Hello again! Sorry for the delay in getting this one to you - for some reason, it just wouldn't flow.

Thanks to all those of you that reviewed, and a particular thanks to those that passed coment on my last author's note. I hope it didn't just seem like a shameless plea for nice comments - I really do have loads of doubts about what I write. And there is no-one in my 'real life' who reads these stories for me. I have no one to pass comment, or to maybe say 'Myrtle, that just isn't funny'. Until it gets to this stage, that is. Gulp!

But on to this chapter, and the rest of the Fitches are finally in town! I've decided to take a different direction with Jenna, and write her as a fluffy, marsh-mallowey kind of character.

Yeah, right.


Chapter Twenty Two: Keep It In The Closet

Emily

I was a little nervous waiting for mum, dad and James to arrive. I was looking forward to seeing them, but I was also glad that they were only staying in Vegas for five nights, before travelling on to the West Coast for the rest of their trip. I was surprised that they were even staying that long – Sin City would hardly be mums sort of place. I felt anxious about them meeting Naomi. Was it time to come out to them, and introduce her as my girlfriend? That was a huge step at the best of times, but things were still very tentative between the two of us. She was only now starting to really let me in – it didn't seem fair to subject her straight away to my mother's bigotry.

In a clamour of bustle, mum, dad, Katie and James all entered the rehearsal room. With more noise than was strictly necessary, introductions were made and greetings were given. I was wrapped up in a huge hug by first dad, and then mum, before being able to introduce them to Cook and Naomi.

"So these are your bosses then?" Asked dad with a friendly smile to them both.

"We all work as a team" insisted Cook, stepping forward to shake dad's offered hand.

"Well it's lovely to meet you both" said mum, beaming round the room. Naomi nodded, and I noticed that she was somewhat quieter than normal. I could hardly blame her – my family could be a little intimidating at times - even without knowing how close Naomi and I really are.

"Hi, I'm James" said my brother with confidence, as he stepped up to Naomi. He had what was surely supposed to be a charming smile plastered to his face. "How about you show me the sights of Vegas, and I can show you the real meaning of Sin City!" Naomi arched a sardonic eyebrow at him, clearly amused by his attempt at a chat-up line. Cook bellowed with laughter, and clapped James on the shoulder.

"Oh I like you, Jimmy! You and me are gonna have so much fun in this town!" Thankful for the distraction, Naomi took a hasty step away from my brother.

"Just one problem with that" said Katie, throwing a smug smile in James' direction. "They're shit hot about I.D. in Vegas. You'll be carded wherever you go."

James turned to face her with a self-satisfied grin.

"Well I've brought my driving licence with me, bitch!" For once, Katie ignored what James had called her. Instead, she crossed her arms and turned towards me. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking me: 'are you going to tell him, or should I?' With a slight incline of my head, I answered that she could go right ahead. She turned back to face James, her face a picture of condescension.

"You can't drink until you're twenty one in America, loser!"

"Or go to strip clubs" I added, knowing exactly what James would have in mind. His face fell comically.

"You're kidding, right?" At nineteen, James was used to getting served in British pubs, but would have no luck in America.

"'Fraid not!" Answered Katie. Dad chuckled at James.

"Bad luck son! Maybe in another couple of years, eh?" He ruffled his hair - which James instantly did his best to straighten - before turning to face the room at large. "Listen, we're gonna take you all out for dinner tonight, after your show thing. You two included." He indicated Naomi and Cook. "My treat."

"No, I'm afraid we can't…" began Naomi, but her sentence was cut off by mum.

"Oh, don't be silly! Of course you can – we insist."

Katie sighed dramatically.

"I explained all this at the airport! Emily and I can't go out together. No one knows that Emily exists!"

Mum's face creased into a frown.

"But surely you can still go out for dinner!"

I glanced across at Naomi and saw her grimace. She had been through this so many times, and now it seemed that we were going to have to explain it very simply to mum and dad, too.

"Of course not!" Insisted Katie. "We can't be seen anywhere together. And you two can't talk about her, either. Don't go around blabbing that your twin daughters are in a magic show, okay?" I felt the full force of the irony. I was finally doing something that might actually make my parents want to talk about me, and instead they had to pretend that I didn't exist.

Mum waved her hand dismissively, and dad shrugged. I shook my head slightly in exasperation. I wasn't totally convinced that the message had sunk in, but I resolved to have a quiet word with them later to make sure that they understood.

"Look, why don't we all have take-away, and bring it back here?" Said Cook. His suggestion was met with enthusiasm by everyone, and the plan was quickly agreed on.

"Well, we've got some jet-log to get over" said mum with a smile. I bit back a chuckle: this sort of long distance travel is a new thing for my mother. "So we'll go find out if that porter managed to get our bags to our room without damaging my matching luggage set."

"Come and see the show tonight" said Naomi, handing over three tickets to my dad. "Then come back-stage afterwards, and we can order some food."

With yet more bustle, mum and dad departed. James seemed to be hanging back until they had gone, and I soon found out why.

"Just tell me when and where, baby!" He said with a wink to Naomi. "And I'll borrow some money from my dad and show you a good time." Naomi crossed her arms in front of her and gave him one of her coldest looks. Undaunted, James gave her another wink before turning to leave the room. Cook crossed the distance in two strides and caught him by the elbow. He muttered something to him in a very low voice. I couldn't fully make out what he said, but I could have sworn that the words 'fake I.D.' were in there somewhere. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw James leave the room with a bright smile.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Katie turned straight to Naomi.

"Don't you dare fuck my little brother, okay?" Naomi's shock at being addressed like that was evident on her face.

"I have no intention of fucking your brother!" She snapped. Katie glared at her through narrowed eyes.

"Well see that you don't!" Naomi looked set to argue further with Katie, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, she cast a guilty look in my direction. We both knew that Katie would be even less thrilled to discover that Naomi was actually fucking her sister instead. "He's too young for you anyway" continued Katie, determined to make her point. "Especially compared to that husband of yours. How could you marry him, anyway? He's like, over thirty or something!" To Katie, anyone beyond the age of twenty eight was ridiculously over the hill. At the mention of Justin, Naomi's confidence seemed to sap straight from her. She just shrugged and muttered an incomprehensible answer to Katie.


Much later, we were all gathered together in the rehearsal room, tucking into take-away food. Cook and dad had argued for an eternity over who should pick up the bill, but eventually dad's insistence had won through.

"Katie told us in the taxi how well the two of you have been looking after our girls while they've been here, so it's the least we can do!" He had declared, and that had been the end of the matter.

"So what did you think of the show?" Asked Katie.

"Oh, it was brilliant love!" Declared dad with enthusiasm. "I loved the bit with the thingumy bob, and the whatchercallit!" We all nodded, as if we had a clue what the hell he was referring to.

"Yes, it was very nice" said mum stiffly. Mum wasn't really a fan of magic, as she never liked to feel as though someone was fooling her. "You must have magic fingers, I suppose!"

Unfortunately, I had taken a large swig of my drink just at that moment, and began to choke on it as I remembered where Naomi's 'magic fingers' had been this morning. James banged me hard on my back, which served no useful purpose. Eventually, I managed to get my coughing under control.

"Oh, I remember what I meant to tell you" said mum, having clearly exhausted her praise for the show. "I bumped into that trollop Becky, last week." A tense atmosphere descended, that mum seemed blissfully unaware of. Becky was the new girlfriend of Katie's former fiancé, Scott. I cast a glance at my sister, and saw that she had stiffened at mums words. Mum carried on undaunted. "She's had her baby, you know. Ugly little thing though! I didn't say that to her. Well, you don't, do you?" She looked around the room with the air of one sharing great secrets. I stared at my mother in amazement. She actually thought that she was being nice to Katie by saying this! As though the pain of not being able to have children could be lessened somehow by the fact that Katie's rival had given birth to an unsightly baby.

"So what plans do you have while you're in Vegas?" Asked Naomi firmly. She threw a look of disgust at my mother, but only I saw it. I smiled gratefully at her for hastily changing the subject.

"Strip joints!" Answered James with a wicked grin.

"Don't be silly" said my mother, dismissively. "We'll see some shows, I expect. I've heard that the Marvellous McLair's show is very good."

"You're joking?" Demanded Cook. He immediately began arguing with mum about why they couldn't go to see that show. I switched off from their discussion and sighed softly to myself. I had hoped that Naomi would get on well with my parents while they were in town, but that was just wishful thinking. My mother seemed to have made it her mission to piss Naomi off as much as possible.

"So, any nice young men in the picture?" Asked mum once her argument with Cook was at an end. Okay, so it's not just Naomi that she's trying to piss off.

"One or two" said Katie with a shrug. Mum chuckled.

"Oh, you always keep them dangling, Katiekins!" Then she turned her broad grin towards me. "And what about you Emily? Anyone special in your life yet?" I felt my cheeks heat up with my discomfort. For one crazy second, I imagined what the look on her face might be if I said: 'yes actually, this rather beautiful woman sat next to me', but as usual I said nothing. Unfortunately, mum didn't take my silence as the answer I hoped she would. "oh, you're blushing! Look Rob, I think Emily has a sweetheart that she doesn't want to tell us about!"

"That's news to me" said Katie, staring at me with suspicion in her eyes. Oh that's just fucking great!

"No!" I said firmly. "There's no special man in my life." I knew that none of my family would pick up on my clarification of gender. I didn't feel up to giving them a completely bare-faced lie. Thankfully after a little more teasing, everyone tired of the subject of my love-life, and seemed to accept that I was still single.

The rest of dinner passed without much incident. Afterwards, Cook and James went out together for a night on the town. I felt a little uncertain at the prospect of their budding friendship – they would surely only encourage each other into new depths of trouble. The rest of us went our separate ways and turned in for the night. After ensuring that Katie was shut inside her own room, I left mine to spend the night instead in Naomi's room.


The next morning, Katie, Naomi and I were waiting in the rehearsal room for Cook.

"He's not answering his fucking phone!" Grumbled Naomi, snapping her own phone shut. Before she could add any more, Cook sauntered into the room with his arm wrapped firmly around James' shoulders. Naomi glowered at him. "You are late, James Cook! Have you been out all night?" Cook gave her a grin that nearly split his face in two.

"What? Nah babe, course not! I just bumped into my little mate here in the corridor" he said, gesturing at my brother. The fact that they were both still in last night's clothes, and smelt worse than an underpass gave the statement no credence whatsoever.

"We've got a lot of work to do!" Huffed Naomi.

"Hey, chillax babe!" Drawled James, edging himself closer to her. "The Fitchmeister's here. Lets you and me have some fun, babe!" Naomi's expression hardened, and she narrowed her eyes.

"The what?" She asked, waspishly. Inwardly, I cringed at my brother's pathetic attempts to chat up my girlfriend. James spread his arms wide in a gesture that was pure Cook.

"The Fitchmeister!"

Just as I suspected: James Cook and James Fitch were not two people to be a good influence on each other. I couldn't suppress a snort of laughter at James' ridiculous over-confidence. The attitude somehow worked for Cook, but it didn't suit my pervy little brother one bit. Naomi looked set to lose her patience altogether. She crossed her arms and stared straight at James.

"Get. Out." Her voice was little more than a harsh whisper.

"You better go, mate" added Cook, sheepishly. It seems that Naomi's anger was beginning to sober him up. James shrugged, and ambled out of the room. Naomi turned to face Cook, but before she could say anything, his phone began to ring. He pulled it awkwardly from his pocket.

"Yeah, you'll answer it now" muttered Naomi as Cook spoke into his phone. Then she turned to face Katie. "And you thought I would shag that?" She asked, indicating the door that James just left through. "I've got a lot more taste than that." As she turned back around, she cast a subtle wink in my direction, and I was pleased to see that her bad mood was at least only partly for show.

"He's fucking WHAT?" Shouted Cook into his phone. All eyes in the room turned towards him. "The thieving, bastard wanker!" Katie, Naomi and I exchanged concerned glances. With language like that, Cook was almost certainly speaking about Freddie. A few tense minutes past while we all listened in to Cook's half of the conversation, trying to figure out what had happened. Eventually, he threw his phone down in disgust.

"Well?" Asked Naomi. Cook sighed, and flopped down into a nearby seat.

"There's rumours going around that Freddie's nicked another one of our tricks."

"What! Which one? One from our actual show?"

Cook held a hand up to halt Naomi's string of questions.

"I don't know" he muttered. "My mate just said he heard people talking, saying that we performed something they saw in Freddie's show."

"Fuck." Naomi started pacing restlessly. "That fucking arsehole! Right, we need more information. I'll start talking to some people I know." As she marched towards the door, Cook rose ungainly to his feet.

"Yep, we'll talk to our contacts" he slurred. Naomi span round to face him.

"No, I'll do that" she snapped. "You go sleep this off before tonight's show, okay?" Cook clearly sensed that there was no arguing with her, and nodded tritely. Naomi then turned her attention to me and Katie. "Emily, maybe you can come with me? Katie, just sit tight and stay out of sight." With no further discussion, we all moved to comply.


The next morning, Naomi and I were lying side by side in her bed.

"So what now?" I asked. Naomi let out a long sigh, before shrugging her shoulders.

"Not sure."

We had spent the whole of the previous day talking to anyone that may have seen Freddie's show recently. Eventually, we had received a garbled description of the act. It mostly sounded the same as when we saw it, but with one notable difference: it seemed that Freddie had now added a routine that sounded uncommonly like one of our illusions. We just couldn't be sure until we saw his show for ourselves.

"We can see the show tonight" added Naomi. "No point worrying about it until then I guess." I was a little surprised by how calm she seemed to be about it all. She rolled over until she was facing me. "But this is our day off, and I don't want to waste it by talking about that bloody McLair." I nodded my agreement. "Especially when I have a particularly beautiful, and…" Naomi lifted the sheet that was covering us and peered under it. "…completely naked red-head lying in my bed." I giggled, and pulled her towards me.

"And just what do you plan on doing with me?" I asked, in my best flirtatious voice. Naomi closed the distance between us and kissed me.

We had spent the last couple of nights together in her room, and it had been wonderful. Her room was nowhere near Cook or Katie's rooms, so we no longer felt the need to keep the noise down. It turned out that Naomi wasn't kidding when she told me that she would have trouble keeping quiet. She was able to really let herself go now, and the result was absolutely breath-taking. We had probably pissed off whoever were in the rooms next to us, but we really couldn't bring ourselves to give a shit.

Naomi rolled on top of me, and pressed her thigh firmly between my legs. I let out a low moan as she kissed her way down my neck. Her hands sought out my tits, as my own hands slid down over her back towards her bum. She shifted lower. As her lips fastened around my nipple, a hammering on the door shattered the moment.

"Fuck!" Gasped Naomi. She stared at me with a look of confusion, both of us wondering who it was. The answer came soon enough.

"Naomi!" Bellowed Cook. "I know you're in there, Naomi! Open this fucking door, now!" We stared at each other, startled by how angry Cook sounded. After a moment of silence, the hammering began again. "Open the fucking door!"

"Give me a second" she shouted back. "In the bathroom" she added to me in a whisper. I didn't argue, I simply slipped from the bed and darted for the bathroom, picking up my discarded clothes as I went. I clicked the door shut behind me as quietly as I could, and slipped the lock across just in case. I held my breath as I listened to the sounds of Naomi getting up and moving to the door.

"What the fuck, Cook? Hey!"

Footsteps moved into the room. Cook must have pushed straight past Naomi.

"Is she here?" He demanded. A ripple of panic streaked down my spine.

"What? Who?" Blustered Naomi. A bitter laugh sounded from Cook.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Nai."

"Cook, I don't know what you're talking about." Naomi sounded quite convincing in her attempts to pretend that everything was normal. "What the fuck is going on? It's our day off!"

"Not anymore" growled Cook. "Emergency meeting. Downstairs. Ten minutes."

"If this is about Freddie…" A slapping sound reached my ears. It sounded as if something had been thrown at Naomi.

"Downstairs. Ten minutes" Cook repeated, even harsher than before. "I've already told Katie." I heard more footsteps, then Cook's voice again, this time coming from just the other side of the bathroom door. "You too, Emily." Then the door leading to the corridor slammed shut. I opened the door, and peeped cautiously into the bedroom. Cook was gone, and Naomi was sat on the bed in her bathrobe. She was flicking frantically through a magazine. From where I stood, it looked like one of the 'what's on' magazines that they leave in the hotel rooms. As I moved nearer, she stopped on a page about halfway through the magazine. A look of absolute shock crossed her face.

"Oh fuck!"


Another cliff-hanger! It's getting to be like an episode of Neighbours around here!

Feel free to have a guess about the contents of the magazine. There are plenty of possibilities of course, but there might be a bit more to it than what you're expecting.