The Detective and the Rockstar

Chapter 9

          Her head was beginning to throb slightly. She squeezed her eyes shut and massaged her temples. She was thinking about the creepy doll again. Annika knew dolls like those. Alice had a lot when they were growing up. They were collectibles and usually dressed in cute outfits. This one had an outfit that looked specially made to resemble Rio. It was wearing a leather jacket and a pair of blue jeans. Its long black hair was styled in the same way, a side part. The blue eyes had been painted brown.

She opened her eyes and looked at the girl standing on the other side of the table across from Rio with a silly grin plastered on her face. She batted her eyes and swept her hair behind one ear. She was dressed impressively, with a low-cut blouse that matched her powder blue jacket and a pair of white jeans. She was there to make a statement.

           She was asking a stupid question about Rio's tattoo. The answer is even more ridiculous. Annika rolled her eyes and looked at her phone.

           No one had uncovered any information about the doll. The delivery company had surrendered all the information about the sender to them, but it turned out the address the person had given was the downtown bus station.

"...thank you, Rio. I will keep this forever," the girl said, clutching the autographed Rio doll (not the self-made one delivered to him) in her arms.

"You're welcome. Take care now. Bye-bye," he said, wiggling his fingers at her. The girl giggled again, making Annika scowl in disgust.

"Ah-he-he-he-he-he," she mocked under her breath, earning a shocked look from Rio. He stared at her for a couple of seconds. Maybe he was trying to understand how she could be so childish.

"It's almost over. There are snacks over there if you're bored," he said. He turned to face the new girl standing before him. She looked frazzled after being patted down by a female staff member.

"My ass hurts!" she complained in a low voice.

"Stand up." He signed the girl's picture of him. A considerable R followed by some incredible scribbling. She rolled her eyes, envious of the man's signature now.

"My legs hurt."

She had behaved like this before. On stakeouts with Eric. There was an aspect of her that wanted to be treated like she was a delicate damsel and she didn't care to fight it.

            She looked at Rio as his long pendulum earring swung back and forth as he bobbed his head at the girl. She longed to lay her claim that this man who looked like a pretty cat with tattoos was hers, and they needed to back off. From his soft hair to his pedicured feet, he belonged to her. That is what Annika wanted to say to them. But Rio wasn't hers, he belonged to his fans.

She looked away and sighed. What on earth was she thinking? She started to shake the thought away, and then she considered. It would be nice if she could be with him. They could snuggle up together, and she could kiss his neck and nibble on his ear.

           The thought exploded in her skull as her eyes fell on Alice standing near the snack table, offering one of those gift bags with items hand-selected by Rio to the girl in the powder blue jacket. She was a silly girl, willing to pay an extra hundred bucks for some candy and personal items.

          The ticket to get into the building to meet Rio for a couple of minutes had already set her back five hundred dollars. These folks were making a mint off these people's infatuation with Rio. Annika wondered if any money from this event was going into Rio's bank account.

She shook her head, unable to wrap her mind around the foolishness of it all. She looked at Rio again, still annoyed she was getting none of his attention. Another girl was sent on her way. Oliver held up two fingers to Rio, indicating only two more fans were left. She sighed loudly. Rio glimpsed her as he signed the second to last autograph. Her bottom was screaming at her.