Lucky for Jess, she left just at the end of the lunch rush.

Jess had to get back out, get back to work, but first, she had to figure out what to do with her tail. It was huge and long and fluffy, so hiding it was on the one hand impossible - and on the other, Jess didn't want to hide it. It was gorgeous, and whoever thought otherwise, well, they could put the chairs on the wagon and go! Pulling up her skirt, Jess felt thankful that it had a small zipper in the back with a button closing the waistband - she could simply leave the zipper open, button up and easy as that, Jess had a hole that was just about big enough for her tail, even if her skirt rode a little higher because of it.

Taking a deep breath, Jess decided to simply strut out of her cubicle, wash hands and go back to work, acting as if nothing was wrong. Because, as far as Jess was concerned, there was nothing wrong! Brushing her hands on her skirt, Jess opened the door and walked towards the sink, suppressing a pleasant shudder as she felt her tail swish through the air behind her with every swing of her hips.

The women were fixing their makeup and basically ignored Jess as they talked, leaving her pretty much alone as she cleaned her hands and turned around to leave the restroom. But right as she opened the door, Jess heard a gasp behind her and couldn't keep from smiling as she imagined the look on the other women's faces - almost forgetting to pull her tail out of the closing door before it got pinched.

"Oh. My. GOD! Did you see that?!" Jess could hear one of the women gasp incredulously as the door closed. "She had, like, a tail accessory! And it was gorgeous!"

The other woman's reply was cut off by the door falling shut, but Jess felt her smile grow wider. Yes, her ears and tail were by all accounts rather strange, but they were also beautiful and surprisingly, people seemed to like them. Well, not all people, Jess thought to herself as she remembered the disparaging comments some of the patrons had made about her ears - but they'd been few and far between, so the Texan found herself not caring all too much.

What she did care about was getting back into the café and helping Cathy!

"Oh, hey! You're lucky there was barely anyone left when you ran out on me," Cathy greeted her friend, cleaning the counter with a damp cloth - and really, there were barely five tables still occupied, among them the nice German couple. Chucking the cloth into the sink, Cathy turned to Jess... and boggled. "Je-Jess? What... you... behind yo--tail?!"

"Yeah!" Might as well go all in, fully embrace it. "Ain't it beautiful? An' it's sooo soft! Y'all wanna touch it?"

No matter how much her colleague growing a tail was throwing Cathy for a loop, she'd surely come around as soon as she touched the marvelously fluffy fur. Of course, space behind the counter was at a premium, and Jess' tail was so voluminous that moving it along her side to her front and towards Cathy was making it brush against Jess' hips and the counter itself, but that only sent pleasant tingles along its length and up Jess' spine. Cathy, eyes still wide and mouth working as she tried to form words, nevertheless couldn't resist raising her right hand after wiping it on her skirt.

"Where did you even get this?" Fingers trembling slightly, Cathy let her palm run over Jess' fur towards the tip of her tail, drawing in a low breath as she felt the thick coat under her hand. "It... and your ears, too... they look so real! As in real-real. They must have cost a fortune!"

"Oh, they hardly cost anythin' at all," Jess replied, trying to suppress a shudder as Cathy's touch ran lustful shocks all along her tail and into her body, arms crossing under her breasts. Having someone else touch her tail felt so nice, even if it was another girl. A part of Jess' mind raised the point that leaving her friend to believe that Jess was wearing high-end accessories wasn't the nicest thing to do, but with the other option being to explain that Jess had inexplicably grown them...

"Whoah... Seriously, this tail is incredible. Not exactly my style, but it really suits you," Cathy grinned, moving Jess' tail to her face and rubbing her cheek against the soft fur. "And it's so fluffy!"

"Funny y'all'd say that, Ah thought the same when Ah first touched it," Jess replied, answering her friend's grin with a smile of her own while trying to ignore how her erect nipples poked into her bra. That Cathy's soft, delicate hands could make her feel like that... "Now, uhm, as much as Ah hate to part y'all with mah tail, Ah think Ah've got ta clean some tables and run a few refills."

"M'aww..." Cathy pouted, giving Jess' tail one last, languid stroke that had the fox-tailed beauty bite back a moan and sighed. "You're right... but for some reason, I'm looking forwards to us hanging out on Friday even more now!"

With a wink, Cathy returned to cleaning and straightening the work areas behind the counter while Jess took to her own duties, trying to get used to the long, voluminous tail trailing behind her - and to the lingering sensation of her friends warm, gentle hands.

Jess counted herself lucky that the café had emptied so much - her tail kept brushing against chair backs and armrests, almost pushing condiment bottles and boxes of sugar packs off the tables as she worked, even though she did her best to move it in a way that minimized these incidents. The fact that every touch only stoked the fires of lust still smoldering in her didn't exactly help, but Jess began to slowly figure out the proper movements to have her tail follow in her tracks instead of trailing behind her uncontrollably.

The patrons, of course, were another matter. As they slowly filtered out, some tried not to stare, others cast quick, surreptitious glances they thought Jess wouldn't notice, one or two stared openly - but none of them were immune against the allure of the reddish brown fluffiness. There were hushed comments, too, and Jess could only just understand what was said thanks to her ears, sensitive in more ways than one. Thankfully, the worst she picked up were remarks born of a lack of understanding why the southern belle would 'wear these accessories, and in the workplace to boot'; the majority seemed to like the look and wonder about the feel of Jess' ears and tail.

"Oh, my deah, I see zat you haff a tail also?" The thick accent of Gertrude's husband made Jess turn around from where she had been cleaning a table - the couple seemed to be leaving as well, taking a detour from their table to talk to the foxy waitress. "It does look very... flauschig, how do you say in English, fuzzy? Would you mind if I tou--"

"Gün-ther! So was fragt man nicht*!" Gertrude slapped her husband's hand lightly, making him look between her and Jess sheepishly. "Even if it's an accessory, you don't just touch someone! Do excuse him, dear, he's just an old fool that sometimes steps into the lard bowl. No, wait, you Americans say 'he puts his foot in his mouth', yes?"

(*You can't just ask someone that!)

"Uhm, yes, Ah think?" Bewildered, Jess wrapped her tail around her legs to bring it our of the way a little, the sensation of soft fur on her lower legs sending pleasant tingles all over her body. The way the German couple fought not to stare almost made her giggle. "But don'tcha worry, Ah'm not offended or anythin', ma'am."

"Still, I am sorry. It vas... insensitiff of me. I hope you von't zink bad of me," Günther said, scratching his bald head before perking up slightly. "But I really haff to commend your cook - ze Schwarzwälder Kirsch really tasted like it should! Ve vill surely return, and zen, I vill order one for myself!"

"We order our cakes from a bakery five minutes down the boardwalk, in the direction of the mountains, but thank y'all very much!" Jess' smile was genuine, not the practiced mask she used for most other patrons. "Ah will pass y'all's compliments along. Anythin' else Ah can getcha?"

"Thank you, but we're absolutely sated, my dear," Gertrude replied, linking arms with her husband. "We will see you again, I hope?"

"If Ah was a bettin' gal, Ah'd put money on it - Ah'm scheduled to work all week," Jess smiled, ears twitching as they perked up. "Ah'll see y'all around then!"

"That sounds great, until then!" As they walked towards the exit, Jess heard Getrude talk to her husband in German: "Was für ein liebes Mädchen. Und diese Accessoires... was für eine seltsame Mode, aber so hübsch und lebensecht*!"

(*What a nice girl. And those accessories... a strange fashion statement, but so pretty and lifelike!)

Smiling and shaking her head lightly, Jess unwrapped her tail from around her legs and returned to cleaning up the remnants of the lunch rush, the Germans having been among the last patrons from the lunch rush. The last of them were actually the two women she'd left behind in the restroom - who were now coming towards her, faces flush with excitement.