"Hey, Bailey, you got a second?" Ted Lasso, the Head Coach of the university's football team, asked when he poked his head into her office one morning. Bailey was sitting at her desk, sipping from her morning tea. She hadn't even so much as cracked open her laptop yet before he'd arrived. Bailey pulled down the rolled-up sleeves of her cardigan and took another sip from her tea. Ted was all smiles and patience the entire time.

"Coach," Bailey sighed with a smile. "As I've been reminded several times by Charles, you are my boss and not the other way around. That means you can come and go from the office whenever you want."

That was true, being an athletic assistant meant that sometimes you had to give the coaches gentle reminders about their schedules. Coach Lasso required extra handling. He had a wistful tendency to get carried away. The Head of the university's Athletics Department, Charles, was very old school and thought assistants should be seen and not heard. He'd chastise Bailey anytime he caught wind of her providing even the slightest feedback to any Coach, but especially Ted.

"You know, I've come to accept that me an' Charlie ain't never gonna see eye to eye on that one." Coach Lasso shook his head. "Consent is important. And if it's alright with you, I'mma close this door for now. There's something I want to discuss with you that I'd rather other folks not overhear." She couldn't stop her heart from racing as she watched Coach Lasso shut the door.

Bailey was about to complete her eighth year working in the Athletics Department. She'd started in the laundry room as a freshman because her older sister, Anna, had told her it was an easy work study job. As it turned out, it was easy for Anna because she played three division one sports at the school and practically lived in the athletics building. For Bailey, someone with no interest in sports, it was an uphill battle. Still, failure wasn't something she'd ever been accustomed too, so Bailey rose quickly through the various work study ranks. By her senior year, she was the Senior Administrator of the Athletics Department. It was a very fancy way of saying she was responsible for getting the coaches what they wanted before they even knew they wanted it. When she graduated, the school asked Bailey to stay on in a permanent capacity. She was too deep in student debt and short on reasons to say no when they offered her full time and benefits.

"You alright? You look mighty nervous. I can open this again if…" Coach Lasso started towards the door again.

"No, No, it's fine." She assured him. He nodded and sat down across from her.

Ted Lasso has arrived at the university about two years ago. He'd been hired following a successful run at Kansas State with an impressive resume and reputation. He'd only been working at the school for about a month before Bailey were absolutely smitten with him. Over time she learned that wasn't much of a surprise either, everyone loved Ted. He made it nearly impossible not to.

He had a way of putting people at ease without even knowing he was doing it. From his very first day, he had made it clear he wasn't going to be like most other coaches she had worked with over the years. He encouraged his players to be vulnerable to see past the stereotypes of athletes. He wanted everyone to feel like they were part of the team, that included Bailey.

By now, she was no stranger to having the Head Football Coach barge into her office politely demanding her opinion on this or that. Though typically he was accompanied by his right-hand man and first Assistant Coach, Beard. It was setting off alarm bells in Bailey's brain and other parts of her body that Ted was in her office by his lonesome. She forced herrself not to get too excited. Perhaps he just wanted to discuss a surprise for Beard or one of the players. He was always doing things like that.

"First thing's first, I whipped up a batch of double chocolate chip cookies for the team last night, made sure to save a few for ya." He place a small paper box filled with six of his famous double chocolate chip cookie inside onto the desk between them. "Look, I'm gonna try here to not take up a lot of your time, I know you're a busy gal, but I also want to share some news with you. You'll be the first to know besides Coach Beard and Michelle and Henry." He ticked each of them off with his fingers. Ted glanced back at the door ensuring it was closed tightly. "I've been offered a contract to coach a professional football team."

"That's amazing news!" Bailey exclaimed already feeling a hole beginning to form in her heart. "Which team? The Chiefs? The Raiders? The Patriots?"

"While I do appreciate the vote of confidence, I think Mr. Bill Belichick is doing a much better job with the Pats than I ever could. No, I should have explained myself a little better. It's European football not, ah, American." He clarified.

"Have you ever coached soccer?" She attempted to ask politely.

"No, No I have not." He shook his head, but his semi-permanent smiled remained in place. "But I do remember you telling me once upon a time that before taking this job you knew nothing about sports at all and here you are the best dang assistant in the whole state of Kansas."

"Coach, I mean this with all of my heart, that I wish the best for you and I will truly miss you." Bailed opened the laptop and began looking at the team calendar. She took another sip of her tea. "So, are we meeting in secret to prepare your going away party? I suppose I'll have look into scheduling you time to get a passport…"

Slow your roll, Dave Grohl." He reached over and eased the laptop closed. Bailey looked up, giving Ted her full attention. "I haven't accepted the offer yet. Got a few counter offers of my own I want to make. Beard's got to come along as my assistant coach, I think that's obvious. But working in the big leagues, I think it's about high time I had a personal assistant. What do you say?"

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to find you a personal assistant, Coach. I wouldn't know where to start." Bailey confessed although she knew objecting was pointless. Ted had a way of believing in people so hard that they started to believe in themselves. He'd get his way no matter what, especially from her.

"Well, lucky for you I've already found one." She watched Coach Lasso fish around in his pockets before handing her a folded-up scrap of paper. He gestured for her to open it. On the inside of the note was only a number, a very large number, just a little over what she made in a year. He watched her study the note with a confused expression on your face. "Now that's just what the club said they could afford to pay so I'd like to offer you another ten Gs from my own salary."

"Ten grand? You…You want me to be your personal assistant?" Bailey blinked up at him in disbelief.

"I very much do, yes." Ted's smiled wavered for a moment. It had not occurred to him before that moment to plan for any scenario in which she said no.

"I'll need some time to think about it." But even as she told him that, Bailey's mind was racing; trying to figure out how she could make it work. Her sister lived in Colorado now and their parents had moved back to Connecticut where they were both from originally. They barely saw each other as it was, moving across the pond wouldn't change that.

"Of course." Ted nodded getting to his feet. His very serious expression made her feel anxious. She didn't like the idea that she may have disappointed him. "They need an answer from me by two AM our time. If you could get me an answer any time before that, I'd mighty appreciate it." He'd started towards the door but stopped himself midway. He turned on his heels and added "I forgot to mention they're covering all our moving fees too, so you don't have to worry about any of that. Anyway, talk to you soon, Bailey."

"Talk to you soon, Coach." She promised. As Ted stepped out of the room she reached for one of the cookies that she knew would be impossibly gooey and sweet. Just like the man who'd made them.