The long awaited premier of “Golden” finally happened, and Gideon appeared to storm off after seeing music video!Eva getting hot and heavy with music video!Brett.
Chapter 17
Gideon was meant to show up to his restaurant (where Brett and Eva are dining) in order to cock block Brett. Instead he sends his buddy and famous chef Arnaldo to chaperone in his place. For those of you wondering, yes, Arnado has been in the series before. He was there when Gideon beat the shit out of Brett, so this dinner is a reunion of sorts! [Matthew says: As long as this book is copying everything that we already read in the second book, can Brett get the shit beaten out of him again? Or is this already a foregone conclusion?]
“Arnoldo’s a Six-Ninths fan,” I explained. “He came to the concert with Gideon and me.”
Brett’s lips twisted ruefully as the two men shook hands. “Nice to meet you. Did you see both shows?”
He was referring to the brawl he’d had with Gideon. Arnoldo understood. “I did. Eva is very important to Gideon.”
“She’s important to me, too,” Brett said, grabbing his frosty mug of Nastro Azzurro beer.
“Well, then.” Arnoldo smiled. “Che vinca il migliore. May the best man win.”
“Ugh.” I sat back in my chair. “I’m not a prize. Or I should say: I’m no prize.”
I get that this is meant to be jokes, but the problem is that this is actually how the situation is being treated. Eva told Brett that she’s in love with Gideon, so he doesn’t even have a chance, and his reaction was just to demand that he get a second chance because Gideon got one. What Eva wants should just be what Eva wants and that’s that. [Matthew says: Also, why does Eva’s casual reminder that she’s an actual person have to be immediately followed with a despairaging comment about “But not TOO great a person! Hahaha! I mean, she’s a woman.”]
Arnoldo joins them for the rest of the meal, which seems pretty rude given neither Brett nor Eva suggested it. At least if Gideon had shown up according to plan, they were going to be like, “Omg fancy meeting you here, why don’t we all eat together.”
Speaking of rude, Eva doesn’t seem to have a good grasp on what being rude actually means.
Brett’s hired driver dropped me off at my apartment a little after ten. I invited Brett up, because I couldn’t see any way to avoid it that wasn’t rude.
Uhhhh you could just have been like, “I had so much fun tonight, it’s been so good seeing you.” I was so surprised when this scene didn’t lead to any real trouble, because it seems like that’s what it was asking for.
Evil Reporter and Scorned Lover Deanna shows up in Eva’s apartment building, which is insane given Eva’s stepdad chose this place because security was supposed to be amazing there. It seems like they’ll let anyone in these days!
Deanna, still unsure what purpose she serves, tries to bring up the fight between Gideon and Brett, but Brett lies and says she’s got “a big imagination.”
She turned her attention back to me. “I saw Gideon with you today, Eva. My photographer got some great shots of you two. I stopped by to ask you for a statement, but now that I see who you’re with, would you comment on the status of your relationship with Brett?”
See, this is where I really can’t figure out why this character is in the book. Brett is not even remotely a threat to Eva and Gideon’s relationship. Any time Gideon or Eva gets remotely jealous, they just comfort one another, declare their love and fuck. There’s literally no risk, so having Deanna show up to seemingly create tension and drama is like eating low fat cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory it’s completely pointless and does not improve the situation. In the case of the book, improving the situation would be creating some real fucking drama. Make me actually wonder about Eva and Gideon’s future!
She directed the question at me, but Brett stepped in, grinning and flashing that dazzling dimple. “I think ‘Golden’ says it all. We’ve got history and friendship.”
In what way is that what ‘Golden’ says? Golden says, “She gave me lots of blow jobs, we had a lot of sex, and yeah, that’s pretty much it. Oh, also, I liked the way she danced. And then she left.” In what way does this signify friendship? History, sure, but I wasn’t getting the friendship vibes from “Golden.” Sorry, no. [Matthew says: In between the second book and this book, we even got a great real world example of how this is unmistakably creepy! See literally anything about Robin Thicke!]
Once in private, Brett continues to misunderstand what kind of message “Golden” actually conveys.
In Brett’s mind: Golden is a romantic song about his and Eva’s epic, but tragically short love story. It signifies love, friendship, and his deep feelings.
To everyone else: Brett fucked a girl for a while, it was good, and he was sad when they stopped fucking. Also she was a good dancer.
Brett asks Eva why she didn’t like the music video.
“It’s just really … personal.”
His green eyes were hot enough to make me flush. “I haven’t forgotten one thing about you, Eva. The video proves that.”
“That’s because there wasn’t a whole lot for you to remember,” I pointed out.
“You think I don’t know you, but I bet I’ve seen sides of you Cross never has and never will.”
No, I’m pretty sure she’s gone down on Gideon too. And been drunk around him. And danced with him. And had sex with him in a vehicle. Yeah, I think I covered all the bases here.
Before Brett leaves, he tries to convince Eva to come meet him and the band while they’re on tour. They realize they’ll be in California at the same time in a couple weeks. Christ, this means that for the entire next book it’s probably just going to be leading up to Eva seeing Brett in California. Why is he even still in this? He should just go run off with Deanna.
Before he leaves, Brett has one last Very Important thing to say:
Brett gripped my upper arms and groaned softly, the sound vibrating through me. “I remember how you feel,” he whispered, his voice deep and husky. “On the inside. I can’t wait to feel it again.”
Ew, oh my god, ew. Why the fuck is he even presuming he’s going to feel it again? And “I remember how you feel…on the inside.”
Aside from how cringe that line is, it got me thinking. So a guy can say, “I remember how you feel…on the inside” and he can say, “I remember how it feels to be inside you.” A woman can say, “I remember how you feel inside me.” But can she say the inverse of that, like, “I remember how the outside of your penis feels.” DOUBLE STANDARD. If woman can’t make equally stupid, annoying statements, it’s just bullshit, you guys. Bull. Shit.
After this, Eva goes to find Gideon. He’s not actually all that upset about the video, but apparently Corinne called and has been seeming more wack-a-doodle than usual, so he went to see her. Even though she’s not his problem anymore and he told Eva he’d cut off contact. Diiiiick.
But he apparently man-solved her problem for her. I was really convinced Gideon was going to be like, “Corinne was on her period,” but actually her problem was this:
“I will.” As he rinsed the suds from my hair, he said, “I think I figured out what the problem is. She’s been taking antidepressants and they’re not the right prescription for her.”
Why the fuckity fuck did Gideon need to be the one to solve that mystery? Why not Corinne’s, oh I don’t know, doctor figure that out? Oh my god why was this even a thing in the first place? Put in some real god damn drama, Day, not all this pseudo-drama that has no purpose.
Apparently after this, Gideon took it upon himself to call Corinne’s husband Giroux to come be with his wife. What a guy. He can mansplain the situation better than me, though:
“She’s not my responsibility.” His gaze held mine, telling me without words that he understood my fear and worry and anger. Just as he’d always understood me. “I told her as much. Then I called Giroux and told him, too. He needs to come take care of his wife.”
He reached for his shampoo, which rested on a glass shelf with the rest of his personal shower items. He’d moved his stuff into my place pretty much the minute I agreed to date him, just as he had stocked his place with duplicates of my everyday items.
“She was provoked, though, Eva. Deanna visited her earlier tonight with pictures she took of you and me at the video launch.”
That is the most boring provocation in the history of the world. Also, doesn’t Deanna have any actual reporting to do instead of serving as the adult equivalent of the 7th grade gossip queen?
Blady blah Eva loves Gideon blady blah more minor character filler at work the next day. But at the end of the chapter Giroux shows up and is French and sassy.
“Mon Dieu. How slow are the elevators in this building?” he asked the security guard in a clipped French accent. “It’s impossible that it should take twenty minutes to come down from the top.”
[…]
“Does it not bother you,” he said, his tone noticeably cooling, “that he used my wife to make you jealous and bring you back to him?”
“Gideon wants to be friends with Corinne. Friends spend time together.”
“You’re blond, but surely you can’t be so naïve as to believe that.”
“You’re stressed,” I countered, “but surely you know you’re being an ass.”
I hope Giroux just shows up to be sassy with everyone. I can’t tell if he’s really annoying or hilarious yet, only time will tell.
Then Eva goes to meet her mother for a dramatic lunch discussion.
Do you guys feel like this chapter was more sexist than usual? All the stuff about Corinne especially rubbed me the wrong way. Also everything with Brett ever.
Good gods I hate everything about this book. Why is Brett so obsessed with Eva anyway, given their casual fling? Does she have extra special insides? How does dialogue as bad as this get written? Why does Eva not respond to said dialogue with violence, or at least violent nausea? How can the treatment of a woman with depression (who will certainly need support and understanding) be so crassly portrayed as ‘come and take care of your wife’, like it’s ‘your puppy has thrown up on the carpet and you need clean it up’ or ‘your car is leaking oil and you need to call the garage’? Why are all the characters so obsessed with Gideon and Eva’s relationship? Why is there no plot? Why does Eva constantly define herself by what other people might think of her? Why do they always shower when having ‘important’ conversations? Do they not know that long showers are wasteful? Why does shit like this get published? So many questions.
I’m concerned about the shampoo, on a shelf with ‘the rest of his personal shower items.’ Why the word ‘personal’? Are there impersonal shower items? I guess the shower head maybe, but you wouldn’t put that on a shelf, would you? Although, since so much of this book seems to have been written to hit a word count rather than make sense, maybe we can look forward to a detailed description of Gideon getting his personal hair out of the impersonal shower drain. Oh I do hope so.
The bit about Brett “flashing that dazzling dimple” raises so many questions. What exactly makes a dimple dazzle? Does he only have one dimple, or is one just inherently more dazzling than the other? Is the rest of Brett’s face so completely unremarkable that everybody chooses to focus on his DIMPLE, of all things?? We may never know.
Maybe it’s dazzling because of the magical combination of platinum tips and dimple?
Arnoldo is such a stupid name I question whether or not Sylvia Day made it up. Yes this chapter was more sexist than usual the main points being: Arnoldo chaperoning the dinner and making that breathtakingly stupid comment about may the best man win, Brett talking about wanting to be inside Eva (ew), and Gideon calling Corinne’s husband (who she left so she probably doesn’t want to see him). You hit the nail on the head Polly, Gideon is being a dick about a woman with depression like her husband doesn’t own get. I hate all these male characters so hard I hope Giroux does show up only to be sassy and judge every else.
@ Madeline: Arnaldo is a real name – the Italian equivalent of Arnold. There are a few famous people called Arnaldo in Italy. In Italian, another variation of the name is Arnoldo. I don’t know if Day’s character should sound Italian or maybe Spanish, since also in Spanish that name is written in the same way. But since it’s a chef, I’d go with Italian… 🙂
Thanks Manny, I wasn’t really sure! I’m sure there are plenty of great Arnoldos and Arnaldos out this, just not in this book.
Manny is BBGT’s official fact-checker for all things Italian 😉
Given this book is pretty much always sexiest, I’ve become pretty numb to it all, so the fact that this chapter made me feel angry feels again was a BFD (big fuckin’ deal).
I think we can all agree that the dream of all dreams is that Giroux will be the snarky equivalent of Kara from the Disaster series.
Ah ah! Glad to be of help, whenever I can! 🙂
If Giroux becomes Crossfire’s Kara, I want him to be given a plot puppy!
Yeah, I mean the fact that he acts like their very casual fling is the definition of having history with a person is ridiculous. And Eva at one point tries to justify pursuing a friendship with Brett because he was someone who was sooo important to her. Footage not found!!!
I feel like we’re meant to hate Corinne so much that we aren’t supposed to notice how shittily this is handled. It also feels heavily implied that her depression is just caused by the men-folk in her life and not actually important or legitimate.
I’m adding that to a future drinking game – drink every time Eva and Gideon have a serious discussion in the shower. Drink twice if it’s in a bath. My theory is that it’s because Day has a template that she just copy/pastes and changes the dialogue for whatever current drama they’re talking about. She only ever has to change like 5 words.
I’m going to be different, but I kind of liked this chapter. Since Eva sees nothing wrong with going out on a date with Brett (and she HAD to invite him upstairs), I like the tit for tat that Gideon did with Corrine. If she can see her “meaningless” Ex than so can he. Was this chapter extra sexist?The whole series is sexist so I expect nothing less.
As for Gideon playing armchair psychiatrist with Corrine & her meds, it’s oddly in character since he oversteps boundaries in all situations. And let’s face it, since Day isn’t even pretending not to be copying 50 Shades anymore, we need the Leila character. Her twist? She combined Leila & Mrs Robinson into one character to make Corrine.
Woah woah woah. Woah.
Eva only agreed to see Brett when Gideon was hanging out with Corinne all the time/before Eva knew that he was only doing it as a cover story. Gideon has already agreed that Eva seeing Brett this time is the tit for tat to make up for what he did to her, so it’s totally uncool that after Gideon promised Eva that he was fully done with Corinne – after Corinne tried to convince Eva she was sleeping with Gideon with the whole lipstick shit – he was like ‘that was really gross of her, I’m done. But you can still go hang out with Brett because you made those plans”.
Oh my god…I know this series too well…Christ.
But Eva hanging out with Brett still makes zero sense!
Holy shit I hadn’t even drawn the Leila comparison! Or the Mrs. Robinson! Why is saving a mentally ill ex a go-to trope??
Haha! And that’s how much I forgot the order of this book. Is seeing Corinne & Brett a chicken or the egg dilemma? They are always trying to one up each other with emotional black mail that I forgot who started it this time.
I know I sound like a broken record, but this book was so poorly thought out, that I am really thinking her editors put their collective feet down & are making her write a better product for book 4. There is already so much hate on her FB feed about the delay that I really think they will come with pitchforks if the book also stinks.
It’s really hard to remember the order of this book considering it’s mainly stuck in some sort of terrible, nightmare-logic loop.
That actually would make a lot of sense that these editors finally were like, “Look, at least the first book sort of had a plot but come on, Day, what even is this? Write something that is marginally less shit and we’ll publish you.”
Given Day has said that the 4th book is meant to focus on Gideon’s issues, I don’t really know what more there is to say about his demons that could take up an entire book. Unless it’s going to just be an episode of Law and Order: SVU that puts some bad guys in jail? No clue.
Hahaha…. “man-solved her problem” and ” he can mansplain the situation” perfect!!!!!
“I remember how you feel on the inside” is the type of thing I would expect a Lifetime Movie psycho to say to a woman he tried to stab to death, then stalked for a year while he planned his final attack. (I watch a lot of Lifetime Movies, I have a problem) And honestly, this Sylvia Day has never met a mental health issue she didn’t want to bastardize in this shitsucking excuse for a book series. I’m not surprised she decided to hand-wave away the entire Corinne storyline by being like, “Oh, she was just on the wrong meds. Crazy ladies, amiright?”
I used to have a Lifetime movie addiction when I was younger, and I remember just being so terrified of men after that. I think that was in their heyday of every movie being something along the lines of, “My stepfather is a rapist! So I ran away from home to become a prostitute because my mother didn’t believe me! Then my pimp turned out to be my stepfather, but my mother still didn’t believe me until the movie was almost over!”
“He’d moved his stuff into my place pretty much the minute I agreed to date him, just as he had stocked his place with duplicates of my everyday items”.
I had almost forgotten Gideon’s creepy creepiness when he duplicated Eva’s bedroom…
I’m sorry, but you lost me after the mentioning the Cheesecake Factory. I’ve been craving it all day, but we don’t have one where I live 🙁
Is there even such a thing as a low fat cheesecake? What would the purpose be? If you’re worried about fat content, maybe you should just have a nice fruit salad instead.
mention of sexism get me going. lots of it.
like how eva is participating in her own value identification and commoditification in that arnaldo- brett pissing contest, makes the “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent” a new, ironic and sexist spin on the empowering Eleanor Roosevelt quote, huh?
eva’ s infuriating lack of worry about brett and his harassment which lead to the existence of the whole damn book in the first place along with corrine drama . (bonus: no outrage on her personal life made public. at all. spoiler:-which makes one wonder on why was so horrified about a sex tape. golden video was exactly that minus teary brett. existence of captivated by you as well)
how Gideon does not make us uncomfortable about his exes by monologue-ing about how sex was with Deanna , Lucas etc etc whereas Eva does that every damn time to ratchet up cheap tension plus he is better at handling his exes even when he is dick while eva gets to act like a moron.
women empowerment fails.