I read this interview (while doing thesis research, ug) with the screenwriter of the Fifty Shades movie, and she kept going on about how Christian is this sex old-timey romantic hero. I just have to say, “BARF!” Can I just write that as my entire thesis?
Chapter 14
Oh, right, this is Bared to You. Sometimes it’s so hard to remember!
When we last left off, Eva was really mad that Gideon wouldn’t tell her what his nightmare was about. She’s like, “I just told you all my shizzy, and you won’t tell me yours. Fuck you.” It’s sort of legit, but at the same time, they’d just gotten to a really good place even if they got to it in a totally creepy way! Aragh!
Eva feels pretty shitty at work the next day and can’t really concentrate on much, and Gideon doesn’t make contact with her. It’s hard when you’re in pain, and the only person you really want to reach out to you just…isn’t. Or at least I think she’s sad he doesn’t reach out? Maybe she’s come to her senses and she’s relieved he’s stopped stalking her. That would be such progress. Go Eva!
Haha no, she calls the silence “excruciating.” To make matters worse, her Google alert shows her a bunch of pictures of the two of them making out in a park. Awkward.
To make matters more romance novely, Magdalena shows up wanting to talk to Eva. I know when I have a bone to pick with another lady, the best option is to just show up wherever she works. Especially if we’re going to fight over a man and that man happens to own the company.
Eva gets Magdalena sent up to Gideon’s office, and it sounds like she just leaves in a huff when she realizes Eva won’t see her. Don’t worry, this isn’t the end of Romance Novel Events! As soon as Eva steps outside to get lunch, she runs into Gideon’s brother Christopher. It is literally so hard for me not to mix up Gideon and Christian and now there’s a Christopher in this book. I am so fucked.
Anyway, long story short, Christopher invites Eva to this garden party his mom’s throwing for the family record label. You know, as families do.
“If you’re wondering why Gideon didn’t tell you about it,” he said, seemingly reading my mind, “it’s because he won’t come. He never does. Even though he’s the majority shareholder in the company, I think he finds the music industry and musicians too unpredictable for his tastes. By now, you know how he is.”
To be fair, I guess Eva did suss out Gideon’s unpredictability very quickly, but it still strikes me as hilarious that Christopher seems to have as little concept of time as both this book and Fifty Shades and getting to know another person.
Also, a thought just occurred to me.
Then Gideon pulls a really douchey move. After his meeting with Eva’s direct boss Mark, he has Mark give Eva an envelope containing her apartment keys and a note being like, “Thanks for the good times.”
Things get even more strange. Later that night, Eva’s mom reveals that Gideon went to talk to Stanton (Eva’s stepfather) about what happened to her. That is just. So. Out. Of. Line. Eva’s mom is also really shitty in this scene as she’s just upset that Eva told Gideon. Listen, bitch, that’s Eva’s story to tell, so you can fuck off. Getting mad at characters in books is cathartic for me, what can ya do.
Luckily, when this happens they’re on their way to their joint therapy session. I wish every time I fought with anyone important this was the case, it’s so convenient.
They mostly talk about her mother’s stalking issues and anxiety, and I think the doctor handles it pretty well. Eva asks him a final question in private about whether or not two abuse survivors can have a functional relationship, and he says yes. That was a really nice way of showing what’s going on in Eva’s head without her thinking at us about it for twelve pages.
This was a surprisingly short chapter! Eva just goes home, and Cary tells her he thinks she and Gideon will find their way back together. Eva reflects on the possibility that she was too harsh and let Gideon down, showing him she’ll just keep running.
This has obviously given us all a lot to ponder, readers.
That’s what’s missing from your thesis. It’s not just the word “barf”.