The blonde athlete climbed carefully off the bed and was directed to the full-length mirror in the corner of the room. Stood with her back to the glass, she twisted her head around to peer at her brand new tattoo. Situated between her shoulder blades, the five Olympic rings with 'London 2012' inked below glistened.
A smile slowly spread across her face, "I…I…it's wonderful, I love it!"
"Turn around, let us see!" called Kelly, from near the door.
Lauren, Kaylie and Kelly had chatted to Payson while she was being tattooed, but they had been sitting by the wall, only able to see their friends face and the back of Jon as he worked.
"Ahh Pay, it's amazing!" Kaylie exclaimed, "It suits you perfectly. I can't wait to see mine!" the previously unsure gymnast grinned, "Can I go next?!"
Jon looked at his handiwork from a distance and nodded, he was pleased these four petite, passionate Americans had found him and that he had been able to give them something amazing that most girls could only dream of.
"Payson," the British accent of the tattoo artist broke through the excited girls chatter, "I need to cover it up now so it stays clean. I'll go through the after care process when I've done all four of you, that ok?"
They all nodded and Kaylie hopped onto the bed for her turn, while Lauren and Kelly argued about who would get the next slot.
"Ok, Kaylie, you're all done," Jon smiled at the brunette, "When you get up, move carefully, alright? Where your tattoo is, is right where your body bends, so can you try to slide off the couch instead of sitting up fully?"
The gymnast nodded and carefully wriggled to the floor, then hurrying to the mirror like Payson had.
She grinned at her reflection, and then at her friends, "I love it! It looks just like it did in my head, Jon, thank you!"
He smiled at her, "Glad you like it. But mind how you sit please!"
Kaylie nodded, "I'll stick to standing for a bit then".
Lauren laughed, "When you looked in that mirror, did you just look at the tattoo Kay?"
"Uh, yeah," Kaylie said, "Why?"
"Take another look," Kelly giggled as she folded down the waistband of her skirt and lay on her back on the couch.
Moving back to the mirror Kaylie realised why her friends were laughing. The usually immaculately dressed with fresh skin and bouncy hair Kaylie had been replaced with one whose hair was ruffled and mascara creeping away from her eyes. But the funniest part was her dress; simple and pink, it had been bunched up to her chest and held in place by two of Payson's hairbands to keep it away from the ink and Vaseline, which was smeared across her stomach.
"Oh god!"
Lauren didn't stop laughing, "I want to take a picture!"
"No! Please don't Lo! Pay, do something!"
Payson was no help as Lauren plucked her camera from her handbag and snapped a picture of Kaylie in record time.
"You're gonna have to stop moving, y'know," Jon pointed out to Kelly as she giggled on the couch, "Who knows what I might end up drawing".
In what seemed like no time at all Kelly was hopping off the couch and rushing for the mirror, craning her neck around to see the perfect coloured circles on her lower back.
She grinned, "It's awesome! I love it! Can I just stand here and look at it?"
The others laughed, "You'll like it more in a few days time when it's healing," Jon told her, "Now, I'm sure there's one of you still to go, you hopping up here miss?"
Lauren nodded, "Sure," she carefully climbed onto the couch and rolled her top up, "See Kel, there was totally a reason to wear these shorts".
Her shorts were so short, in the leg and waist, that there was no need to roll them down, or even unbutton them, as she lay down. Lauren had decided to get her tattoo to one side of her stomach, near her left hip bone. Kaylie had picked the same place, but on her right side.
Kelly rolled her eyes, "Your legs are out every day, like you need to flash them around more!"
The banter continued as Jon started to transfer the template on to Lauren's skin, "You're just jealous 'cause my legs are longer".
"Sure, I totally need your leg length to do my Yurchenko," Kelly responded cheerfully.
"But you'd need it for my sizzle," Lauren pointed out, "Which is why I'm better on beam. And in a micro skirt".
Kelly, still stood backwards by the mirror, laughed, "Beam, maybe. Skirt, no way. I was wearing those skirts while you were in diapers. And you can't hide one of those under something that short!"
Kaylie joined in, "Alright, I dare you, both of you, to buy the shortest skirt you can find here today, and wear it to dinner tonight. Pay and I will judge who wears it better".
"What?!" Lauren cried, and was promptly told off by Jon for moving suddenly, "Sorry," she muttered.
Payson looked up from her phone to contribute, "Whoever gets the most whistles or cat-calls wins. Do you think Becca would tell my mom and dad about my tattoo if I told her?"
"YES!" Kaylie, Lauren and Kelly chorused.
Lauren's tattoo was finished and the four girls were perched on their chairs in front of Jon, listening intently to his instructions on the aftercare of their tattoos.
Jon handed each of the girls a bottle of anti-bacterial wash and a leaflet, with the reminder, "As long as you follow the instructions you'll be fine. Keep them clean, and dry as much as possible. I know it will be harder for you girls, but wash, dry and use a tiny bit of moisturiser about 4 times a day, and keep them covered when you're training, but open as much as you can the rest of the time. Got it?"
As if Jon was Sasha organising their training, the four gymnasts nodded, "Got it".
They trooped back onto the shop floor to pay at the counter, to the stares of three guys covered in piercings and dressed entirely in black.
"Geez, you'd think they didn't know colour existed," muttered Kelly to Kaylie, who snorted and tried to turn it into a cough.
The guys in black and metal glared at her and Lauren shrugged, "Jake could take them all".
Kaylie and Payson handed over cash, what seemed to be a small amount for what they had had done, while Kelly handed over a card and Lauren, in typical Tanner fashion, asked, "Do you take AmEx?"
Jon nodded, "Sure, just put your card in the reader".
Payson plucked the card from the blondes' hand, "I'm pretty sure that's the card your dad gave you for emergencies. A, this is not one, b, he'll look at the bill, and c, I'm pretty sure this isn't something your dad should be paying for anyway. Don't you have any cash?"
Lauren sighed, "Fine, take my VISA card instead".
"Please can we get a coffee?" begged Kelly after they had all paid and wandered away from the tattoo parlour part of Selfridges, "It's so long since breakfast".
Kaylie laughed, "You're such an addict. But I expect there's a café in here. Did you see one on the store guide Lo?"
The blonde nodded, "I think so. Maybe on the top floor".
The four gymnasts moved towards the escalators and rose through the department store to the top floor café.
"Oh god," Payson looked on in slight horror at the scene in front of her. Not a standard café, Selfridges offered different counters all serving different types of food. In one glance she saw curry, a deli and a pancake stand.
Kaylie's face mirrored Payson's, "I'm not sure this is what we were looking for".
"Maybe not for another 3 weeks," Kelly joked, "Hey look, that guy's got a Starbucks, there must be one around". She darted towards a smartly dressed man and returned with information that there was a Starbucks on the other side of the floor they were on, "We need to go through toys and stationary apparently".
They navigated the toy department easily, but Payson and, surprisingly, the coffee-deprived Kelly halted progress in stationary. Payson purchased 3 notebooks, a series of coloured pens and cards, 2 spiral-bound scrapbooks and 2 packets of lined notecards.
"What the hell are you doing with all of that?" Lauren asked as Payson happily swung her 2 bright yellow shopping bags around.
"You always need notebooks," she said, "and the notecards are for all of us. I want to take them everywhere so we can write down things that happen or funny things and make albums of them with photos, proper memory records of being here".
Lauren nodded, "Clever".
When Kelly had paid they moved on and were rewarded by the familiar green and white sign of Starbucks.