Well, my fingers were just itching to get writing again, so here we go. It's time for me to bring you all into my world. No, I'm not giving all the characters ADD, I'm writing about magic. This story is set in Las Vegas, one of my favourite places to visit (think about it - I don't think it's possible to get bored in Vegas). Although I know quite a bit about magic, sadly I don't know what it's like to work as a magician in Vegas - but a girl can dream, right?
Magic is my most favourite thing (well okay, second favourite ;) ) so I hope I can make it interesting to read about. Title comes from the Fleetwood Mac song - the quote below should explain why. I once used this song to perform magic to in a stage magic competition that I entered. No, I didn't win. (I would have found a way to mention it before now, if I had!)
So after some trial and error, my medication seems to be at the right dose and I am doing pretty good (aside from some erratic mood swings, that will hopefully settle down). But as before, no promises about how often I will update.
Enough from me. Hope you enjoy!
Myrtle
You Make Loving Fun
I never did believe in miracles,
But I've a feeling it's time to try.
I never did believe in the ways of magic,
But I'm beginning to wonder why.
Chapter One: Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas
Naomi
I sighed softly to myself as Cook's mobile went straight to his answer-phone.
"Fuck!" I cursed, rather louder than I intended. I stared at my phone, as though willing it to reveal Cook's whereabouts. Where the hell was that stupid prick? We were supposed to be in rehearsals, but Cook was AWOL - again. If he wasn't so damn good at what he does, I would probably have sacked the stupid fucker long ago. It wasn't even the rehearsals that I was bothered about this time. I had just received an interesting tip off that the hotel we worked for was planning to add a new headline act to its entertainment line-up, and I wanted to be a part of the new plans. The hotel manager was going to be spending the whole afternoon in meetings, and I had a short window in which to ambush him with my suggestions. Ideally, Cook and I would have made a combined front, but it looked like I was doing this one alone. I shoved my phone into the back pocket of my jeans, and headed for the elevators.
I emerged on the fourth floor, the administration centre for the hotel. I walked along the plush carpet towards Mr Tomone's office. Mr Tomone was the hotel manager, and took a personal interest in the running of every single department - which made him a difficult man to get hold of. I stepped through some large glass doors to reach the waiting area outside his office. It was an elegant room, with several large, comfy looking leather sofas. Mr Tomone was used to having people waiting for him. His secretary Nadine was sat at her desk typing away. She was immaculately dressed as ever, in a tight pencil skirt and tailored blouse. Her hair was scraped back into a perfect bun, not a single hair out of place. She looked every inch the perfect secretary that I knew her to be. However, I also knew that Nadine liked to let her hair down - in every sense - in her free time. She flashed me a huge grin as I approached her desk. I grinned back at her. Nadine was the source of my tip-off, and had texted me the news just a few minutes ago. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I had cultivated her friendship in my six months of working here, but I had certainly seen the sense of being nice to someone in such a role as she had. Mr Tomone was a very busy man, and never saw anyone without an appointment. The problem was that getting an appointment in the first place was an almost impossible task. I didn't like resorting to such tactics as this, but I was willing to do whatever I could to get my shot at being a headline act.
"Is he still in there?" I whispered, pointing at the office door. Nadine nodded. "Thanks for the tip off. I owe you one."
Nadine tilted her head to one side and smiled at me.
"Just get that Cookie Monster to buy me a drink sometime."
Before I had a chance to answer, the door to Mr Tomone's office opened, and the man himself emerged. He was dressed in an expensive looking pin-stripe suit. Between him and Nadine, I felt severely under dressed in my battered old jeans and faded t-shirt. I had dragged my blonde (and a little over-due for washing) hair back into a messy ponytail, and had no make-up on. It was a far cry from how I looked during a performance.
Mr Tomone walked with purpose towards the glass doors. His head was buried in a manila folder full of papers, but I stepped immediately into his path. He stopped abruptly and looked up with a slight frown on his face.
"Mr Tomone" I began hastily. "I know you're looking to revamp the entertainment schedule, and I'd love to talk to you about my ideas."
His frown deepened, and he moved to walk around me. I anticipated his movement though, and fell into step alongside him as he headed out of the waiting room and towards the elevators.
"We're looking for something different, Miss er..."
"Campbell. I know that - that's why I wanted to talk to you. An up to date magic show could be the best thing to..."
Mr Tomone ground to a halt and held up a hand to silence me. Reluctantly, I closed my mouth. He pressed the button for the elevator and gave me a friendly smile.
"Miss Campbell, I like your show, I really do. It's a lovely little draw for the families on an afternoon, but it's just not right for a headline show."
"But I'm talking about a different show" I argued. "One with pizzazz, and wonder. A huge spectacle that leaves the audience gasping with amazement and clamouring for more!"
Mr Tomone chuckled softly. A low 'ping' announced the arrival of the elevator, and with it, the closing of my window of opportunity.
"Just hear us out" I begged, in desperation. "Listen to our ideas before you make any decisions, and then you can..."
"Okay, Miss Campbell" He said with a grin as he stepped into the elevator. "Fix an appointment up with Nadine. I think I've got some time free on Friday."
As the doors swung shut conveying Mr Thomas away, I couldn't help but do a little victory shuffle across the carpet. An actual promise of a meeting to listen to our ideas was the best that I could have hoped for. Then I got my brain in gear. Today was Tuesday – which didn't give us very long to come up with the show that I had just claimed to have. Especially considering that we had two shows to perform between then and now. I had to find Cook. I stepped back into the waiting room to get the appointment fixed up.
"Book me an appointment on Friday!" I told Nadine with a wink. She reached for the huge tome that was Mr Tomone's diary.
"Eleven thirty okay with you?" She asked, as she flicked to the right page. I nodded. To be perfectly honest, I would take an appointment in the middle of the night rather than miss out on my chance. Nadine wrote it in the diary then flicked it open to today's page. I glanced down at it and noticed that the 'Fantasy' show had an open audition this morning in the smaller theatre. At least the mystery of Cook's whereabouts was solved - 'Fantasy' was the hotel's topless review show. I knew from long experience that the prospect of several scantily clad young women was too much temptation for Cook to resist.
"It's perfect, Cook. This is just the chance I've been hoping for" I hissed. Cook nodded vaguely. I could tell that I didn't have his full attention. We were sat towards the back of a small theatre within the hotel. The stage was full of women in skimpy training wear and high heels, being put through some basic dance moves by the casting director for 'Fantasy'. It was supposed to be essential personnel only for the auditions, but somehow Cook always managed to blag his way into them. I was trying to tell him all about our upcoming meeting but whenever I spoke too loudly, the casting director turned around to throw me a greasy look. He was on the verge of throwing us out, which would suit me fine but would hardly get Cook in a good mood. I was desperately trying to focus Cook's mind back on magic, but I was fighting a losing battle.
Cook and I had been working for the past six months at The Garda Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas. It was a beautiful new hotel situated on The Strip. Like most Vegas hotels, it offered a variety of entertainment throughout the day and evening. Our magic show was in the afternoon slot, designed to entertain families. We regularly played to quite respectably sized crowds, especially considering the lack of publicity our show was given. Advertising the show just wasn't a priority for the hotel. The management only had eyes for a bigger share of the gambling profits that were made in this town. That meant bringing the adults in during the evening, not the families during the day. Therefore the big budgets went on the evening entertainment. A spectacular show would bring people flocking to the hotel – and a lot of them would remain there afterwards to play in the casino. It was how Las Vegas worked, and I wanted my piece of it. A headline act was a thing to be celebrated. Top names in Vegas could play to sell-out crowds night after night, and earn themselves a fortune in the process. This had to be our time.
"Yeah, babe" muttered Cook. "Just chill, will you? We'll be ready in time. We can easily... would you look at those legs? I wonder what time they open!"
I sighed to myself and wondered, not for the first time, how a man with such cheesy chat up lines as that had so much success with the ladies. There was no chance trying to have a proper conversation with Cook now, so I settled myself more comfortably in my seat and turned my attention to the stage. I had to admit, there were some beautiful ladies up there. My attention was particularly caught by one girl in a tight, leopard-print leotard, who seemed to be arguing with the director. She was waving her arms about animatedly. Her voice carried across the almost empty theatre.
"I'm way prettier than most of these skanks!" Her unmistakeably English accent immediately reminded me of home. I chuckled to myself. She was certainly very pretty, and with her bright red hair she was sure of standing out from the crowd, but I could see straight away what the problem was. So too could the director.
"Look honey, you're just not tall enough, okay? You're gonna look like a Hobbit if I put you in the show!"
The girl was wearing the highest heels that I've ever seen, but it was still clear that she was a good few inches shorter than the required height.
"A fucking Hobbit!" Shrieked the now enraged red-head. Cook bellowed with laughter, clearly enjoying the show. I turned away. I had seen more than enough girls getting angry at the fact that they didn't 'measure up' in one way or another to the showgirl standard. As I glanced around the room, my eyes fell on a girl sat along the other end of the row from us. I couldn't quite place what it was, but something about her captivated me. She was watching the scene on stage intently, her face showing a mixture of concern and what looked like weariness. She had brown hair and was simply beautiful. I knew it wasn't just her beauty that drew my eyes to her though. She had a certain quality about her that I just couldn't put my finger on. As I watched, she rose to her feet. The red-head must have finished her argument and been dismissed by the director, because she stepped up to the girl I was watching, grumbling about how much prettier she was than the other girls. It was then that I noticed the similarity between them. They were clearly sisters, and most likely twins. That must have been what captivated me about her – that I had seen her likeness only a few seconds earlier. The one with brown hair was dressed much more casually than her sister, in skinny jeans and a close-fitting t-shirt. As I looked at the two girls chatting to each other, a vague shadow of an unrefined idea leapt into my mind. I reached across and tapped Cook's arm.
"Cook!" I growled, as I struggled to draw his attention from the stage. Eventually he looked at me, and I nodded in the direction of the two girls. "Look. Twins."
A huge grin spread across his face.
"I like your thinking, Blondie! One each, eh?"
I rolled my eyes at him. Could he possibly leave his dick out of this for one second?
"No, Cook" I said firmly. "I was thinking for the show. We could use them as assistants, like... one person can be in two places at once or something." I sighed as Cook just frowned at me. I knew it sounded pretty pathetic like that. I wasn't really sure how to describe it - all I had was just a hazy idea of how twins could feature in a magic act. As the twins stood up to leave, I decided to seize the moment for the second time of the morning. "Come on" I said with finality to Cook. I rose to my feet and followed after the twins as they made their way out of the theatre. Over my shoulder, I heard Cook grumbling his complaints about leaving the audition.
"But he'll be telling them to get their tops of soon!" He argued. I ignored him and carried on after my quarry. They had stopped just outside the theatre, clearly deciding their next move. I placed a friendly smile on my face and stepped closer.
"Hi." I gave them an awkward little wave, then immediately wished that I hadn't – it probably made me look incredibly dorky. Two identical pairs of chocolate brown eyes fixed on me. I took a deep breath and began. "I saw what happened." I gestured vaguely in the direction of the theatre. "It was pretty shit. I think you'd make a great showgirl." The red-head's eyes narrowed immediately with suspicion. I hastily carried on. "We're casting for a show soon, actually." I gestured between Cook and myself and prayed that he had enough savvy to just go along with my lie. "And I think you'd be perfect." Hmm, now two pairs of brown eyes were staring at me with suspicion. The red-head spoke.
"Look, if this is just a chat-up line you can forget it. We're both straight..." She cast her eyes briefly up and down me with a disdainful look on her face, before turning her attention to Cook. "...and you're definitely not our type."
I swallowed my indignance at this woman's high opinion of herself.
"Look, I don't want to fuck you" I told her, a little harsher than I intended to. Maybe I should try a little harder to swallow that indignance. I held my hands up in a defensive gesture. "I'm being serious, we really do have a show." A look of interest crossed the face of the red-head, but her sister still looked suspicious.
"She's not a stripper" she said firmly. It was the first time I had heard her speak. Her voice was lower, huskier than her sisters, without the slight lisp that her sister had. I shook my head.
"No, not that kind of show. It's a magic show, so you wouldn't even need to be topless."
"Well let's not be too hasty about that" added Cook. He was stood immediately behind me by now, so a swift movement backwards of my elbow took the wind out of him as retribution for the comment.
"I'm being serious" I continued to the red-head. "I'm a magician, and I perform a show right here in this hotel. Look." I pointed to a poster for the show that was hanging on the wall nearby. Both girls turned towards it. I painted the ridiculous grin that I sported in the poster onto my face, and struck the same absurd pose. The brown haired twin chuckled. I couldn't blame her for that - it must be a pretty comical sight. The posters had been designed to give the impression of a fun and wacky show, so I had posed for a million photographs, each pose more embarrassing than the last. My pride at having my image put up all over the hotel had only lasted until I saw the proof for the posters. They had used one of the more ludicrous images and quite frankly, I looked like a complete oddball.
"So you're Naomi Campbell then?" Asked the red-head whilst scrutinising the poster. She sounded incredulous.
"Well, er yeah." I didn't even sound too sure about it, myself. I brushed some imaginary dust from the front of my t-shirt. Why couldn't we have been having a dress rehearsal today? "And this is Cook. What's your name?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out" she said imperiously. I arched an eyebrow at Cook and knew from the slight nod that he answered with that he had accepted that challenge. The red-head nodded in the direction of a nearby bar. "Why don't you buy us both a margarita and tell us about this show." With that, she sauntered off into the bar with her sister following behind. I shot a quick smirk at Cook before following them in.
After buying four margaritas, I sat down with the other three at a table. The red-head reached for her drink straight away, and took a gulp.
"So, Miss Katie Margaret Fitch from England, born on the second of June 1987. Tell us about yourself" said Cook. Katie choked on her drink, before staring open mouthed at him. He held a wallet aloft in one hand, and a plastic UK driver's license in the other. "Hmm, cute picture" he added with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"Give that back!" Snapped Katie. She reached frantically across the table, but Cook was ready for her. He leapt back from the table and danced out of her grasp. Katie scrapped her chair back and marched towards him. Fortunately Cook realised that it probably wasn't a good idea to antagonise her. He meekly handed back both items. Katie snatched them from him and sulked back to the table. She pushed the licence back into the wallet and stuffed the wallet back into her handbag.
"He's just kidding around" I explained. "I met Cook when he was a pick-pocket in New York."
"That doesn't surprise me" said Katie with a sneer. Cook just flashed her a huge grin and sat back down.
"I'm Emily, by the way" added the brown haired twin suddenly. "So you don't have to steal my wallet" she added. Emily smiled at Cook and seemed suddenly interested in him. "Did you really make a living as a pick-pocket?"
"Yep. That and Three Card Monte."
"What's Three Card Monte?" She asked. As Cook's eyes lit up, I decided to intervene.
"He can show you another time." I had no intention of letting Cook fleece the two of them before we had even got them on board for the show. "Let's talk about the show."
So Cook and I proceeded to do just that. It wasn't an easy task – trying to sell them a part in a show that may never even exist. Fortunately Cook and I had been blessed with the gift of the gab. We spoke eloquently about our plans for the new show – even though there were no fixed plans as yet. We kept that teeny tiny detail to ourselves though, along with the fact that although we needed both of them for the act, only one of them would get the credit on stage. We could go through that part soon enough. I felt a little bit guilty about it, but I pushed the feeling down. Besides, it was Katie who wanted to be a star – Emily didn't seem to have the same inclination for it. She sounded very reluctant when she realised that it was both of them that we wanted for the show.
"Here's a couple of complimentary tickets for the show this afternoon" I said, after we had said as much as we could to persuade them. I handed over a couple of tickets, not mentioning that free tickets for the show were very easy to come by. "That way you can see our current show, then you can come and see us back-stage." Katie took the tickets and slipped them into her bag.
"Yeah maybe" she said with disinterest. "If we're free this afternoon."
Shortly afterwards, we parted company. Cook and I had a show to prepare for, and Katie insisted that she and Emily both had plenty to do.
"Do you think we'll see them again?" I asked Cook as we headed towards our rehearsal rooms. I knew that Emily wasn't keen, but I had found Katie harder to read. She had seemed so blasé about it all, but I suspected that it was just an act.
"Yeah, we'll see them again" said Cook with certainty. I turned towards him and frowned. How could he be so sure? I soon got my answer. "I've got her driving license again" he told me with a grin as he twirled a familiar piece of pink plastic between his fingers.
So there we go.
I've decided to do what CSI does, and use a made up hotel as the main location. I will probably use plenty of real locations from Vegas as well though, but guess what? I don't own them. Or Skins for that matter, but you probably worked that out by now. Most magic show stuff that I describe will probably all be from existing acts that I've seen - don't own those, either! So if you'd like to know more about anything I describe (except 'how is it done') just ask.
Let me know what you think!
