"There you are. I've been looking all over for you," said Sasha as he walked over to where Payson was stood outside on a balcony looking out into the night sky.
"I just … needed a few minutes alone before re-joining the madness," smiled Payson.
"So, was it everything you dreamed of?" asked Sasha.
"And more." Payson smiled again as she thought back to earlier that night when she had taken part in the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. Now they were at one of the many after parties that were being thrown in the Olympic Village. Inside, Kaylie and Austin were taking over the dancefloor, while Lauren and Kelly chatted to some of the English male Elite team.
"I signed a $10 million sponsorship deal with Rolex earlier," she told her coach. "$10 million! And Healthy Bars are giving me another $3 million and apparently loads of other companies are after me."
"You're a big deal Payson. You just won 6 Olympic Gold medals – something that has never been done in a single Olympics before by a gymnast. Especially not one who broke her back less than 2 years ago. You should be in there with everyone else celebrating. Not out here alone."
"I know," sighed Payson.
"What's wrong?" asked Sasha, after coaching her everyday for the last two years he knew when something was bothering her.
"What makes you think there's something wrong? I just needed some air."
"Payson," Sasha raised an eyebrow. "I know you better than that."
"It's just … it's all over," stated Payson. "My whole life has been leading up to the Olympics and now they're over and I've gone from being an Elite Gymnast to a retired Gymnast."
"Payson. You are the only person I know who can stand here with 6 gold medals and not be on top of the world."
"I just … I don't know what I'm supposed to do now? Don't get me wrong I am happy – I can't believe that my dreams have actually come true. Oh and you're wrong, I'm standing here with 7 Olympic gold medals," she looked over at her coach. He looked at her questioningly but understood what she meant as she pulled his medal out of her pocket. He had originally given it to her when she was recovering from her broken back. She'd given it back to him in Romania but he'd insisted she hold on to it when he returned as her coach for the World Championships. "You can have it back now. I have more than enough of my own," she smiled.
"You know I'd almost forgotten than you still had that."
"How can you forget a gold medal?" she asked incredulously.
"Overtime they become less important … I long ago stopped living in the past. You can't be a good coach if you're still focused on your own achievements."
"My parents and Becca are moving back to Minnesota," Payson stated suddenly.
"But you're not going with them?" asked Sasha as he noticed she hadn't included herself.
"I don't know. My parents want me to go to college there. I'm giving them some of the sponsorship money to buy a house."
"But you don't want to go?" asked Sasha.
"Not really," admitted Payson. "There's nothing left for me there. I don't know if I can settle with just being a normal college student. I mean my short time at high school didn't go well. I've never been normal."
"What about everyone else's plans. Have you discussed this with your team?"
"We're not a team anymore," pointed out Payson.
"You'll always be the Rock Rebels," smiled Sasha. "Just because you won't be competing it doesn't mean you're not a team."
"It did for Emily. She disappeared to Vegas and we never heard from her again," pointed out Payson.
"That was different."
"Well Kaylie and Austin are going travelling for a year and then both planning on going to college. Lauren wants to move to New York … if her dad will let her and Kelly's going to the University in Denver. Now her mom's in Texas and no longer her manager she's happy to stick around."
"So what do you want to do?"
"I don't know."
"What if I had an offer for you?" asked Sasha.
"What kind of offer?"
"Stay at The Rock and coach."
"Coach?" asked Payson.
"You're already a natural. When you broke your back you were coaching then and when I left for a while by all accounts you took over and became a coach again."
"I don't know if I could go to The Rock every day and know that I'm retired," said Payson hesitantly.
"You did it when you thought your back would stop you from competing," pointed out Sasha. "And I couldn't think of anyone better to help me coach the next Olympic team."
"You mean it?"
"Of course. Who better than a 6 Olympic Gold medallist?"
"I'd have thought that after the last two years you couldn't wait to get rid of me," laughed Payson.
"Of course not. I've never met someone so dedicated to gymnastics … someone so similar to me. Do you remember when I first arrived at The Rock? The parents were all arguing and I walked out, determined to go home and never set foot in Boulder again. Then you followed me into the car park and told me to stay. You said that you needed me. You were also shocked that I knew who you were."
"Of course. You are an Olympic champion, why would you have known who I was?"
"Because you were already a star. Of course I'd heard of you. You were the only reason I ever arrived at The Rock, why I ever considered taking the job. Because you were dedicated in a way that very few people are, even in the Olympic world. And in truth … I probably needed The Rock as much as it needed me."
"Why?"
"Because my life wasn't worth much before … I'd lost my way and The Rock helped bring me back. I don't want you to lose your way …" explained Sasha.
"Can I think about it?" asked Payson.
"Of course. Now how about we go back inside and celebrate a USA win?"
"Sounds good coach."
"Pay, where have you been?" asked Kelly Parker as Payson and Sasha make their way back inside and over to where Kelly, Lauren, Kaylie and Austin were gathered.
"I just needed some space," she shrugged.
"Well no more going off on your own, this is a night for celebrations and as a team we need to celebrate as a team," said Kaylie.
"The best team in the world," added Kelly.
"You got that right," smiled Payson.
"This is crazy," smiled Kaylie as their limo organised by the NGO pulled up outside The Rock. The streets of Boulder had all been lined with people waving USA flags and banners with their names on.
"There'll be a press conference tomorrow and a photo-shoot," explained Sasha. "But I managed to persuade the NGO that tonight you needed to be allowed to sleep and relax without any commitments."
"Sasha, can we spend the night at The Rock?" asked Payson. It was something the girls had all talked about on the flight. Austin had taken a different flight as he had commitments in LA before coming back to Boulder.
"I thought you always hated it when I made you stay overnight during training camps?" asked Sasha. "Now you want to voluntarily spend the night in sleeping bags instead of your own beds?"
"Well that was when we had no choice and you were making us," pointed out Lauren.
"We know that from tomorrow things are going to get crazy. We won the Team Gold, we all medalled on our own and the press are going to be all over us. We all have sponsorship deals to consider and decisions to make about the future. But we thought that maybe for tonight we could shut out the rest of the world and spend the night together … as a team … at the place that's essentially been our home for most of our lives," explained Payson.
"Well in that case, how can I say no? Are your families cool with it?"
"They understand why we want to do this," nodded Payson.
"I'm starving, can we order in food?" asked Kelly.
"I think the least I can do for the winning team is provide food. What do you want?" asked Sasha. The girls all looked at each other. They were retired now, they no longer had to be so careful over what they eat.
"Pizza," they all said.
"Sasha," Payson knocked on the door to his trailer that as ever was parked outside of The Rock.
"How did you girls sleep?" he asked.
"We're still running on adrenaline," Payson replied. "We stayed up talking most of the night. Thanks for letting us spend the night.
"My pleasure. So, what can I do for you?" he asked.
"I wanted to take you up on your offer to coach," she smiled. "This morning I woke up and I realised that I'm not done with The Rock just yet. I know that my competitive gymnastic career is over and it is going to take some time to completely be okay with that. But I just can't imagine moving away or not coming here every day. It's a massive part of my life and one that I'm just not ready to give up."
"Have you talked to your parents about it?" asked Sasha.
"I told them you'd offered it to me … I haven't told them I'm taking it."
"What about them moving back to Minnesota?"
"Any normal person my age would be moving out to college anyway. And it's not like I'll be on my own. You're here and my parents trust you as if you were a member of the family. And I'm going to find a place with Kelly. She's going to commute to college in Denver. And I have plenty of money … more than enough for an entire lifetime."
"Looks like you've got it all figured out," smiled Sasha. "Welcome to The Rock coaching staff."
"It's all thanks to you. Oh and I've been approached to write an autobiography about my 'journey'. Basically about how I broke my back and still made it to Gold. So I think I'll be keeping busy."
After a long day of press conferences and photos the girls were finally packing up their things to go home.
"I can't believe it's over," said Kaylie.
"It's not," smiled Payson. "We're still a team, no matter where we live or what we're doing. We have to promise to never lose touch," she thought briefly of Emily in Vegas somewhere with a son or daughter to look after. "We're still the Rock Rebels, that can never change. I won't let it."