Rio and Polly

Chapter 7: I Won't Be Ignored

***Trigger warning for body-based bullying language***

Don't ignore me. There's nothing I hate more than being ignored. Nothing pisses me off more than having someone ignore me.

I'm a fucking influencer -- a macro influencer -- on my way to becoming a mega influencer, thanks to Rio. Months ago, when I'd been moved from my seat near the middle of the auditorium to be a seat filler next to the up-and-coming Rio Hawkens, my crush on the country singer turned to full-blown love, and I knew we were meant to be together. 

He was gorgeous, had the most incredible voice...but he told me he was taken right off the bat. Showed me fucking Polly's picture, was texting her all fucking night. He didn't even notice me after the first few minutes when I introduced myself. Didn't even give me the once over that all other men did when they first met me.

He should have been looking at me, not at his ugly, fat-ass girlfriend. She had to be thirty pounds overweight, but he was looking at her like she was as gorgeous as me. As if. The bitch was a pig. Polly Piggy.

That night, sitting beside him, drunk on the scent of his cologne, I decided I would have him. My daddy had a lot of money, and I'd used his name to become a social media influencer. I had more than a million followers, but I wanted more.

More meaning Rio Hawkens. I could gain more followers but having that man all to myself was the ultimate game prize and he was so hot that all the pictures we took together that I'd post on my IG account would go viral. I wanted that man to look at me like he looked at just pictures of Piggy. I wanted that man to smile when he said my name like he smiled when he said her name. I wanted that man to want me like he wanted her.

So I plotted and planned for the next month, and my agent talked to Rio's agent, and they plotted and planned -- offering a nice incentive to Rio's agent ensured he'd help pitch the idea properly and with his full endorsement -- and then Milliken began working on Rio, then Rio had given in to the idea and had talked that girl into it. At first I made sure it was exactly as pitched -- I was on his arm on the red carpet and then once inside the event, he'd make the rounds of the room, pretty much ignoring me.

I won't be ignored.

So I started grabbing his hand on the red carpet, gazing at him adoringly and incentivized Milliken to get him to agree to a few high-profile dinners out...pushing just a little bit more each week. More romantic dinners. Parties. Charity events. Grand openings.

But it still wasn't enough to end them.

Ah, but then came Texas, an overnight event, an overly-drunk Rio, a manager who forgot to get the room key back...and I had the means by which to keep Rio in my pocket until I could get him to fall in love with me and realize what we could be to each other. I just needed that stupid, fat bitch out of his life.

Then the kiss that the tabloids picked up and declared the hottest kiss ever. And Polly was unhappy, to say the least, but she kept hanging on. She was worse than Velcro with her sticking power.

So, knowing how triggered she got with one kiss, I decided to add another one after a while. I'm sort of an actress so improv is in my nature.

That certainly triggered her. She was so upset when she called Rio's name in the hotel lobby, ready to have it out with him in public, that I had to work hard not to laugh at her. Look scared, I reminded myself. Act like she's a stalker. I sure as hell earned my acting chops that night.

I'd threatened Rio that he was not to interfere when he was going to stop her from being thrown out of the hotel by security. Next to being ignored, I hate being embarrassed and having him stick up for Piggy would have humiliated me.

When I realized she was there to witness our engagement announcement, something Rio had made clear to all of us at the outset would never be happening, I could have expired from sheer happiness. That was just so perfect. 

However, my plan derailed in the limo right after that. I'd seen Rio irritated, annoyed and pissed off, but he was a red hot, fire-breathing monster in the limo. He fired Milliken and pretty much fired me, saying the fake everything was done. He was done.

He's so adorable like that, thinking he has any say in the matter.

I gave him a few weeks to calm down, my agent and publicist putting the word out that we were laying low after the terrifying stalker incident. But then Rio didn't return my texts, even knowing I had those incriminating pictures.

So I tried calling and calling and calling and calling...and that bastard wouldn't take my calls. He let me go to voicemail.

I hate being ignored.

Then after my last three texts, he finally responded, but it wasn't what I wanted to hear.

When he'd blown up in the limo, I'd told him I would end Rielle if he would just give me time and let it be on my terms. Of course, I wasn't planning on that actually happening. I figured he'd come around...but I figured wrong when I got his text today.

I'm done. You had three weeks. Now I'll take care of it.

Hmm, finally an answer from him, but that didn't sound good. He sounded like he was going to make a move to publicly end us.

Well, I'd just have to make my move faster. Fortunately, Rio had fingerprint recognition enabled on his iPhone, and the night we got naked together, he was so out of it, he didn't even stir when I'd used his finger to open his phone.

And what a treasure trove that was. I opened his text string with My Muse -- barf-awful name for a barf-awful girl -- and forwarded a ton of pictures to myself, as well as Polly's contact information, then erased that string so he'd never know I had certain photos in my possession. I'd hold those back until I really needed them. I was hoping the naked slumber party pics would finally push her over the edge.

So, with that thought in mind, I sent a text to Piggy, along with some artwork, followed by one last text. 

If she wasn't finished with him before, this should do the trick.