Suzy, Gary L Beer [story reading txt] 📗

don't know any.” answers Suzy in dismay.
“You do not have to; they will appoint one to you to defend you.
Suzy's face drops and she turns almost white with fear; “To defend me? What do you mean by that?” she almost screams.
“Calm down, calm down will you? I am sure you have seen enough police programmes on the TV with people in your position.” laughs Lewis trying to calm her.
Suzy looks him in the eyes again as she remembers; “Yes, you are right, I am scared Lewis.”
“No need to be, Doug's car has been broken up and does not exist anymore. That will always remain a puzzle to them, which will help confuse the issue. Stick to exactly the same story as you told before when they paid you a visit.” Lewis advises.
Suzy nods her head in agreement but makes no reply.
“Do you remember what you told them before?” asks Lewis.
Suzy looks up from the floor; “Yes, I remember.”
“Keep it to that, do not expand on it and if you cannot remember, do not say anything. You will be all right; in the meantime while you are waiting you can start on the lounge. I will be able to cut the new floorboards next week and you can nail them down.”
Suzy had told Lewis about her and Sharon cleaning the bungalow, apart from the living room.
Looking at Lewis in surprise she exclaims; “Me to nail them down?”
“Yes it is easy, trust Me.” smiles Lewis.

The following week passes slowly for Suzy as she waits for the police to take her in. Sharon helped a lot with clearing and cleaning the living room as everything inside was totally ruined. Smoke had damaged the three piece suite beyond repair and she ended up throwing it out into the garden.
Once they had finished cleaning, Lewis measured the damaged floorboards. Getting Suzy to drive him to the builder's yard he gave the yard man his measurements of the flooring. Lewis got them to cut the pieces to size as he only needed to replace an area two metres by one metre.
Loading it all into his car they take it back to Suzy's and put it all in the living room.
“When do you think you will be able to put the new floorboards in?” asks Suzy.
“I have got some masks, I was wondering if you would help me?” he asks innocently.
“Of course I will help, what is it that you need me to do?”
“Have you ever used a circular saw?”
“Never.” replies Suzy positively.
“Do you fancy giving it a try? I will help you with the first one and show you what to do. It is still a bit too early for me to breathe in that amount of dust.”
Suzy looks doubtful, she had seen a circular saw in action before and it looked a terrifying tool.
“You must be joking; I cannot use one of them.”
“Yes you can, it will be real easy, we need to go to my flat to get some tools, and do you fancy a drive?”
“How else are you going to get there?”
“Nice one Suzy.” smiles Lewis; “All right to go now?
“If you feel it is important, of course I am.” replies Suzy as she puts her jacket on.
Lewis retrieves his jacket from the kitchen and they leave together.

Suzy looks on in puzzlement as Lewis, with up-ended circular saw makes adjustments to the machine. Setting the blade to protrude twenty two millimetres beyond the saw bed Lewis tightens the retaining nuts.
“Best we go outside to test it as it will produce a lot of dust.” informs Lewis; “Have you any spare wood in the shed?”
“Not so sure it is spare but there is some in there under the bench.”
“Can you find the biggest piece? I can carry the saw.”
“I will get the key.” replies Suzy as she walks away from the kitchen table where Lewis had been adjusting the blade.
Taking the shed key from the hook by the door Suzy opens the back door and steps outside. Spring is definitely on the way as Daffodils and other flowering bulbs are starting to appear. The Daffodils look unreal as the bright yellow of the flower sticks out vividly against the brown of the soils.
Suzy unlocks the shed door and steps inside; coming back outside, carrying a darkly varnished wooden part of furniture about fifty millimetres square and a metre long she asks; “Will this do?”
“That is ideal.” smiles Lewis; “What is it; it looks like a table leg?”
“Yes it is, from our old table, I use it to prop the door open.”
“I am not going to cut all the way through, you can have it back when I have finished.”
Suzy looks doubtful and hands it to him reluctantly.
Taking it from her, Lewis lays it by the shed door, going into the shed he plugs in the circular saw and puts on a pair of ear defenders and pair of goggles.
“Where is your mask?” asks Suzy.
“Trouble is when you wear safety goggles and a mask the goggles steam up and you cannot see what you are doing. It will only take a few seconds, I will hold my breath.” he replies as he puts his foot onto the table leg.
“Best you cover your ears.” he advises as he leans forward and positions the circular saw.
Holding his breath Lewis turns the saw on and pushes it quickly forward, the cut taking less than a second. Holding the saw at arm’s length Lewis waits for it to stop spinning before laying onto the path.
Using a metal ruler he pushes it into the slot he has made and measures its depth.
“Perfect.” he smiles taking off the ear defenders and goggles, handing them to Suzy he asks; “You want to have a go, it is easier than it looks.”
Suzy shrugs and puts the ear defenders and goggles on and approaches the table leg. Putting her foot on it like Lewis had done, she picks the circular saw and pushes it against the piece of wood.
“Hold the blade about ten millimetres away from the wood and then turn the saw on, when it is going at full speed then push it forward and keep going until your through. Then let go of the switch and hold the saw away from you until it stops spinning.”
Suzy does as Lewis tells her and turns the saw on, the 'kick' as it starts makes her hand twitch moving the saw to the right and she lets go of the switch.
“Hold it as firm as you can, use two hands if that is easier.” advises Lewis.
Suzy turns it on again and cuts through the timber in a second, with a surprised look on her face she holds the saw away from her until it stops. Laying it down gently onto the path she removes the ear defenders and goggles.
“See easy wasn't it?” smiles Lewis.
“Easy as cutting a piece of bread.” Suzy agrees with a relieved smile.
“Do you want to try the floorboards now?” Lewis asks with a bigger smile.

A quarter of an hour later Suzy is feeling proud of herself; cutting the floorboards has been easy so far as Lewis had set the cutting blade to the thickness of the floorboards. Having only eighteen millimetres depth to cut, using the saw was indeed easier than cutting bread. Holding her breath each time she would cut along the line Lewis had pencilled on the floorboards. The cut only took a few seconds to slice through each of the five floorboards Lewis was going to replace.
Holding the saw at arm’s length and still holding her breath Suzy waits for it to stop spinning before laying it on the floor. As she walks out of the living room she shuts the door and breathes out with a big sigh.
“You all right?” asks Lewis from the kitchen.
“Holding my breath is the worst part, I have got one more to do once the dust has settled.” Suzy smiles. Regaining her breath for a few minutes she returns to the living room and cuts the other end of the floorboard and comes back into the kitchen.
Lewis has made her a cup of tea and she drinks it gratefully.
“Let the dust settle and then you can fit your new floorboards.” he smiles.
“It will feel cold in there with no carpet.” Suzy says despondently.
“New carpet will be coming tomorrow; the fitters will be here about nine o'clock.”
Suzy looks at Lewis in shock; “I cannot afford a new carpet.” she replies in a scared voice.
“Luckily you got a few friends around you who can help, will be only a loan, with no interest.” smiles Lewis.
“When you say friends, do you mean Sharon as well?”
“Yes, she will pay half, lucky for you we are a couple of cheapskates and it is only a cheap carpet, so you won't owe us much.”
Suzy is taken by surprise at the generosity of her friends as even a cheap carpet will still cost a lot of money; and she is not forgetting that Lewis has paid for the floorboards as well.
“I do not know what to say, for so many years I have been on my own. Living with Doug was generally unpleasant and I could not regard him as a friend. Now I have two good friends and I am finding it difficult to accept that I am no longer alone.”
“I can only speak for myself, but because I am lending you money that does not mean you are obliged to me. If you cannot afford to pay me back this year, or even next, don't worry about it. If you are unable to get a job in the next six months consider the carpet and floorboards a gift; with no strings attached.”
Suzy is stunned by Lewis's offer and cannot help but feel obliged to him, deep down she feels a strong emotion towards him and realises she is falling in love with him.

The carpet fitters arrive the next day as promised and fit her new carpet within a couple of hours. Suzy is delighted and wishes she had furniture to put into the room to match.
A busy week follows for Suzy as she burns the old floorboards and rubbish. The three piece suite was too much for her as she was unable to break it