hadn't been possible before. She no longer needed to hide herself, lest she lure him out of the shadows. No more looking over her shoulder.

 

So now she was going to start to learn how to quit being Old Eva. Starting on the outside to work her way in. From page 292:

 

"I want everything done. I want a new haircut. Something short and flirty and chic. I want my nails painted fire engine red -- fingers and toes. I want to be a new Eva."

I couldn't help but think of Mags here and her cutting her hair once Corrine was back, and Gideon became more unattainable.

[Kirsten]

Even when I read this by you LN all typed out like that my heart breaks for these two in this chapter, so sad and emotional and I have to fight hard to hold back the tears, wouldn't do at work now would it ??, people would wonder at me, mind you they think I am crazy anyway so more crazy by me would probably not even disturb them LOL 

I agree Sheens. That chapter gets me EVERY TIME.

[Kirsten]

We should have started a thread that just contains all of our theories.

[Sheens263]

I'm wondering if Victor will ever look at Monica with love in his eyes once he finds out what happened.

I doubt it Kirsten, I think he will feel very betrayed by her and hurt that this has been kept from him especially since it is his daughter, no parent would want to think about their little girl having to go through what Eva went through.  Tears at bedtime