Chapter Text
“Hey [Y/N] you got a second?” Your boss and the Head Coach of the University Football team, Ted Lasso, poked his head into your office.
“Coach, as I’ve been reminded several times by Charles you are my boss and not the other way around. Meaning 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 you anytime he caught wind of you 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.” You couldn’t stop your heart from racing as you watched Coach Lasso shut the door.
You were about to complete your eighth year working at the University’s Athletics Department. You’d started in the laundry room as a Freshman because your older sister, Anna, had told you 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 you, someone with no interest in sports, it was an uphill battle. Still, failure wasn’t something you were accustomed too, so you rose quickly through the various work study ranks. By your senior year you were the Senior Administrator of the Athletics Department. It was a very fancy way of saying you were responsible for getting the coaches what they wanted before they even knew they wanted it. When you graduated, the school asked you to stay on in a permanent capacity. You were too deep in student debt and short on reasons to say no when they offered you 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.” You assured him. He nodded and sat down across from you.
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 your school for about a month before you were absolutely smitten with him. Over time you 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 you’d 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.
By now, you were no stranger to having the Head Football Coach barge into your office politely demanding you 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 your brain and other parts of your body that Ted was in your office by his lonesome. You forced yourself 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 on your desk. “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!” You exclaimed already feeling a hole beginning to form in your 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?” You 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.” You opened up the laptop on your desk and began looking at the team calendar. “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 your laptop closed. You looked up giving Ted your 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.” You confessed. You 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 you.
“Well, lucky for you I’ve already found one.” You watched Coach Lasso fish around in his pockets before handing you a folded-up scrap of paper. He gestured for you to open it. On the inside of the note was only a number, a very large number, just a little over what you make in a year. He watched you 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?” You 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 you said no.
“I’ll need some time to think about it.” Even as you told him that, your mind was racing trying to figure out how you could make it work. Your sister lived in Colorado now and your parents had moved back to Connecticut where they were both from originally. You 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 you feel anxious. You didn’t like the idea that you 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, [Y/N].”
“Talk to you soon, Coach.” You promised. As Ted stepped out of the room you reached for one of the cookies that you knew would be impossibly gooey and sweet. Just like the man who’d made them.