The Dog Track
He didn't mean to do it. Well, he did, he knew what was going on, he wasn't sleepwalking or hypnotized or anything. Ted knew what he was doing, he just…
It all started back in Kansas. It was one thing to sign the divorce papers and set Michelle free. It was another thing to go back after relegation and the season was over to see Henry and sleep in the guest room of his own house. But it wasn't his house anymore. It was Michelle's house. Henry lived in that house with his mom, and Ted was just a visitor there. In the weeks between when the divorce was done and when Ted got back to Kansas, Michelle had taken everything that belonged to Ted and put it in a bunch of neatly packed boxes. And really without a lot of discussion, it was decided that Ted was going to be moving permanently to London.
The time he spent in Kansas wasn't bad. It was always good to get to be with Henry, of course. And having that taste of home felt mighty nice. But it was clear, just like the decision for Ted to move all of his stuff to England, that Kansas wasn't really home anymore. He knew it and loved it and he'd always be a born and bed Kansas boy. It just wasn't home anymore. Richmond was home. And when he was in Kansas, he missed Nate and Keeley and Roy and Higgins and all the rest of the team like crazy.
And then there was Rebecca. Gosh, he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about her for at least twenty minutes every day since the moment he met her. As his boss, first. A tough nut to crack, but crack her he did. And then something shifted. He wasn't sure when it happened or how, but she became his friend. And then more. Like sometimes when he looked at her, all he wanted to do was reach out and touch her. The few times he'd hugged her, he had not been immune to the feeling of holding her in his arms, and he did not have strictly platonic friendly feelings about that. And the thoughts in his head about her weren't strictly friendly and they weren't the sort of thoughts a man has about his boss.
Ted shook himself. He was sitting in his house in Richmond, finally back home, and once again daydreaming about Rebecca. Training was starting back up next week. Beard was flying in today, and the coaching team would be back at the clubhouse tomorrow to get things started for the upcoming Championship League season. They had a lot of work to do.
And because they had a lot of work to do, Ted had flown back to London three days early. He wanted to fight off the jetlag and enjoy some time to himself at home before he got back into work mode. He hadn't seen Rebecca yet. Something he couldn't seem to stop thinking about. But he'd gone out to dinner the night before with Roy and Keeley, which was great. Those two were going along real well, and Ted was happier than heck for the both of them. They'd told Ted they were going to get a new house together. Maybe that had been what got him. The idea of settling down. Making a new home and filling it with love.
Right on cue, a wet nudge on Ted's arm reminded him of what he'd done. He still wasn't really sure how. But he sighed and gave his new housemate behind the ears. Ted Lasso had got a dog.
Rebecca heard Ted's voice greeting everyone he passed on the way to her office, and she felt the butterflies in her stomach for the moment of their reunion.
She had enjoyed her time away during the off-season, visiting Flo and Nora for two weeks and going on holiday to Paris all by herself to rediscover the city she'd loved in her twenties that had been destroyed for her by Rupert and all his vitriol. That had really been her goal, rediscovering things she had loved and lost thanks to her awful marriage and what she had let that man turn her into. And now she had returned to Richmond feeling more like herself and more confident than she could remember being in years. She was ready for anything.
Anything, of course, except Ted Lasso. Their friendship had taken her by surprise, really, but he had that utterly annoying way of just getting under people's skin, and before you knew it, you were rooting for Ted Lasso and begrudgingly found yourself loving him. Rebecca's problem was that she wasn't sure if her feelings of friendship and affection for Ted weren't…more. She'd tried to talk to Sassy about it, but one mention of 'Marlboro Man' had turned into a soliloquy of his skill in bed—something Rebecca did not want to hear about from her friend—and there was no way Rebecca was going to even mention the idea that she might have romantic feelings toward him.
Did she, though? It had been so long since she'd felt romantic feelings toward anyone, she wasn't sure she'd know when it happened. The romance with Rupert ended long before their marriage did. She assumed that's just what happened in marriage. And she worried that the part of her that could feel any sense of romantic love might have shriveled up and died.
Whatever it was, Rebecca found herself anxious to see Ted again. She had missed him, regardless of why. She missed him as a person even more than she missed his biscuits. Though she was rather eager to have more, now that they were all back at work.
Rebecca decided to stand to greet Ted when he arrived. Perhaps they'd share a hug or something. That seemed alright, friends being parted for so long. She wasn't really sure, actually. She felt extremely awkward, and as she heard Ted's voice coming up the stairwell, she resigned herself to follow his lead. She'd reciprocate whatever gesture he offered.
But then Ted appeared in the corridor outside her office and walked through the door, and her jaw dropped. "What the fuck is that!?" she exclaimed.
Ted just grinned, holding the lead for the animal now walking into her office. "Hi boss, I don't know if you've noticed the logo for this team lately or not, but AFC Richmond have a dog as the mascot. And I was just walking through the park yesterday morning and the local shelter was having an adoption fair and I saw this guy and, well, I guess you can say I was overcome with team spirit," he explained.
Rebecca just stared in horror at Ted and the enormous skinny monster of a dog. "You saw a dog that looked like our team crest and so you took it home?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I guess I did," he conceded. "But he's great, Rebecca, you're gonna love him. Housebroken and sweet as molasses."
She was dubious of that claim, particularly coming from Ted. He'd probably get a vicious Doberman and call it sweet. She eyed the dog warily. It did actually look remarkably like the team crest. "What's he called?"
"Well he doesn't really have a name. The shelter said he was supposed to be used for racing but he was rescued from a real bad place where they were mistreating their dogs, so he never really got a name. They were calling him Lucky, but I don't think that really fits his personality."
"Are you telling me you have brought an enormous dog into my office and it doesn't even have a name?"
"Well I was thinking he should be sort of a team mascot. Come to the clubhouse and hang out, you know? So he should have a name that has something to do with the team," Ted said.
"If you call him Mannion, I will kill the dog and then you," she warned.
"Actually, I was hoping to name him Welton. After you," he told her proudly.
She raised her brow in surprise. "Is that because I'm a bitch?"
Ted's eyes went wide. "Oh lord, no! Gosh, I'm so sorry, Rebecca, I didn't even think of that, I—"
"It's fine, Ted," she interjected. "I know you better than that. And if you want to name your dog Welton, I think, well, I think that would be very nice."
He brightened at that. "Well alright then! Rebecca, meet Welton." He bent down to pet the dog. "You're a good boy, Welton, yes you are. And Welton, this here is Rebecca. She's very important, so you be good with her, alright? Why don't you go lie down, buddy?"
Rebecca watched in horror as Ted unhooked the lead from the dog's collar. "What are you doing!?"
"Well I gotta get your biscuits out of my backpack, and I figured Welton might like to hang out up here with you while me and Beard and Nathan are setting up the locker room. I can put him down in my office later, but I thought you two should bond," he told her.
"You want me to bond with the dog?" she asked weakly.
"He is named after you, after all," Ted reminded with a wink. "Y'all are gonna be best friends, I can tell. A good dog and a good boss."
Rebecca watched the dog—Welton—wander the office sniffing things before walking in a small circle and curling up beside Rebecca's desk.
Ted, meanwhile, was unzipping his rucksack to get the familiar small pink box out. "Biscuits with the Boss," he announced, handing them to her. "Featuring Welton," he added smiling over to the shockingly calm and quiet dog lying three feet away. He turned back to Rebecca. "Mind if I stay and chat a minute?"
Normally Rebecca would be ready with an excuse of how she didn't have time, but she didn't really want an excuse today. For one thing, she really had missed Ted. And for another, she really didn't want to be left alone with Welton. Sure, the dog was calm now, but she felt certain that the second Ted left, that dog would be terrorizing her and destroying her office. So rather than ask Ted to leave her alone, she looked at him and gave a small smile. "I'd like that."
Ted was in a good mood. He usually was, more by choice than by actual feeling most of the time, but today he really did feel good. By the time he and Welton got back home, he was still humming cheerily.
He and Beard and Nate had a good day working on the roster and getting prepped for when the players came back. The pitch looked great, and everything felt shiny and new. Yeah, they'd been relegated and it wasn't as fancy as being in the Premier League, but all their facilities were the same. And Ted was getting that first day of school feeling he loved so much.
But Ted's good mood was due to something else, he knew. He was in a good mood because he got to have Biscuits with the Boss. Usually Rebecca like to get her biscuits and shoo him out of her office, but she hadn't today. He got to sit in her office for almost half an hour, just catching up after their time apart. She asked about Henry and how things were with Michelle, and he told her about that. He asked her about her travels, and she told him everything that she'd enjoyed about visiting Paris by herself. His mind got away from him and he'd blurted out that she made Paris sound so good, maybe he could go there with her sometime. He'd have tried to walk it back, but there was something soft about Rebecca's expression at his words, so he just let it be. And he tried to ignore the way his insides went all melty when she looked at him like that.
He left Welton in Rebecca's office for a little while, and he knew she wasn't really comfortable with that. But he'd meant it when he told her he wanted Welton to be the team's dog, and Rebecca was the leader of their team. Her getting to know Welton was important. And when he'd come back to bring Welton down to his office, he found Rebecca working on her laptop with Welton nowhere in sight.
"Where's Welton?" Ted asked.
Rebecca looked up at him with her brow raised. She got these little lines on her forehead when she did that—everyone did, he knew, but they looked sorta different on her somehow. Ted had a mighty urge to press his lips to those little lines, but he forced that thought away.
And as soon as Rebecca moved her chair away from the desk, Welton appeared, trotting over from where he'd apparently been lying under the desk.
"He kept nudging my arm when I was trying to type, and I didn't want him on my furniture, so I put him down by my feet. I think he liked it. He just slept the whole time," Rebecca informed him.
All of that kept him going for the whole day. Every time he made any sort of progress with Rebecca, it felt like a win. Having her not bothered by spending time with Welton was definitely a win.
Nate and Beard were both as wary of the dog as Rebecca had been, though less vocal and nervous about it. But Welton soon won them over, too. He was a good dog, and Ted sort of thought it was hard to dislike him. He'd be good for the team. Good for this next phase for everyone.
It was all Welton's fault. God that felt weird to say, Rebecca blaming her own last name for something. But it was true. It was Welton the dog's fault it had happened.
Ted took to bringing Welton to the clubhouse every day, and he'd leave Welton with Rebecca after delivering her biscuits. Some days they'd have a chat. Some days one or both of them was too busy for it. But he always took Welton off the lead, and the dog would come curl up at Rebecca's feet under her desk.
One day, Rebecca had been feeling a little restless and anxious. There were photos online of a very pregnant Bex Mannion. That gave Rebecca a lovely reminder of ten years earlier when she'd been approaching her late thirties and asked her husband about starting a family. Rupert had told her in no uncertain terms that they were both too old to have a child, and he didn't want a baby anyway. Rebecca hadn't known at the time that he was already shagging half a dozen women, and he'd all but given up feigning interest in his wife. That might have been the most alone she'd felt in her marriage. Coming to terms with the fact that she would never get to be a mother, something she'd always imagined she would do. Having to allow a dream to die was never pleasant. Having to relive it a decade later was even less pleasant.
Sitting at her desk was more than she could suffer right then. She closed her laptop and stood, taking her phone with her the sofa. Part of her wanted to ring Keeley and commiserate or perhaps get drunk. But part of her didn't want to talk about it at all. She sat down and put her feet up on the coffee table, staring at her blank phone screen, trying to decide what to do.
And then the strangest thing happened. Welton, disturbed from his midmorning nap when Rebecca stood up, came over and sat down beside her. His dark eyes gazed into hers, like he somehow could see that she was upset. And then he rested his long, thin head on her lap. She was surprised but strangely touched by the gesture. Even if it was from a dog. Rebecca put her phone aside and just sat there, scratching Welton's ears.
"Well isn't he just the luckiest dog?"
She looked up to see Ted enter, and she smiled. "He gets to spend most of his days with you, Ted, so I think that does make him pretty lucky."
"No, I meant getting to rest his head in your lap. I don't know I like being jealous of my own dog," Ted laughed.
Rebecca's stomach flipped. She didn't know what to say to that. And it took him a moment, but Ted realized what he'd said and stared at her in horror.
"Oh I…"
She held her hand up to stop his stammering apology in its tracks. "It's alright, Ted," she assured him. "I'd actually—" Thankfully, Rebecca was able to shut her own mouth before she said the thought that had popped into her head.
"You'd what?" he pressed.
She didn't mean to say it. She didn't want to say it. Not out loud. She'd tried to stop herself. But that damned dog and Rupert and whatever else had fucked with her head today, and she found herself telling Ted, "I'd actually rather have your head in my lap."
Rebecca actually slapped her hand over her mouth, mortified she'd actually said those words out loud. It was one thing to think about Ted in a borderline sexual or romantic manner. It was very much another thing to practically confess those thoughts aloud to the man himself. Oh god, she wanted to die.
Ted just stared at her with an expression full of confusion and apprehension and something else she couldn't place. And after a prolonged, uncomfortable pause, he asked, "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"
And for some inexplicable reason, Rebecca found herself saying yes. All the while, Welton's long, silver head still rested in her lap.
