Chapter 9

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were a blur of activity for Bill and Susan. Susan's pay was set at $23 per hour with no over time but she did get a bonus of 5% of the profit at the end of the project. She also got a two week advance and didn't have to move out of her 'dump' as she called it. She did have to sign a paper so the property manager wouldn't have to go back to court for the eviction if she fell behind again. It essentially left a permanent eviction notice hanging over her.

Heavy equipment operators started moving dirt on Friday morning and that made Bill feel good. He figured they were a good 45 days ahead of schedule. That also meant they would have more time to react to the inevitable problems that came up later in the project.

Susan was a dynamo in organizing and getting things done. Each afternoon Susan was joined by Mandy and Beth and the progress increased even more. Bill informed both girls on Thursday that if they were going to insist on hanging around then he didn't have a choice but to pay them. He told them $10 an hour was the most he could offer so they could take it or leave it.

Even Bill was knocked down when both girls hit him with screams of delight and hugs. He didn't fight to hard though. He liked both girls a lot. They were very good looking and sexy as hell but he tried not to think about that too much. They were just good kids. Some time when they were trying out those smoky, sultry looks on him he forgot they were kids for a few moments. Every time Susan caught them trying those looks on him she just laughed delightedly and kept working.

Every place Bill and Susan went people smiled at the contrast between the burly six foot four inch frame of Bill and the extremely petite, five foot frame of Susan. Most places still cleared a path for Susan but the coffee shop close to the job site stopped after their third visit. All three times Susan bumped something and it would start to fall but Bill always caught it. She stumbled once leaving and Bill deftly caught her around the waist saving her and a stack of cups on a tray.

Gossip is the mainstay of news in any small town and Show Low was no exception. People were already talking about the flat land company winning the bid for the new building. The news that the manager of the flat land company had hired Susan Pierce for bookkeeping got to the town council and some members considered a resolution to pull the job. The most vocal proponents of that plan happened to be friends of Brian Blain. News that someone may have tamed the 'Master of Disaster' started spreading by Friday and reached Brian at his favorite watering hole.

"Damn it," Brian said in frustration as he took another swig of beer. Jakes Place was filling fast as it usually did on a Friday afternoon. "It has been a week. I figured that she would either have him in the hospital or his company fired by this time," Brian grumbled.

"I know," Sandra said in amazement. "I haven't heard of one thing or one person that Miss Destruction has broken this week. A whole week! I think that is some kind of record. How about your other plan," she asked. Sandra looked around and moved her head closer to Brian's before asking in a softer voice, "You know. Getting her some help with what she does best."

"That's another problem," Brian said grumpily. "The only ones he has hired so far are guys that I don't have much pull with. There are a couple of new guys they hired that would help me out but it will cost more than I thought it would." He paused for moment thinking as he took another drink of beer. "It's almost as if he knows what I was planning," he mused.

"Well, we have known Suzy-Q all her life and both of us know that if there is a way to break something, she will do it," Sandra replied. "Maybe we haven't heard about her breaking anything this week but that doesn't mean that she hasn't. Even if she hasn't, she can't keep that up forever."

Brian nodded slowly as he sipped the last of his beer. He stared into space thinking about how to solve this problem and unconsciously motioned toward the waitress for a refill.

"Let's assume worst case," Brian said thoughtfully. "Let's assume that a miracle happened and somehow Klutz's natural tendency to destroy everything around her has been dampened by this Bill Mailer, or Miller, or whatever the hell his name is."

"Miller," Sandra replied absently as she pictured the big man in her mind with a smile.

Brain glanced at her with a little irritation before staring into space again. He didn't like being interrupted when he was planning.

"Assuming he has put a lid on Miss Disaster then the problem would be to separate them," Brian continued. "And I can still work on some of his local hires to get a bug in his project. That might cost me a thousand but I could make 100,000 so that is still a good return. I know that I can do that so the only thing I need to figure out is how to separate them," he mused.

Neither of them noticed the waitress approaching their table with their refills. She had heard most of what they said as she cleaned the table behind them. The waitress knew Brian and Sandra. They had been seniors when she was a freshman and the waitress never got to the 'in-crowd' on the local social scene. They had seen her around but didn't consider her worth noticing. The waitress also knew Susan because her oldest daughter was the same age as Susan's youngest daughter and they had met at school functions of their daughters.

"I think I can separate them," Sandra chuckled.

Brian looked at her in surprise and asked, "And how do you think you can pry Suzy-Q off Mr. Bill?"

Sandra grinned as she rubbed her double D's against Brian's arm. "Now honey, don't you think these girls could take a man away from that little girl if they wanted too," she asked with a chuckle.

The waitress had heard enough and walked around to the side of the table to set their beers down. "That'll be $5 honey," she said as she smacked her gum. Jakes wasn't one of the classier places in town.

Brian handed her a five and a one off the pile of bills he had on the table without a word of thanks or even looking at the waitress. He was grinning at Sandra as he ground his arm into her hard nipples through the material of her blouse. "Those girls can take any man from any woman," he replied to her question.

Five minutes later the waitress was on the phone.

"Hi Beth," the waitress said. "This is Janice Randall. I'm Nancy's mom. Is your mom home?"

"Sure Mrs. Randall," Beth said and called her mom.

"Mom, can I go down to Cherie's house until supper. Mandy's down there now," Beth asked.

"OK but make sure both of you are back in about 30 minutes. This BBQ won't take that long to finish cooking," Susan said.

Susan smiled as she got on the phone as she watched her daughter run out the door. Janice quickly repeated what she had overheard. Janice described Sandra's actions with the comment, "What a slut."

"Yeah, well, some things never change," Susan said resignedly. Sandra had taken one of her few boy friend's in high school. It wasn't a big love or anything like that. Susan just liked the guy and thought that he kind of liked her but Sandra and her boobs had taken him just because she could. Susan thanked Janice and promised to help at the upcoming freshman class car wash.

Susan slowly walked back outside to the gas broiler sitting beside her trailer. She had cooked a brisket covered in BBQ sauce in the oven on low since early that morning. She was just about ready to put the big slab of meat over a low flame to brown when she got the call from Janice.

Susan knew that she couldn't compete with Sandra and her boobs. Bill hadn't responded to Susan's invitation at the courthouse but that was probably simply because she was with another man and Susan had been with him. Susan knew for a fact that the stunningly beautiful woman could have any man she wanted. Sandra had proven it time and again. Susan knew of at least four marriages Sandra had broken up and she didn't know how many couples the woman had destroyed that hadn't marched down the aisle yet. What chance did she have against someone like that?

Susan was absently spooning BBQ sauce over the meat when Ruth pulled up in front of the trailer.

"Hey Suzy-Q," Ruth yelled as she walked under the little awning at the side of the trailer.

"Hi Ruthie," Susan responded despondently as she continued spooning the sauce.

Ruth eyed her friend thoughtfully before she quietly asked, "What's wrong hon?"

Susan kept her head down so Ruth couldn't see the tears that were threatening to overflow. She just shook her head not trusting her voice.

Ruth walked up beside her and put her arm around Susan's shoulder and said, "Come on Suzy. You know that I know that something is wrong and you know that I will keep asking until you tell me so you might as well get it over with so we can figure out how to solve the problem."

Susan kept her head down and shook it one time as she pulled away from Ruth. She opened the grill and slid the meat onto the grate. The brisket sizzled as it settled over the fire.

"Come on Suzy," Ruth said again. "Tell me."

Susan let out a long sigh and keeping her head down absently fiddled with the knobs for the gas on the grill. She gestured towards the chairs and Ruth sat down before Susan softly said, "Sandra is going to take Bill away from me."

"That bitch," Ruth muttered before asking, "How do you know?"

"Janice Randall is a waitress down at Jakes Place and she overheard Sandra and Brian talking," Susan said with a choked voice. Then she repeated the whole story that Janice told her.

"That bitch," Ruth repeated. "I wonder what she would look like if someone shaved her bald and cut off her tits."

Susan got a ghost of a smile and said, "It's a nice thought but it isn't going to happen."

"Well, are you and Bill, ah, well, romantically, ah..." Ruth tried to ask but didn't know to finish the sentence.

"No," Susan answered the unfinished question miserably. She turned towards Ruth as said, "I think he likes me and I have tried to let him know that I like him but that is as far as it has gone. But, but, but I really do like him a lot Ruthie," Susan choked out. "And you know Sandra can take any man she wants," Susan concluded sobbing and she turned to Ruth and buried her head on her shoulder. It was a perfect fit with Susan standing and Ruth sitting.

Ruth patted Susan's back as she tried to calm the woman down. It took her a while but she finally managed. Pointing out Bill's lack of reaction the previous Tuesday when Susan had told him that Sandra had her sights set on him helped.

"Look Suzy, we have to let Bill know what those two snakes are planning," Ruth said.

"I can't tell him that," Susan said almost breaking down again. "He'll think I'm a looser."

Mandy and Beth walked into the yard at that point and plopped down on chairs. "Hi Aunt Ruth," they coursed cheerily.

"Hi girls," Ruth answered absently. "Break any hearts this week?" It was her standard greeting to her god children.