When Alex pulled up to the carpark at Nelson Road twenty minutes before her shift started, she felt a sense of relief wash over her. The anxiety of being late on the first day had kept her up half the night and woke her up a half an hour before her alarm that morning. Thankful for average traffic and the two cups of coffee she had bought herself on the way in, she was ready for the day.
When she reported to Rebecca's office first thing, she was met by a smiling man, which struck her because he looked far too anxious to be showing that many teeth. He introduced himself as Leslie Higgins, the head of operations for the club. He extended himself to her, letting her know that he was available for anything she may need during her time there.
"Thank you, Higgins, I think that will be all," Rebecca dismissed him with a smile when she noticed he had caught Alex at the door outside of her office. Alex noted that the manner in which she spoke to him felt more like a personal assistant than a director of anything. And the way Higgins scurried off only validated that observation. Rebecca turned to her with a winning smile, expressing her excitement for Alex to join the team. Alex was grateful for her courteous offer to give her a tour of the club.
When Rebecca came upon the door to the locker room, she rapped melodically on the door. Alex was sure it was not heard, as the shouting and bickering didn't decrease in volume in the slightest. Rebecca turned to Alex and wiggled her eyebrows before letting herself in.
"Knock, knock!" She shouted, entering the room. It was in response to her presence that each of the players quieted down. Two men entered from the office to their right. "Sorry. I just needed to interrupt for a moment," Rebecca turned to usher Alex into the room. Thankfully, Alex found herself quite comfortable in a room full of sweaty athletes in varying states of undress.
"This is Alexandra Banks, the club's new head physiotherapist," Rebecca introduced happily. "I'd like you all to offer her some of our well known Richmond hospitality." The last statement came out more as a warning, which was perfectly timed with a low whistle that sounded anonymously from a group of players surrounding Jamie Tartt.
"Welcome!" The always boisterous and always welcoming coach Ted Lasso spoke up. "I'm Ted, the new manager. This is Coach Beard." He gestured toward the appropriately named bearded man beside him. "Glad to meet you, Ms. Banks."
Roy Kent stared at the new physio with a furrowed brow. He often made a point to size people up under an intimidating glare, other times it came surprisingly natural. On the whole, she was quite disarming. Her eyes were soft and attentive, bouncing from one player in the locker room to the next. Her full lips were set in a relaxed pout, not a thin line of a person scrupulously passing judgment-not that he knew a damned thing about that.
"Alex is just fine," she smiled at Ted before turning toward the rest of the group. "I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you," her tone of voice was melodic, but carried a light rasp that made it come off with more warmth than Roy had expected. "It's my goal over the next few days to do individual exams with each of you so I have an idea as to how I can be most useful to you on a case by case basis."
One of the lads let out a cough, which led to a few chuckles and knowing nudges from some of the other players. Roy's eyes gave a tell-tale roll and he only had to let out an "oi!" to refocus their attention. Alex gave him a nod and a smile in appreciation. Rebecca had too, but he didn't notice.
"I'll show you where you can set up and leave you to it," Rebecca extended a hand in the direction of the physio's office just off of the locker room. Roy turned back to his teammates, busying himself with his boots while he watched Alex disappear to her office from the corner of his eye.
There was a whistle as the door closed, causing a grumble to rise in Roy's throat. The older man had found little tolerance for some of his teammates' sixth-form antics, especially around women. Jamie Tartt being the most insufferable of them all. And of course, he had to comment on the new physio's glutes in response to his teammate's whistle.
"Keeley loved that," Roy spoke through gritted teeth.
"Alright, granddad, just because you've got erectile dysfunction…" The laughter of Colin and Isaac ensured Jamie did not need to finish what was surely a highly cerebral joke. Roy shot a warning glance at the two and the laughs immediately ceased.
When Rebecca left the office, the door clicked shut behind her. Alex felt herself let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding. Her shoulders relaxed and she tilted her neck from side to side to relieve some tension that had started to build there. She scanned the room. The walls were bare with the exception of a few posters of anatomical drawings and an AFC Richmond logo painted quite large on the wall opposite the door. A desk was tucked in the corner, adjacent to a few filing cabinets that, upon inspection, were quite empty. It made sense, seeing that just about every surface was covered in a stack of some kind. As she took in her surroundings, a small smile played on her lips. This was home now, she might as well make it look that way.
Over the next few days, Alex acquainted herself with the day to day goings on of the club. She had managed each day to bring in a box or a tote bag full of personal or organizational items that would be useful and decorative in her new office. She was able to step back after all of the fussing and logistical maneuvering and feel good about how she was beginning to settle in.
Rebecca made sure to check in on her daily, whether that was in person or through Higgins, ensuring that she was settling in comfortably. Ted made sure to peek in every morning to say hello. Beard and Nate, who she had learned was the kit man turned sidekick to the new management team, had been friendly, but more distant than the much more friendly Coach Lasso.
During each of her evals with the members of the team, she was able to get a feel for both who the Richmond players were individually, as well as their needs from her as their new physio. In between training sessions (which Ted had graciously let her observe), conditioning in the weight room, and their personal responsibilities, Alex was able to steal time from each of the players to obtain vital information that would help her set them up for success during the remainder of the season.
"Roy Kent," Alex called over the locker room banter. The dark haired man lifted his eyes to hers and she smiled.
He followed her around the corner to her office. He took inventory of the room and she smiled proudly at the work she had put in. She had made the space quite her own over the last few days. In that short span of time, she had gotten straight to organizing what seemed like purely decorative piles of documents left on nearly every surface by her predecessor. She ensured that each of her inherited documents had a place, tucked neatly away somewhere that was not making an already small space appear smaller.
Roy looked at the photographs on her desk. One of them was on her "girls trip" to Italy, where they all dressed up to ride a gondola. The other was of her, her sister, and her mum on the day of her graduation. The last was of her brother, dressed for his first day of school, uniform tie askew, missing his two front teeth.
"Yours?" Roy asked, looking at the photo of the young boy.
"Brother," Alex corrected, smiling down at the frame. "He'd kill me if he knew I had it up. He's twelve now and far too cool for his doting older sisters. Do you have any kids?"
"Nah," Roy shook his head, turning from the photograph and making himself comfortable on the end of the exam table. "I've got a niece though, Phoebe. She's quite alright." Alex could tell by the genuine smile he was fighting that Phoebe was far more than "alright" in his eyes.
Alex reached over to the chart she had face up on her desk, flipping through it to reference, "quite an extensive history in the game."
"Is that a dig about my age?" Roy quipped back defensively, causing Alex to blanch.
"Oh, of course not. Just admiring a successful career. Not everyone's body takes the beatings yours has and keeps going. You're in pretty great shape overall," she admired his most recent x-rays and scans. The corner of Roy's mouth turned up as she remarked on his body, he then admonished himself for responding like Jamie fucking Tartt.
"Well, every artist has their instrument and all," he dismissed the compliment casually and watched her eye the images of his knee. "Except for this fucking thing," he gestured toward his right knee.
"I think we should make sure we keep up strength building and stabilization exercises in these problem areas to ensure best outcomes for this season." She spoke out loud, keeping her eyes on the chart in front of her. She skimmed the notes of the physio before her. "Do you keep up with any exercises you went over with your last physio?"
Roy nodded, then processed to talk her through a demonstration of the exercises Rich had encouraged after his most recent strained muscle. Alex nodded and followed along, watching as he showed her each movement. She allowed him to speak with only an intermittent, "mhm" to acknowledge him and encourage further explanation.
"Good," she smiled as he finished. "I think that you have a great regimen going there. I may add a few isometric exercises if you need a little more support, but I think what you have now is great." She reached out her hand toward him, but hesitated before touching his knee, "may I?"
"Usually they don't ask," Roy nodded.
"Well," Alex reached out and touched his knee. Roy noticed the warmth and softness of her hand. "I usually try to ask before I go around touching people. Personally or professionally." She winked at him and chuckled a bit at her own horrid joke.
Roy gave what she assumed to be a pity laugh, which came out more as a conceding chortle. She hoped that it would at least be a way to lower some of his defenses. It wasn't beyond her to make a slight fool of herself for the sake of rapport with her athletes.
Her hands gently glided over his leg, she stood before him, extending it to it's full length. Her thumbs moved over his calf, pressing in gently in a way that encouraged decreased tension in his muscles. She felt Roy's eyes on her as he watched her deftly work up to his thigh, her eyes honed in intently on his form.
"Lift up," she requested, taking a hand and cradling under his knee. She put the other over his kneecap, feeling the movement of his joint as she manipulated his leg from full extension back to its comfortable bent angle.
When she looked back up at him after her assessment, he was very focused on her. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, she smirked and swallowed.
"Right," she said, breaking a silence that felt thicker than most. "Good range of motion, good muscle tone in both your calves and thighs. No outstanding history of weak ankles. I think our focus will be mostly on your knee, making sure it remains stable. Some kinetic tape may help with support during trainings. I also think regular massotherapy and your exercises will keep you in great shape."
Roy nodded, watching as she turned and began to annotate on her chart what she had just shared with him. Alex felt more comfort in this silence than the one just a moment before. She also acknowledged her hands busy with a pen and paper and not a grown man's thigh.
There was a small rap on the open door of the office. Alex turned from the exam table she was wiping down carefully. Keeley stood at the door, lips pursed into a playful smile.
"Jamie was so right, you are too fit to be a physio," She spoke up boldly, crossing over with her hand out. "I'm Keeley, Jamie's girlfriend." Alex coughed out a chuckle in response and reached out to shake her hand.
"Alex," she was thrown off by the forwardness of the girl's introduction.
"I know," she chewed at her thumbnail and looked over Alex appraisingly, "have you ever thought of modeling? 'Cause I know some people and you've got hips that you could make a mint off of."
Alex let out another laugh. The woman's very brash approach was somehow much more charming than one would expect, "thank you?" She wasn't sure how to respond to what was clearly a genuine compliment from the woman.
"No probs," she smiled and checked her mobile. "I think it's really cool that Rebecca hired a female physio. Definitely need some more estrogen in the place," she glanced up from her phone and turned it toward Alex. "Give me your number and we can get lunch sometime. I've been dying to talk about something more than football with someone. The rest of the boys' girlfriends are all exhausting."
Alex smiled and took the phone from her, "that's so kind of you." She began to type her name and number into the phone, "do you come around often?"
"Oh, yeah," she responded enthusiastically, "I'm a model/actress/whatever, but I spend a lot of time working on branding for Jamie. If you've met him, you know that his image can use all the help it can get." Alex bit her lip in response, refraining from piling on her acknowledgement of Jamie's larger than life personality (ego).
"That's really sweet. He's lucky to have a girlfriend who cares so much," Alex offered, handing the phone back to Keeley.
"Be sure to tell him that, yeah?" She laughed and gave Alex a wink. "Listen, I've got to get Jamie to this shoot for an ad gig, but I'll text you, yeah?" She already began walking towards the door.
"Sounds good, Keeley." Alex smiled, grateful to have met someone a little less intimidating than Rebecca Welton. "See you around."
"Later, babes!" Keeley called, taking off down the hall in a frenzied clack of high heels on the stone floor.
