"Hold on tight and don't get lost." Roy ordered as he grasped Bailey's hand. They moved together from the valet line to yet another line. This one ended on an actual red carpet. "We don't stop for photos." He whispered.
"C'mon, not even one?" She asked him with a smirk. She was only teasing him. She didn't want to have her photo taken by the media any more than Roy seemed to want it.
"I mean it Bailey!" He wagged the pointer finger of his free hand at her. "Not a single fu…are you laughing at me?"
"No." She snorted. She struggled to hold back a laugh.
"You are." He sighed, shaking his head.
"I am." She confessed. "I just didn't think you'd be someone who was camera shy."
"I'm not!" He hissed. "The camera loves me. It's just when they're all standing there in a line like that." He nodded his head to the area where the various journalists and photographers were corralled. "They start shoutin' over each other. All that noise. An' on top of that, you have a hundred lights flashing in your eyes. It's really fucking bright and really fucking loud."
Bailey studied the press as she and Roy progressed through the line. He was right. The flash attachment on some of those cameras looked nearly as big as her own head. As the people before her paraded across the red carpet towards the venue's entrance several of the attendees blink against the constant flickering of light. He'd also been right about it being loud. If she closed her eyes she might've thought she was standing in the stands back at the dog track.
"You alright?" Roy asked. She barely heard him.
"Loud. Lights." Was all he could hear her say in response. It was enough for him to understand.
"I told you." He remarked. When they reached the front of the line Roy gripped Bailey's hand tight and tugged her along down the carpet. His face had returned to that signature Roy Kent scowl. He shouted a few obscenities at the press and flashed his middle finger at them to ensure none of the photos were usable. She noticed the soft jazz music inside the venue before she even realized they'd made it inside.
"That was…a lot." She breathed.
"I'd tell you that you get used to it, but I'd be lying. It's that miserable every time." Roy released his grip on her hand and offered her his elbow instead. Bailey looped her arm through his, happy to let him continue to lead. He seemed to know his way around the event well enough. He stopped at a table that caused his scowl to deepen.
Bailey looked at the table to see that Ted, Nate, Keeley and Jamie were all sitting at the table she and Roy had been assigned. Keeley had already told Bailey that she'd asked for her and Roy to be at the same table with her and Jamie. No one had mentioned that Nate and Ted had would be there too. Roy couldn't decide who he objected to sharing a table with more Jamie, who annoyed him just by breathing, or Coach Lasso who Roy had been trying to give his friend a night away from.
"We're switching tables." He told her in his usual low grumble.
"No, no, hey!" Ted shook his head. "Come on back here. This is my doing. I parent trapped y'all." He pointed at Jamie and Roy.
Bailey and Roy surveyed the table. With Jamie and Keeley sitting together and Nate on her left, there were only two open seats at the six top table. An open seat next to Jamie and an open seat next to Ted. Without need to communicate a word to each other, Bailey took the vacant seat next to Jamie while Roy claimed the open seat between her and Ted.
"Now listen," Ted looked between his two players. "The two of you have got our locker room split in half. When it comes to locker rooms, I like 'em just like my mother's baiting suits. I only wanna see them in one piece. So we're fixing this. You don't need to be best friends to be great teammates. Y'all gotta find some common ground. Now who wants to get the ball rolling?"
"Pass." Jamie huffed.
"He's a piece of shit." Roy declared.
"Okay, well here's an idea that's either going to help or hurt an awful lot. Who needs a drink?" Ted asked. Everyone around the table raised their hands. Ted nodded. He had expected as much. He gathered drink orders for the table and headed to the bar.
"Jamie, how about you switch seats with me so that Bailey and I can talk. Then you and Roy can glare at each other across the table properly, yeah?" Keeley offered.
"Whatever." Jamie shrugged. Bailey wanted to ask him why he'd decided to forgo wearing a shirt under his suit jacket, given the event had been designated as black tie. But he got up from his seat and left the table all together. Keeley didn't seem to mind. She slid right into his seat and leaned in close to her friend.
"How was your first red carpet?" She wanted to know.
"Not for me." Bailey told her.
"Well, you look great. Roy, don't you think Bailey looks great?" She asked him.
"You look uncomfortable." Roy answered. "We can sit at a different table."
"No, this is fine. You're here, and Keeley is here and Nate. Nate is here. It's going to be fine." Bailey nodded. Roy leaned closer to her so that only her and Keeley could hear him.
"If at any point, you want to leave, I'll get the car no questions asked." He promised.
Bailey thanked him as Ted returned to the table with drinks. It hadn't gone unnoticed by the Head Coach that she and Roy had come over to the table arm-in-arm and now the midfielder was whispering something into her ear that had made her smile. It twisted Ted's stomach to see someone else making Bailey smile. He tried to push away the feeling. He'd told her not to wait for him. He just hadn't expected her to move on so fast.
Rebecca called for everyone's attention at the front of the room. She thanked all the guests for attending and for the generous donations they'd already made. She reminded everyone that later in the evening there would be a date auction and those in attendance would have the chance to win a date with some of Richmond's players. Roy and Jamie both stiffened at the mention of the date auction, leading Bailey to believe they'd each be players up for auction.
"Same rule as always." A man in a white suit interrupted Rebecca as he swaggered into the room. "No hanky-panky unless the player signs of waiver!"
"That's Rebecca's ex-husband." Keeley whispered an explanation in Bailey's ear. "Rupert Mannion. Real piece of work he is."
"It's weird that he's here, right? I mean she owns the club now." Bailey asked your friend.
"Course it's weird." Keeley agreed. "He's doing it to rile her up."
"I know I'm crashing your party, but I so badly want to help!" Rupert went on. "Are you surprised to see me?"
"Only because you'd RSVPed no." Rebecca countered. This earned her a roll of laughter from the crowd.
"Good for her." Keeley smiled.
The evening continued despite Rupert's interruption and Rebecca's good-natured recovery from it. Dinner was served and Ted excused himself to go look for Beard. Nate disappear shortly after. Jamie had seemingly reappeared as soon as food was involved. So Bailey, Roy, Keeley and Jamie began eating. The four of them ate in near silence until Jamie, who'd been distractedly watching something else at another table, spilled sauce on his open chest.
"Yet another reason shirts exist." Roy observed dryly.
"Shut up! It's not funny." Jamie complained as Bailey and Keeley both giggled. He wiped the sauce off his chest and began running an ice cube down his peck.
"I wish I was that ice cube." An elderly woman declared as she stood next to Jamie. Bailey and Keeley both fought to hold back another wave of giggles. They had to look away from each other to not make it worse. "I will be bidding for a night with you." The woman told Jamie.
"Oh. Thanks, Love." Jamie said with a cocky smile. "Erm, it's it's justa date though." He reminded her, putting the ice cube on the table. "It's not the whole night."
"We'll see." The woman disagreed as she sauntered back to her own table.
"Mate I've done these before." Roy told him. "If she donates over three thousand you will have to fuck her." To you and Keeley it was clear that Roy was joking. Jamie who was only ever used to seeing Roy yell, wasn't as sure.
"Is that true?" Jamie whispered to Keeley.
"Don't worry, Babe." She shrugged. "You don't have to go all the way. Just some of the way." You, Keeley and Roy erupted with laughter.
"Fuck you." He said pointing at his girlfriend. "And fuck this table." He tossed his napkin down and stalked off.
"Jamie! It was a joke, Jamie!" She got up and chased after him.
"What happened now?" Ted asked, returning to the table.
"I have to pee." Bailey announced suddenly, even though she didn't have to. She just wanted to be away from Ted. She got up from the table and walked over to the bar. She ordered a new drink and decided to wait him out.
"Just the usual." Roy told the coach before taking a sip of his beer. "Jamie being a little bitch premadonna."
"Roy let me ask you somethin. What were you like when you were twenty-three?" Ted questioned. "Playing in this league, making all that money?"
"Little bitch premadonna." Roy admitted sheepishly.
"Yeah." Ted nodded knowingly. "You know how they say youth is wasted on the young? Well, I say don't let the wisdom of age be wasted on you." Roy glared at the coach like he wanted to quip back at him, but he held his tongue. It was just as well, since Rebecca came over to the table and called Ted away.
"You two ignoring each other now?" Roy asked as Bailey slipped back into her seat. "That's new."
"Who the hell knows." She sighed.