Work Text:
Day 1
The mustachioed man in front of her was taking entirely too long at the cashier. She had already been queued for 15 minutes, her usual email clean up time, and this man was taking up her precious time. She had been tuning him out since it sounded like he was speaking a different language, but as she tuned in in her impatience, she heard him say “well, thank y’all very kindly” in what was decidedly not the queen’s English.
As he moved to put his wallet back into his pocket, she tried to step forward in the delicate local small coffeeshop ballet and ran right into his backpack.
“Ope! I am so sorry ma’am, I shoulda been watchin’ where I was going!”
Rebecca looked (down? not up, but barely down) at the overly friendly American who had two hands out as if to catch her. She ran her fingers through her hair, which was perfectly in place, and shooed his hands away.
“Not a worry, I would just like to order.”
“Then step right up!” He took a step back and swept into a massive bow, gesturing toward the counter. The young lady who took his order was smiling at the whole exchange, looking more pleased than Rebecca had ever seen her. Not that Rebecca had ever seen her before. She carefully moved past the mustache and his hands.
“English breakfast, one sugar.”
She paid (quickly, as one should) and moved over to wait in the minuscule standing room, phone out and more emails waiting for responses. Her tea appeared on the bar and she left, all thoughts about Americans gone.
Day 3
“Ya know, I’ve always enjoyed local coffeeshops. The flavor is stronger. Get it? Stronger? Like coffee?”
Rebecca’s head snapped up and swung around. Mustache man was standing next to her, looking for all the word like he hadn’t just spoken and was simply waiting on his drink. “I’m sorry?”
“No need to apologize, it was a bad joke. Well, it wasn’t my best, but it wasn’t terrible. Simply medium. Like a good medium roast! What’s your favorite joke?” He was full on looking at her now, eyes bright and eyebrows raised like he was waiting on the punchline to the joke she had no intention of telling.
“I have no intention of telling a joke to man I hardly know.”
“Rebecca, your order’s ready!”
“Excuse me, I’m off.” She stomped away from him and out the door. How dare he speak to her out of no where? What was he thinking?
Day 4
“The name’s Ted. Ted Lasso.” A hand had just inserted itself into her field of vision, next to a lengthy email about budgets that she wasn’t really comprehending. She looked up and the hand was attached to the mustache man who was smiling at her. Again.
She ignored his hand. “I don’t remember seeking an introduction.”
He let his hand drop, but the smile stayed in full force. “I heard your name yesterday, but it felt unfair to know yours without you knowin’ mine. So I guess I was the one seekin’ in the introduction.” He stuck his hand back out. “It’s lovely to meet you…” This was accompanied with a mustache twitch and an eyebrow waggle.
“You are completely ridiculous.”
He just stared at her.
With a sigh and an eye roll, she shook his hand. “Rebecca Welton. How do you do.”
If possible, his smile got even bigger. "How do you do indeed! It is a pleasure to meet you for real. Say, what's your order? My treat?"
Rebecca felt her mouth fall open. A stranger offering to buy her drink? That hadn't happened since... No. She wouldn't think about him anymore. "I appreciate the offer Ted, but not today."
His smile didn't diminish in the slightest. 'Not a problem, boss. At the very least, you can order first." His bow wasn't as deep as the original, but it was a close second.
Rebecca rolled her eyes and tried to hide the smile breaking her tense mask.
Day 7
“Honestly boss, one day you'll let me buy your coffee." Rebecca smirked and continued pretending to ignore Ted next to her in the queue. "Seriously, how do you get it so cheap? I've never even heard of a breakfast drink, unless it was a lot of breakfast foods tossed in a blender, and that just doesn't sound good at all."
"Ted, if you order my drink for yourself and enjoy it, I will happily let you buy it for me." His usually sugary coffee drinks would be the opposite of her tea, one sugar. She was winning this.
"You got it!"
10 minutes later, they were both laughing as they cleared up spilled tea.
Day 15
“One vanilla caramel frappe and an English breakfast, one sugar.” Rebecca smiled at her phone from the table in the corner where she waited for Ted and their two drinks.
Day 23
"Honestly, why do you call it soccer? It doesn't make any sense!"
"It's better than having two sports called football!”
Day 45
"Ted, I did not give you my number so you could text me football memes all week!"
Day 53
“Well how-dy sir!”
“How do ya do, ma’am?”
The other patrons did not seem to appreciate the giggles from their table in the corner.
Day 72
She looked around when the coffee shop started to buzz a little louder normal.
“Becca, is that man someone important?”
She followed Ted’s finger to the end of the line where one Rupert Mannion was standing, looking perfectly windswept and talking to some young chit. She immediately turned to face the wall.
“Becca! Are you okay?”
“Keep your voice down! It’s no one. Don’t worry about it.”
“Uh, yeah, only he’s looking at us. Should I wave?”
“No!” She quickly grabbed his hands. His eyes were bright, so she knew he was only teasing, but her panic was real. “Ted, that’s my e-“
“Rebecca!” The slimy voice rang across the small shop. Rupert had apparently been able to place his order already, that annoying prick, and began to make his way toward them.
“-x-husband.”
Ted’s eyebrows shot up before he smiled and turned towards Rupert. “Well, howdy there! I’m Ted Lasso!”
Rebecca wanted to groan and slam her head down on the table, but that didn’t seem like the best course of action at the moment. For his part, Rupert just looked amused at the American before attempting his usual smile-and-wave routine.
“Ah, Ted Lasso. Rupert Mannion. I’m sure my lovely former wife has told you all about me.”
“Nothin’ worth repeating, that’s for sure.” Ted was still smiling, but Rebecca noticed that his eyes, usually a warm pool of chocolate, looked sharper. “Becca here has been too busy telling me the much more interesting stories in her life.”
“Ah, that’s Randy Rebecca for you. I always had to reign her in, didn’t I? Darling, it is such a pleasure to see you again. Are you sure no one is missing you at this hour?” His hand landed on her shoulder.
Two very interesting things happened at that moment. Rebecca froze, which wasn’t one of them. However, the woman Rupert had been in line with appeared on the other side of Rupert’s outstretched arm, and Ted stood up faster than you could say ‘Kansas.’ Rupert gave the shoulder a squeeze before wrapping the offending arm around the woman.
“Rebecca, Ted, this is Bex. Bex, is my new fiancé.”
Rebecca was still frozen, so there wasn’t much change there. Ted was not so constrained.
“Congrats y’all! That’s awesome. Set a date yet?”
“No, no, it’s all so new. We were just so excited to get started on our lives together, it didn’t seem like it was worth waiting.”
Rebecca’s voice finally found it’s way back to her throat. “That’s… I… congrats?”
Rupert looked down at her with a smile so condescending, she wanted to just cry. “Rebecca, you’re being so mature about this. I was a little worried about your response to be honest.”
For a second it sounded like Ted growled, but that couldn’t be right. “Oh, Becca here doesn’t have too much to worry about in that department, if you know what I mean.” And then he winked at Rupert. He actually winked.
“How lovely!” Bex’s voice was kind. How lovely, indeed. “Rupert, dear, I’ve got to get going. Rebecca, Ted, it was so nice to meet you! Enjoy the rest of your drinks!”
Rupert gave them both a nod before leading Bex away. Rebecca saw him glance back as Ted took her hands back in his.
“Becca, you okay?” Ted’s eyes had refilled with the warmth she was used to. Compared to Rupert, it was like a sip of the best cup of tea on a cold London day.
“I’m fine. I should get to work, he’s right.” She took her hands back and stood up, Ted right in sync with her.
“Can I walk you there? Just so I make sure you’re okay?”
“Ted, I’m fine.”
“Roger that, phat cat. See you tomorrow?” He looked nervous? Worried? She couldn’t put her finger on it. What did he have to be worried about?
“Of course. Your treat?” She winked for good measure. Anything to get him back to normal, and it worked. He smiled his full smile, not the half-assed one he had worn since Rupert first walked over.
“Always.”
Day 73
“Ted.”
“Rebecca.”
Two exchanged smirks, two exchanged drinks, and all was right in the world.
Day 94
“Honestly, he was such a dick. Abuse at worst, a snake at best. My therapist tells me it was abuse, but it’s hard to accept that.”
“I would imagine so - it was such a huge part of your life, it’s hard to believe it was so bad for so long.”
“Sounds like personal experience?”
“Well…”
Day 116
“Becca! You’ll never believe what my therapist said about tea. He said it can be ‘calming.’ Surely not!”
Rebecca just took a smug sip.
Day 140
“I had another panic attack last night.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Better. Took a bath, went to bed early. Looked forward to seeing you.”
If anyone cared to look at their table, it would have looked like two blushing teenagers sitting there, instead of the two adults in the prime of their life.
Day 163
“You know, I’ve always liked chocolate.”
“And I’ve always been partial to jade. It’s supposed to be good luck, ya know.”
Day 215
“I’ve always wanted to see that musical!”
“I’ll keep an eye out for tickets.”
Day 270
“Honestly, if he’s going to go through with it and marry ‘New Rebecca,’ at least he’d have the decency to invite me.”
“Becca, you’d really want to go to that man’s wedding?”
“No, I’d want to get drunk and judge the horrendous choices.”
“You know what, I can’t argue with that. I like my ex-wife and I still would probably be a little unfair.”
“I need to introduce you to Keeley, she’d get you set up for that in no time.”
Day 365
Rebecca was late. She was never late, but her alarm and her shower and she needed to call an electrician and before she knew it, she was late. She swung the door open to the shop, in full London drizzled frizzled glory, attracting several stares and glares. None of the patrons registered, except for the man with the mustache at the table they had set at for the past few months. Their eyes met and she glided toward him, a smile growing on her face to match the one one his. He sprung up from his chair to wrap her in a hug, resulting in a knocked table and some spilled tea and water from her jacket all over the surrounding area.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watch where I was going.”
Rebecca just smiled, wrapped in his arms and unwilling to move for anything less than… probably death, at this point. “Not a worry.”
“Becca…”
“Ted?”
“Could… I… we…”
“Ted.”
“Can I take you out tonight?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”