Bailey woke Saturday morning with a crick in her neck. She tried to roll her head to relieve the tension that tethered her neck to her shoulder. She'd even tried stretching and windmilling her arm. It seemed nothing could be done about the stiffness. She heard laughter coming from the other room and the smells of a Ted Lasso breakfast buffet. Ted.
The mere thought of him made her heart sink. Bailey had finally revealed her hand last night. Exposed a secret She thought she'd been keeping hidden for two years. She owed him an apology she knew that much, but how or when she'd work up the courage to broach the subject was still up in the air.
Where she sat on the couch was visible from the table where that she had heard Ted and Anna laughing from. They'd seen by now that she was awake. Still attempting to rub the soreness from her neck, Bailey padded barefoot over to the table where she was greeted by a breakfast buffet.
"That's what you get for sleeping on the couch." Anna teased as she placed an empty plate in front of her sister.
"Well, my choices were that or compete with your long limbs for a spot in the bed." Bailey quipped right back. "It wasn't much of a choice." She served herself a moderately portioned breakfast. Starting the day on an empty stomach was never a good idea but eating too much given the guilt that held it's talons deep in her bones wasn't a risk she was willing to take either.
Ted seemed to be avoiding her's gaze. He'd look up at Anna occasionally as they continued whatever conversation they'd been having before Bailey has woken up. He mostly kept his eyes down, aimed at his plate. Bailey was glad she'd told Anna everything the night before. It was the only thing keeping her from sending quizzical looks to her younger sister every other second. Bailey were being too quiet. She realized she hadn't said anything since she'd sat down at the table. She found herself chewing more on her bottom lip than the food in front of her.
"I think," Baliey's voice cracked, and her throat was dry. "I think I'll head into work early." She reached for the glass of water someone had poured for her. She took a large gulp. It did nothing to alleviate the scratching in her throat and the gnawing in her chest. "Someone should take the cake in before the players arrive. If we want Sam to be surprised."
Anna said nothing. It took a heartbeat for Ted to react. He blinked once and like a slow computer, seemed to catch up all at once. He was the reason she wanted to leave so suddenly. He wished he could talk to her, but there'd be time after game.
"That's a great idea, Bailey." He smiled. "I'll take good care of Annie here. We'll walk with Beard and meet ya down at the Dogtrack."
"It's a plan." Bailey feigned a smile and left her unfinished breakfast behind. She dressed herself in blue long sleeve shirt, khaki pants and a navy cardigan embroidered with A.F.C. Richmond logo on the left side. After getting dressed, she retrieved Sam's cake from the fridge and left the flat. Bailey failed to notice the small pink box of biscuits for Rebecca next to the plate of freshy baked double chocolate chip cookies.
Nelson Road and the entire walk there had been abuzz with game day chatter. Although the game didn't start for hours yet, Richmond fans as well as some sporting Crystal Palace red, white and blue had already begun flocking to the stands. Bailey made sure her employee ID Badge was still swinging from her neck as she entered the clubhouse from the back entrance. From there it was easy enough to sneak into the manager's office and stash the cake in a small fridge that lived in the corner.
"You hear by yourself?" A deep voice caused her to jump. She turned to find Roy lurking in the doorway.
"No." She told him as she rose to her feet from her crouched position. "You're here."
"Touché." He snorted.
"I'm here hiding the cake. What are you doing?" She asked, thankful to have someone to talk to other than Ted or her sister.
"Right. The best cakes in London." He recalled from their previous conversation. "Shower." He added answering her question. "Water pressure is better here than my own place now that it's been fixed."
"Huh. So that was you." Roy offered her a look that tried to say 'I have no idea what you're talking about' but fell just short. "Shower pressure is rubbish." She said in a gruff impression of him.
"I don't sound like that." He growled pointing a finger at her. "And I don't know what you're on about. But if I did, I would remind you that those notes are supposed to be anonymous." Without another word he stalked off towards the showers.
Bailey was so early that even Nate hadn't arrived yet. With the cake successfully hidden, she wondered what she would do with herself until the game started. Sam's presents had all arrived on time. She'd wrapped them the afternoon before while the team had been outside. She supposed she could practice her apology to Ted. Figure out exactly what she could say that would explain why she'd thought it would be appropriate to kiss him; a married man and her boss.
She was spared the torment of her own thoughts only to be interrupted by a much larger problem. Keeley Jones stomped into the manager's office. Although she often followed Jamie to the clubhouse and hung around during training, Bailey hadn't interacted much with Keeley aside from their incredibly brief Twitter conversation. The way the latter walked with purpose into the room told the former this was more than a social call.
"Hello, Bailey." Keeley greeted her with a sickeningly sweet tone. "Is Ted in yet?"
"No. Just me for now I'm afraid." She told her. "Is there something I can help with."
"Yeah. Can you do something about this?" Keeley flashed her cellphone screen at Bailey just long enough for her to see a photo of Keeley and Ted. Without context, the photo looked like they were leaning in towards each other, about to kiss.
Bailey felt a rush of heat start at her cheeks and work its way through her body down to her toes. Was it embarrassment? Jealousy? Had she been stupid to think that she had a chance with Ted? Keeley was gorgeous there was no denying that. Still, something about that photo didn't sit right with her. He was still married to Michelle. Keeley still seemed to enjoy Jamie's company very much. There was no reason to believe either of them were engaged in some sort of affair.
"This is really fucking bad." Keeley breathed. "Like really really fucking bad."
"How did you get a copy of it?" Bailey asked.
"I have a friend who works at The Sun. They were able to keep the story from running till Monday as a favor to me, but I can't stop it getting out. When this shit hits, Jamie is going to go mental!" She hissed.
"If. If it gets out." Bailey told her. "You said they can hold off till Monday right? It's Saturday. That gives us two days to figure something out. We'll wait until after the game." She decided.
"After the game? And give the sun more time to change their minds?" Keeley didn't like the idea one bit.
"There's a chance they could win the game, right? Maybe we can offer The Sun something better than the photo. An exclusive interview with one of the players or something." Bailey suggested.
"And if they lose?" Kelley asked her, arching a perfectly shaped eyebrow.
"I've got two days to figure that part out." Bailey answered.
"We'll talk again after the game." Keeley agreed as players began filing into the locker room. "I've got to go get Jamie now. He thinks I'm off on a coffee run."
Ted, Beard and Anna all swept into the Manager's office with Keeley's words still hanging in the air. Bailey knew she had to tell Ted about the photo and The Sun. She'd promised Keeley that She'd figure out a way to stop the story from running and if there was anyone who could talk someone out of doing something it was Ted. But it was his first game as Head Coach. He'd planned a birthday party for Sam. Today needed to be a good day.
"You doing okay, kid?" Beard nudged Bailey. She'd been so inside her own head that she hadn't even noticed it was just the two of them standing in the Manager's office. Ted had already stepped out to the locker room and was handing the presents off to Sam.
"Rough night." She mumbled. "And morning."
"Been there." He nodded. The team whooped and hollered as Sam opened his presents. "Everything is going to work out exactly as it's supposed to." He added before joining the others in the locker room.
"Come watch the game with me?" Anna asked. She flashed a pair of tickets at her sister which Bailey assumed had been comped by Ted. She noticed that somewhere between home and Nelson Road Anna had managed to a acquire a Sam Obisanya fan kit, and an A.F.C. Richmond woven scarf.
"I don't know any of the players well enough to root for anyone in particular." Anna shrugged when she noticed her sister studying her attire as they walked towards the stands. "But it's Sam's birthday and working on your birthday sucks for everyone, even professional athletes."
"I'm just surprised you've chosen to support Richmond." Bailey shrugged. "Usually, you have to vet the entirely league and ramble a whole bunch of stats off to me before your satisfied with picking."
"Well, I love you and I like Ted well enough." Anna said as they took their seats. "I want to root for you both." She didn't need to clarify that'd she'd meant she was rooting for Bailey and Ted as a couple. Bailey knew her well enough to pick up the unspoken support. "Does he make you breakfast like that all the time?"
"Almost every day." The younger sister smiled.
"Hmm. Makes you wonder why anyone would let him go." Anna sighed. She turned her attention out to the pitch where the players from both teams had begun walking out of the locker rooms.