Consultant

I look up into her face. "Count on it. When?"

"Give me an hour. I'll be back."

"Might not be able to wait that long." I laugh.

"Yeah, me too ... have an important meeting." She leans close to the side of my face and whispers, "Love you," then she is gone.

-

"Back again I see," the hostess says as she lays the menus on the table.

"Yeah, just can't stay away it seems," Juliet says as she gets comfortable on the seat of the booth. "Ice tea for both of us."

We wait in silence until she leaves. I hold her hand and let myself fall into her gaze. "Last night, wow. I didn't want to leave but I needed to change clothes."

"I understand. I had the best time with you. Do we get to do it again?"

"I can't get enough of you."

A waitress brings our ice tea, takes our orders, and leaves. I continue to play with her hand and watch her face.

"Good. So we'll have dinner and go jump in bed again," she says with a grin.

"I brought a change of clothes. Maybe we can have breakfast in the morning before going to work."

"That'd be wonderful. Listen, that meeting I just had." She sips her tea nervously; teeth rattling against the glass before sitting it back down.

"What?" I beg anxiously. "You're not leaving already, are you?"

"I thought I was to be here most of the week. It seems they think you can handle things without me ... suggested I fly back tonight."

"If only they knew...." My head sways from side to side and a tear forms. "Just a day, shit!" I look around and others are staring at me. I shrug my shoulders and squeeze her hand tightly.

"It was impulsive, but I asked for a transfer. I know there are some openings. They said they have to think about it, but probably I'd have to pay for the move."

"Juliet-t," I cry softly. "You'd do that for me?"

"Laurel, like I said, I was impulsive. Sure, after the few hours with you, I at last feel like I've found a kindred soul. There's so much more to learn about each other, but I can't believe there's anything we won't like."

I shake my head and wipe at the tears as the stream along my nose. It is hard to form words as I think about having her snatched away so quickly. I open my mouth, but words don't come out.

She dabs at my tears. "Honey, I know how you feel. I have a few days of vacation, so I told them I was staying a while. They weren't pleased about it."

"Don't get fired."

"No. I won't."

"The project is at a critical point. I know I can't take any vacation, not like I have any yet."

"Listen, this will give us time to make some hasty decisions and enjoy each other. I changed my flight to Sunday evening."

"Really? We'll have the weekend together. Maybe we can look at apartments."

"I'd like that. I rent now so I don't have to worry about selling real estate."

"I'm too poor to buy." I laugh. "I wish."

-

We walk from the office building and she stops. "Ah, all I have is my business suit. Any chance we can find a clothing store."

"Well, if we go to my place, I can change into jeans. There's a GAP nearby and a zillion places to eat."

"Great, you can show me around. I'd like that."

The traffic is still light as we leave the city and drive north a few miles. She spends most of the time looking around as I dodge other cars.

"You're so close to work. I'm an hour at least."

"Yeah. Welcome to small town living." I laugh. "There're times I wish I lived someplace else. I just don't know where."

"I've traveled some for the company, but most I just see a hotel and another office building. I'd like to live somewhere near the ocean or a big lake."

"What a dream that'd be. What's it like on crutches in beach sand?"

"A pain in the ass."

"I've never been on crutches," I say as I stop at a red light. "I've thought about it."

"I don't mind. Imagine two women living together, each with one leg."

"Uh-huh. I have and I wouldn't mind being like you, as long as we are together." I snicker.

She laughs. "Yeah, cool."

I pull into my parking space and turn the engine off. "We're here, my abode." I giggle. "Such as it is."

She follows me to the door of the single level triplex with a small cover over each door.

"Excuse the mess."

"I thought you were Ms. Neat," she teases, following me inside. She glances around and finds nothing out of place. "Where's the mess?"

"I guess I cleaned up."

She watches as I rummage though a drawer. I quickly find a faded pair of jeans and a sleeveless top. "Skip the bra," she suggests and I do even though I sag a little and my nipples poke big bumps in the fabric. "Hubba," she mutters as she grabs a breast and fondles it though the shirt.

"You were nicely restrained ... didn't even grope my pussy." I snicker and tie my running shoes.

"I sure thought about it though."

"Later babe, later."

-

Juliet walks from the dressing room wearing faded jeans and top that match mine. She turns and shakes her hips in my direction. The pants leg wraps over the stump and stuffed over the waistband.

She holds her hands out to the side and says, "What'cha think?"

"Geez, give me the name that doctor," I tease. "You're a knock out."

After paying at the counter, we walk down the sidewalk to the restaurant nearby. The host leads us to a booth by the window then walks away.

"I'm parched," she says, a few fingers rub her throat. "Maybe a tall double to get started."

"I wish I didn't have to work tomorrow."

"Yeah? What would you do?" She giggles.

The waitress bends over exposing the rest of her deep cleavage. "What can I get you?" As she speaks, a button comes undone giving us an even nicer view of huge breasts. We order drinks and burgers and watch her long legs dangling beneath a very short skirt take her away.

"Would you ever want some that big?" she asks quietly as she takes my hand and intertwines her fingers with mine.

"If I were to make any changes, it'd be something else."

"What, like getting rid of a leg ... maybe?" She laughs.

"Yeah." I sniff and wipe at a tear struggling to form. "I hope you don't think I'm crazy."

"If you are because of that, then so am I." She wraps my hand in both of hers and kisses the back of it.

"Huh-h?" I drawl then sniff. "Don't tease me."

"Hun, I'm not. I asked you to not keep secrets and I did. I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?"

"You never asked about what happened to my leg."

The waitress puts the tall double whiskey drinks on the table. "Your order will up in a few minutes." She turns and walks away.

"No, no I didn't. I assumed it was maybe an accident or something. I knew you'd tell me when you were ready."

Juliet takes a large swig of her drink and rubs her fingers over the glass for a while before sitting it down. I know she is thinking about what to say and I remain quiet. I take a small sip and smile.

"It was more like 'something'." She laughs. "My Mom's sister had one leg all my life. She was like your Miss Collins for me. She was a confidant to me as I grew up. More than anyone else was. I guess as my sexuality formed, the way she looked got all tangled up in there."

She takes another large swig and rolls it around in her mouth for a while before swallowing.

"This is hard to talk about ... you know," she whispers.

Before sitting the glass down, she takes another swig. The waitress walks by and Juliet holds the glass up and asks for another round. I sip again and hold her hand.

"Did you bind your folded leg?" I ask.

"Uh-huh. Have you done that?"

"A few times. I never bought crutches. I guess I thought I couldn't."

"Easy, just ask for them at the drugstore."

"I should do that."

"Yeah, we could ... if you want."

"And you wanted to be like your aunt?"

"Big time. In my late teens, it was all I could think of. I'd see her, that one leg ... damn ... it'd drive me crazy. After college, I lived alone. Oh, I dated some, but never much. I bought some crutches and pretended to have one leg around my apartment. Sometimes I'd go away on weekends where people didn't know me and spend as much time as I could. At night, I loved to watch the reflection of me with one leg on crutches in store windows."

"Did you ever talk to anyone?"

"Like a shrink ... hell-l no-o. I was alone with my feelings. I was sure I was the only person in the world that wanted such a thing."

"I guess you never mentioned it to her."

"Nope, I didn't want to lose the only example of how I was meant to look like."

The new drinks arrive. Juliet finishes the remains and hands the empty glass to the waitress.

"What'd you do then?" I ask before taking a big swig and swishing it around my mouth as I swallow. "God-d, you sound a lot like me."

"Really? You want it too. I thought you just were a looker. Not that's bad, mind you." She laughs. "Anyone listening to this must think we're nuts." She sips.

The burgers arrive and we are quiet as we start eating. I dump some ketchup on the corner of my plate and dip a fry into it. I point the red end of the fry at her as if to offer the puddle of ketchup then stuff the whole fry in my mouth.

"Which leg and how much?" she asks between bites of the burger. "I assume a leg and not an arm."

"Uh-huh. Probably like yours, though I've considered it completely off. Seeing you now in jeans is particularly exciting. I don't know why jeans more than the skirt." I shrug my shoulders.

"Oh, the perfect stump problem." She laughs then takes the last bite of the burger. "I struggled with that very question for years."

"How'd you decide?"

"At the time the doc wouldn't do it at the hip."

"Is this guy still in business?"

"For sure, but out of the country. He does it at the hip now, so I hear. He's good and works in a large clinic, not some back alley butcher like that one just across the border. He killed a man."

"I read about that. Tragic."

I finish my burger and wipe the last of the ketchup on the plate with the last fry then eat it in several bites as I consider what I've heard. I sip more of the drink, pause, and then sip more.

"Wow," I whisper.

"I see the wheels spinning in your head. What are you thinking?"

"Finding you in my life, well, it seems likely you will be in my life." I laugh.

"Honey, you'd have to shoot me to get me back out of your life." She laughs.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Now, now I find out about how ... your leg."

"And?"

"Well, maybe you were just joking, but earlier you said something about us both having one leg. Let's just say that has an interesting sound to it." I grin.

"If it wasn't possible? If the doc was no longer in business?"

"Baby, I'd still want to be with you. I guess if one doctor was doing it, others will some day."

"Another round?" the waitress asks.

"Nope," Juliet replies. "It was a great meal, just we have some planning to do at home." She puts a credit card on the folder with the bill and smiles at the waitress.

-

Juliet woke just before me and we remain intertwined in my bed. I glance at the large numerals on my clock and it is past time for getting up and being at work on time.

"I shut it off, you were so cute lying in my arms," she whispers before pecking at my lips.

"Work-k," I groan, still half asleep.

"Call in sick," she teases. "We can fuck for the rest of the morning."

"Geez, I remember last night. I've never had so many...."

"Orgasms? I didn't know it was possible to have 'too' many." She laughs.

"I'll lose my job." I am a little panicky and struggle to get up.

"Come here, just relax for a while. It'll be just fine."

"I take it there's more that you haven't told me."

"Uh-huh." She rolls me onto my back and straddles my hips. Her arms extend and she looks down at me. "I've been thinking." She leans down and sucks my lower lips between hers for a moment the rubs her crotch over my mound. "Hmmm, you are too exciting for words." This time her tongue searches my mouth for a while.

Her head rises slightly. "Tell me," I beg and let my hands rest on either side of her face. "You know I'll follow you to the ends of the earth."

"Do you remember my fantasy, the one about the beach?"

"Sure, us each missing a leg and lounging under a palm tree. Let's do it." I suggestively rub against her. "Let me pack my swimsuit and some cutoffs. I don't need more."

"Would you, really?"

"Call the doctor, get the plane tickets, and we'll be off." I lift my head and peck quickly at her lips. "Sure!" I shriek. "What'll we live off of ... pornographic pictures of amputee babes?" I laugh.

"Here's the deal. I thought about this last night ... a lot. I once worked at a startup company that was successful. I cashed out my stock options and the money has grown nicely. Now I work because I want to, not because I have to. I probably don't ever have to work again, especially if the cost of living is cheap."

"You're teasing, right."

"No. I've never known anyone I love as much as I do you. These two days have given me a peek into what our life together could be like. Do you want to be with me?"

"Sure. I don't know how to say it any more clearly. Me with one leg ... or two, I don't care ... just so we are together."

"Darling, yes." She leans down and kisses me deeply letting our breasts rub together. I feel her stump slip between my thighs and massage my mound.

-

After lingering in the shower until the water runs cold, we dress and go to breakfast at a diner cased in stainless steel as diners used to look. We sit next to each other on stools covered in red vinyl on silver posts. She hands me a menu from behind the small jukebox at the back of the counter and holds my hand as we search for something to order.

"How do we do this?" I ask.

"I don't know. What's left of the project?"

"There's a major milestone next month. That's why we needed you to help review the design. I'd hate to just leave right now. It doesn't seem fair. What are you working on?"

"I have a few things. I can wrap that up quickly. I don't have much at home that I care about, just junk mostly."

"So, here's my plan," I say after the waitress leaves with our order. Juliet looks at me with a face that I love to look at. "I'll tell them I'll be leaving after the milestone."

"Yeah. I'll fly back on Sunday and offer my resignation. I'll offer to stay two weeks, standard, but indicate I'd like to have it happen sooner."

"Do you think they'll just say 'goodbye'?" I chuckle as I pour sugar into my coffee.

"Sometimes they won't let you stay once you tell them you're quitting. I've seen them have a guard escort a person to the parking lot right then."

"Whoa, really? Do you think they might do that with me?"

"Could be, I don't know what to suggest. Maybe you might want to take personal things home tonight and quit tomorrow." She giggles then sips her black coffee.

The waitress slides the plates across the narrow counter then refills our coffee.

"All good to know." I shake pepper on my scrambled eggs and spread grape jam over the toast.

"No salt?" she asks.

"Nope. Too much salt naturally in most foods." I smile in her direction then sip my coffee. "Do you think where we're going to live, on the beach, they'll have places to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner?"

"I stayed there for a few weeks after, you know. I looked around and it seemed like a nice place. Not very touristy and not very cosmopolitan at all."

"I can't wait."

-

The surf pounds even though it is a block away and the salty breeze fills the room of our cottage. The curtains flip around.

As I take a few hops from the edge of the bed to the dresser, my breasts sway and flop. I flip through the items in a drawer until I find a pair of jean cutoffs and a skimpy swimsuit top. A hand rests on the dresser as I look down at my left hip, missing the whole leg for almost enough time to not remember what it was like to have.

"Hmmm," Juliet coos as she crutches from the bathroom.

"Hey babe."

I hop back to the bed and lay on my back with my lone foot resting on the edge. My upturned knee wavers slightly as I enjoy the feel of not being able to move anything past the other hip.

The bed sags slightly as she sits nearby. Her hand drags over the legless hip a few times. "I love you, Laurel." She leans down and pecks several kisses along the few scars. "Not just because of this." She kisses my mound and over the hooded clit. "This maybe," she teases between pecks.

I reach out and fondle her short stump while enjoying the attention she is giving me.

"It'd be a shame to cover this body," she says as she kisses along my stomach towards a waiting breast.

"I like what you're covering it with now," I say.

"Yeah, but my stomach is screaming for food."

"Damn-n. I was just getting fired up for some lovin'." I laugh as I sit up and dress.

We enjoy the walk to a restaurant past the small harbor filled with fishing boats. Several strangers smile and whisper a greeting as they pass. Some heads turn and stare in a friendly manner. The bell tied to the door makes a little noise as I hold the door for Juliet.

"Morning," Jenna calls to us as she takes an order of food from the shelf by the grill. "The usual?"

"Yeah," I reply as we sit at a table by the window in the mostly empty place.

Jenna wears a knee length blue dress and white apron. A black rubber tip on her peg leg taps against the concrete floor as she carries a pot of coffee to our table. Deep cleavage appears as she leans forwards and rests a hand on the table.

"Where's everyone?" Juliet asks.

"Ah, some days are just slow. There's a new hotel open up the road."

"Well, that gives us a quieter town." I laugh.

"Uh-huh. Fine with me."

"I love it here," I say. "Besides, where else would we find such nice people?"

"Order!" the cook calls.

-

Juliet holds the restaurant door as I crutch out onto the sidewalk. I pause and adjust the sandal then take longer strides to catch up with her. She stops and watches until I am next to her.

"Hey sweetheart," she coos. "Love those cutoffs."

"Yeah, you just love the way my leg no longer sticks though the pants leg." I laugh. "Me too."

The sounds of the surf grow louder as we pass the breakwater along the edge of the harbor. The morning's clouds begin to give way to another warm day in paradise.

"Hey," Maria calls as we walk towards her surf shop where she rents surfboards and snorkeling gear. She waves the left arm missing a hand and several inches of arm high in the air. "Morning to both of you."

"Geez, this is the life," I reply as I lean on the counter covered with several pair of flippers. I adjust the skimpy swimsuit top that barely contains my breasts.

"How long now?" She rests the arm stump on the counter.

"Seven months." I lightly drag a fingertip once over the scar across her stump while I glance at her nipples poking bumps in the black t-shirt. "So neat," I whisper, mostly under my breath.

"That long, wow. You look like you're enjoying it."

"For sure. For me, having one leg is the best. Of course, being with Juliet helps." I chuckle and playfully swat the seat of Juliet's cutoff jeans.

"How's the arm?" Juliet asks.

"Once in a while I catch myself reaching for something. I can't believe it's finally gone ... all these years of wanting it this way." She lifts the arm stump and moves it around. "That and finding such a garden to live in." She waves the arm across as if pointing at the surf.

"Yeah, just the few of us," I say.

"How's Carlos?" Juliet asks Maria.

"Good, he really digs me this way." She snickers. "Losing something isn't for him though. He's out on a dive charter today. Do you two have any plans for today?"

"Nope. Maybe we'll just do what we did yesterday and tomorrow too."

"What?" she asks.

"Have great sex, play with each other's stump, and lay in the sun."