"I suppose I better answer that." Ted commented as whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again. Ted was still close enough that Bailey could feel his breath. His arms dropped from around her and he sprinted towards the door like he couldn't wait to get away from her. Her cheeks were already hot with embarrassment. All she could think to do was turn to the sink and attempt to wash her face.
"I'm sorry I'm a little latter than we planned." The person at the door was saying. Their voice was so familiar Bailey knew it in an instant, but it couldn't be her could it?
"Anna?" She dried her face and looked towards the front door. Sure, enough her sister Anna was standing there wheeling a small suitcase with her.
Though they were technically sisters, the two girls looked nothing alike. Bailey was small, measuring five foot one. Anna was tall, standing just a few centimeters short of Six feet. Bailey had blonde hair and green eyes. Anna had springy dark hair and beautiful glowing tawny skin. She'd arrive wearing yoga pants and a track jacket with her dance studio logo on the back. While Bailey had been wearing jeans, an AFC Richmond Polo and an navy blue cardigan.
"Surprise!" Anna exclaimed before pulling her sister into a hug.
"I-I…but…how?" Was all Bailey could manage to say.
"Well, remember when I asked you for Coach Lasso's number in case of an emergency? I might have told a teeny tiny little white lie." Anna confessed.
"Me an' Annie here have been puttin' this lil surprise together for ya for a while." Ted explained.
"I almost called the whole thing off when Ted mentioned you didn't have your own apartment yet." Anna said.
"I told her there was no reason we should have all the fun without her just 'cause of a little housing mix up." Ted supplied.
"By the looks of things you've been having a lot of fun without me." Anna commented, taking in Bailey and Ted's batter covered appearances.
"We were just baking a cake." Ted told her as if that explained everything.
"Uh-huh." Anna remarked, clearly full of disbelief.
"How about I help Anna get settled in my room and then I'll be right out to help clean up the mess in the kitchen." Bailey suggested.
"No, don't worry about all of that in there." He gestured over his should to the kitchen. "I can take care of it. I've still got to make the biscuits for Rebecca. You two should catch up. Bailey mentioned that it's been a while since you've seen each other."
"It seems like we have a lot to catch up on." Anna looped her arm through yours.
"Bedroom's this way." Bailey rolled her eyes and picked up her sister's suitcase. Anna waited until the two of them were inside the bedroom with the door shut. She watched Bailey toss her suitcase on the bed.
"What the hell did I just walk into?" Anna whispered.
"Nothing." Bailey lied. But no one knew her better than her sister. Heaving a sigh for dramatic effect, she dropped herself onto the bed and recounted everything that had happened since arriving in London.
"So you just took it upon yourself to kiss him?" Anna hissed. "Bailey what were you thinking?"
"What was I thinking?" Her sister repeated. "I-I wasn't thinking, obviously! I almost had a heart attack when you knocked. I thought you were his wife who, for the record, could arrive at any minute. I have no idea what's going to happen now and I'm not going to have a single minute alone with him tomorrow because it's his first official game coaching. That's assuming he hasn't had me fired yet because what I did definitely qualifies as workplace harassment."
"Is it workplace harassment if it doesn't happen at work?" Anna wondered. She sat on the bed next to Bailey and put an arm around her shoulder. "Whatever happens, I'll be right here with you."
"Yeah, that's really gonna help when I lose my job." Bailey placed her head on Anna shoulder.
"You can always come live with me in Colorado Springs. I could use a receptionist at the studio." Her sister began. "Or you could move to Connecticut and finally go through your tortured artist phase. Moms will love it. You'd finally have some real heartbreak to paint about."
"Shut up." Bailey gave her a playful shove. "I'm going to go take a shower."
After her shower, Bailey returned to her room to find Anna passed out sleeping on the bed. She tucked her sister in under the covers. Sleeping was the only time Anna was ever still for more than a minute. Even then she still had a tendency to be a bit of a restless sleeper. She had kicked Bailey in her sleep on more than one occasion in their lives.
Leaving her sister sleeping in the bed, Bailey ventured out into the kitchen. She didn't know what She was going to say to Ted when she saw him. She hoped something would come to her when she saw his warm mustachioed smile. Ted was in the kitchen icing the cake they'd baked for Sam. He hadn't noticed Bailey yet, and she was about to step closer to him when she realized he was talking to someone on his cellphone.
"No. no, nothin's wrong. I Just wanted to check in." He was saying. "It's been a while since I heard your voice is all." Bailey's heart sank when she realized he was talking to Michelle. She knew then that she'd have to apologize to Ted for what she'd done. She quietly retreated back to the living room and sat on the couch, waiting for him.
Ted finished decorating the cake for Sam and took his biscuits out of the oven. He sliced up three pieces of shortbread and placed them in a small pink box for Rebecca. He then boxed up Sam's birthday cake. A glance at his phone told him it was already Saturday by this point. He knew he aught to go to sleep. He needed to be well rested for the game that started in only a few hours.
He also knew that even if he went into his room, changed into his pajamas and laid in his bed, he wouldn't be able to sleep. He's tried to call Michelle to check in with Henry but they'd just sat down to dinner and she'd said they didn't have time to talk. He started cleaning up the remainder of his baking for the night when he spotted a glob of batter dripping down the edge of his counter. Ted Lasso had smiled at about a million different things before in his life. He couldn't once remember cake batter causing him to smile before.
He knew Bailey was the one he wanted to talk to right now instead of Michelle. But her sister had just arrived and the two of them deserved time to get reacquainted. Ted wiped up the remainder of the batter. He made sure everything put away and boxed up before deciding to try laying in his bed. On his way to his room, he passed the living room and realized someone was sleeping on the couch.
Upon further inspection, he realized Bailey was the one sleeping on the couch. Ted wondered if he should wake her. He even reached out to shake her awake. Just as he was about to touch her, he heard Bailey mumble something in her sleep.
"I'm sorry." He froze, wondering for a minute if she truly were asleep. But she didn't stir and she hadn't said anything else. He reached for the blue fleece blanket that was draped over the back of the couch. He covered her up.
"You've done nothing wrong, Darlin'." He whispered back, just in case she could hear him in her sleep. Instead of going to his bedroom, Ted returned to the kitchen. He got started on a batch of double chocolate cookies.