"I didn't have a chance to ask you two how'd it go with Roy this afternoon?" Beard asked Ted later that night on the walk home.
"Not as bad as we thought, but it could have gone better." Bailey answered. "Ted barely managed to get the words out."
"I can see you're happy now," Ted took in his best friend's expression. "But don't be. Cause I've been thinking about it and well, I'm starting Roy against Man City. That's it." Bailey and Beard both opened thier mouths to protest but he continued talking. "Look, putting him on the bench wouldn't just be humiliating, it could affect his livelihood. And you two know better than anyone that this ain't about winning to me. Cause that ain't how we measure success, right?"
"DAMN IT! IT IS!" Beard exclaimed suddenly. He stopped walking. Bailey and Ted also stopped. The Head Coach's eyes widened.
"Hey, who put a firecracker up your butt and lit it?" He questioned calmly.
"You did!" Beard snapped. "And I'm sick of it! Look," he said, lowering his voice to a normal tone. "I understood this mission when we were in Kansas. But those were kids, and these are professionals. And winning does matter to them. And it matters to me. And that's okay. How do you not get it? Losing has repercussions. We lose we get relegated. We get relegated and this is over, and we will have built nothing. And if you want to pick a player's feelings over a coach's duty to make a point, I don't want to socialize with someone that selfish. Good night, Bailey."
Beard walked off down a side street that wasn't part of his direct route home but would still get him where he needed to go. Bailey watched Beard disappear, wondering if Ted was going to call out to him or apologize. He didn't say anything. He seemed too stunned to think of anything to say. She took Ted's hand and started walking again. He followed her.
They walked together in that quiet pensive way they had both become accustom too. There wasn't anything Bailey could say that would help the situation. This decision was between Roy and Ted. Whatever she or Beard or anyone else thought was irrelevant. So she held Ted's hand as they walked to let him know she were there. That someone was still on Team Ted.
"You want to come over for a bit or do you need to be alone?" Bailey asked when the two of them walked up their street.
"Well, you know I'll never turn down a little night cuddle with my Sweetheart, but I do believe we have a guest." He pointed towards their apartment building further down the road. She looked to see Roy there leaning next to the building's front door.
"C'mon in Roy." Ted invited with a smile. He opened the front door of the building and the three of them entered the Head Coach's apartment.
Bailey went directly into Ted's kitchen. She put on a kettle so that she could make tea for herself and Roy. She then set up the coffee maker to brew a cup for Ted. Ted and Roy occupied opposite sides of the kitchen table.
"I'm sorry I told you to go fuck yourself." Roy sighed. Bailey could overhear their conversation from where she stood. "I'm usually better at hiding my anger."
"You think so, huh?" Ted chucked and the pair exchanged smirks. "You know what we could do?" Ted's smirk faded and his tone became serious. Roy again matched his coach's expression. "You been hurt on and off all season. Why don't we just say you're injured. You can't play? No shame in that."
"That would help protect my stock if I wanna move next season." Roy remarked. "Maybe to a club that actually wants to start me."
The kettle began to whistle. Bailey poured a mug of tea and crafted the beverage just the way Roy liked it before doing the same with Ted's cup of coffee. With a skill acquired by years of practice she carried all three cups to the table and placed each man's preferred drink in front of them.
"What if, God forbid, I end up having to play in fucking America?" Roy was asking as Bailey slid into an open seat between them. "Where I'd dominate, by the way. They'd be like 'Oh, is this football then?'."
"Well, obviously my preference would be to have you there at practice tomorrow and the game. But, hey, you gotta do what's right for you." Ted shrugged.
"Aren't you gonna say something?" Roy looked over at Bailey. "Seemed like you had a lot to say this afternoon. This is the longest you've stayed quiet since I met you."
"Not my call to make." She shook her head. "I'm not here as the Assistant to the Head Coach of A.F.C. Richmond right now. I'm here as your friend and his girlfriend to make sure the two of you can walk away from this without being at each other's throats."
"Well, that's not fucking helpful is it?" Roy complained. He rolled his eyes before looking at Ted. "Can I think about it?"
"Course you can!" Ted nodded. "Say one other thing, and I want you to be honest with me," He asked before sipping from his drink. "It's a prank, right? The tea. Like when us tourist folks ain't around, y'all know that taste like garbage."
"No." Roy laughed. "I love it."
"You don't love it." Ted disagreed. "It's pigeon sweat and I want to know what sorta mind control device you've got on Bailey to convince her it don't taste liked boiled socks." The head coach grimaced.
"He's figured us out, Bailey. All us tea drinkers are part of the illuminati." Roy joked, his tone woven with sarcasm. "Now, we're gonna have to kill you."
"Honestly," Ted sipped from his coffee cup again. "I believe that more than I believe someone would enjoy drinking tea."
Roy didn't stay long as he'd mostly come to apologize to Ted. He bid then both a good night. Once Roy had gone home, Ted remembered that Rebecca had drafted a contract to officially make Nate a coach. With all the Roy based commotion that afternoon he'd nearly forgotten. He wondered if it would be too much trouble to whip up some sort of small celebration for Nate the next day. Bailey assured him this was doable before they both retired to his bed early that evening.
The next day was the team's last chance to train before the final game of the season. Bailey was surprised to see Beard waiting for them at the bottom of their street that morning. Given his outburst the previous night, she'd thought the assistant coach would want to enjoy a Ted free commute. Beard demonstrated his unmatched ability to forgive and forget when he greeted both Bailey and Ted.
Upon arrive to work, Bailey secluded herself in the office to start working on her special project. This meant she wasn't really keeping track of the players as they arrived and began changing for practice. Before she knew it, Beard was calling for everyone's attention to go over the day's schedule. The room outside the office was quiet as everyone seemed to realize at once that Roy, who was usually the first player in the building, was missing. Before a wave of questions and speculation could wash out from the team, Ted stepped forward.
"Now fellas we got ourselves one heck of a match coming up. And what I'm gonna need from all of y'all…" He stopped talking as Roy swaggered into the room.
"Sorry Mate." Roy apologized directly to Ted. He walked over to his locker and removed is jacket. "My six-year-old niece was poking around and found my girlfriend's vibrator. So, I had to take her to get her ears pierced to erase the memory." Several of the players knowingly nodded as if they'd been a part of similar experiences. Roy tugged off the black t-shirt he'd worn in and replaced it with his kit. "Can I say something?" He asked the Head Coach.
"Floor is yours, Captain." Ted nodded.
"Second team's gonna kick first team's fucking asses today." Roy announced to the room. The players howled in agreement.
