Bernie was always amused by her colleague's natural inclination for leopard print. On some women it looked gaudy, on some it looked sophisticated. On Serena it looked neither. Just endearing. She looked affectionately at the famous leopard print scrub cap whenever she caught a glimpse of it, it was so quintessentially Serena and after working with her, she'd never be able to see that pattern again without thinking of her. Bernie was useless at all this fashion stuff. She conceded to the nagging of the pale pink coat because she thought it would make her feel less awkward and more feminine and to her surprise, it did. She really liked her pink coat. What the leopard print did for Serena she couldn't tell. Maybe gave her courage to rule the ward like her own personal jungle. Or maybe she just liked exhibiting a wild streak. From what she had gathered from the gossip, Serena was not averse to being naughty once in a while. But then she was hardly subtle at the best of times was she? Bernie had fallen prey at her innuendo once too many.
Bernie accepted all her idiosyncrasies without batting an eyelid. She was willing to bet Serena had a set of animal print undies. Probably a dressing gown and slippers to match. She smirked at the thought of a fully kitted out kitty surgeon.
'What's so funny?'
Serena looked at the table strewn with surgical implements and back at her friend with concern. There seemed nothing hilarious about sharp dangerous equipment. Bernie fought to compose herself.
'Nothing. It, no, nothing.' She let out a snort.
Serena looked a little puzzled but let it go. Bernie thought it had been a close one and congratulated in keeping her thoughts away from her colleague. Nothing of note happened for the rest of the day until she walked into the office and saw something that made her squeal. Serena was unconcerned about being seen in her bra. She was too old to play coy and refused to walk around with a stain on her blouse like a highly caffeinated toddler. She always kept a spare in her drawer. She heard an alarming squeal and spun round in a flash. She'd expected something dire to have happened for Bernie to produce this most unusual noise but she just stood there with startled eyes.
'What? What is it?' She asked in irritation.
Bernie could only giggle incredulously. Serena craned over her shoulder to see what was so amusing. She saw nothing out of the ordinary, just her own back and…ah. She'd forgotten about that. It had been a while since anyone had seen that. One of her youthful follies. She was quite fond of it actually but it wouldn't do to let everyone know she had it. She couldn't command respect with a tattoo like that. She sighed in resignation. She was never going to live this down.
Bernie tried and failed to keep the laughter at bay. It figured that only Serena would be able to pull off a tramp stamp of a tiny leopard.