Chapter Text
Lily didn’t see Roy again over the next few days, her schedule at work kept her tied to her desk or glued to Rebecca's side making sure everything was just right for the fundraiser that she barely had time to eat let alone track down the dark-haired man.
It wasn't until the night of the benefit that she saw him again, albeit it was from far away as she was tasked with ensuring things were running smoothly and he was seated at a table with Ted Lasso, Jamie Tarrt, and a few others she didn’t recognize right away. She didn't really have time to eat the dinner provided for her let alone approach him during the night, so she made a mental note to return the jumper on Monday.
The night was turning out to be quite the success with just a few minor things popping up here and there. The only major hiccup was the arrogant party crasher that was Rupert Mannion. The strained smile of Rebecca worried Lily but she was too busy greeting and seating guests that she couldn't find out what was going on, but after a while she saw Rebecca mingling through the crowd her smile bright again and Lily sighed in relief, assuming the situation was under control.
It was nearing the auction portion of the fundraiser that Rupert approached her, the sly smile on his face causing her stomach to turn.
"Miss. Bell! It has been far too long since we last met, how are you?” He asked as he closed the distance between them. Her smile tightened as she met his gaze.
“I have been well Mr. Mannion, and you?” She asked and he chuckled.
“Please dear you know to just call me Rupert, and I am fantastic. No doubt you helped Rebeccas plan all this, it really is well done and might I just say you look absolutely gorgeous tonight.” His eyes roamed over her as he moved closer, an arm wrapping across the back of her shoulders as he continued to talk, “You know we could really use a team assistant like you over at West Ham.” He didn't notice her winced at his closeness, the champagne on his breath washing over her face as she scoured the room for an escape.
“Oh, I am sorry Mr. Mannio, I would love to stay and chat but I will have to take my leave it looks like I am needed over by the bar!” She said as she wiggled free from his grasp and walked over to the bar where she saw Rebecca ordering a drink.
When she approached, Rebecca turned towards her and she smiled up at the tall woman.
“Oh, Lily dear! How was dinner?” She asked and grabbed her glass of wine from the bartender.
“It was absolutely delicious Ms. Welton, the chicken was nicely done.” Lily lied and a smile lit up Rebecca’s face. Her boss didn't need to know that she hadn't gotten the chance to even sit down yet let alone eat.
“That is so good to hear, it is turning out to be an interesting night, isn't-" Rebecca sighed interrupting herself "Oh what is that old bat doing over there!?” The older woman said as she moved away from the bar leaving Lily alone. Exhaling, Lily ordered a glass of whiskey and sat down on a stool as she surveyed the room.
Rupert was now speaking to Rebecca and Ted, and it looked like Jamie, Roy, and the woman who Lily now recognized as Keeley Jones were having a nice chat although she had to roll her eyes at the ridiculous outfit Jamie was wearing, really who wears no shirt to an event like this?
A light tap on the bar pulled her from her musings, turning around Lily smiled gratefully at the bartender as she picked up the glass and sipped at the amber liquid. It was a much-needed pick me up, the nausea that had bubbled up from Rupert's touch disappearing as the alcohol burned through her body.
She sat at the bar for a while, playing with her glass and secretly reveling in her only break that night. She sat there, lost in her musings for a while, half paying attention when the auction started and it was only when she heard the bidding war start over Jamie Tartt that she actually started paying attention but that was short-lived as Keeley bid a ridiculous amount on him. Taking a break from the auction Lily turned back to the bartender and ordered another glass of whiskey, suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around to face... Ms. Cheryl Barnaby. She was a filthy rich older woman that her grandma was friends with.
"I thought that was you dear." The old woman said as she pinched Lily's cheek.
"Oh, Ms. Barnaby! How are you?" Lily asked and the smile she plastered on her face hurt a little.
"You know me, just trying to stay young," Cheryl nudged Lily's are with a smile as she continued " But nevermind me, I just came over to see if you would want to go out with my little William, you know he has had a crush on you for a very long time and you've been single for ages now, you don't want to be a spinster do you?" Lily's smile hurt even more now as she looked at the old woman and gripped her empty glass tightly.
"Ms.Barnaby I -" She began to say but was cut off as Rupert started the auction up again and Cherly patted her arm, " I better get back to my seat so just think about it dear, I don't need an answer right away," she said before walking away. Lily's smile dropped and she grabbed the whiskey the bartender handed her and slammed back the contents, throat burning as she watched Rupert on the stage.
“...And now, the only former Champions League winner on the menu, say hello to Roy Kent.” Rupert announced and applause rang out as Roy walked on stage and she heard Jamie yell out “Granddad". Rupert continued, “And the highest bidder gets to spend a day at a swanky hotel by the pool…drinking frozen daiquiris and soaking up the rays –” Roy grabbed the microphone stand away from Rupert “Noone said - there’s no daiquiris and no rays.” He said as he made to hand the stand back to Rupert, the crowd laughing before he grabbed it again and continued “There's not gonna be a fucking pool either. We're not leaving SW14.”
The scowl on his face made Lily laugh as Rupert took over again.
“Well, can we have 100 quid for what's turning out to be a very boring date?” He asked and after a brief silence, Keeley Jones raised her paddle. “All right. A thousand pounds” she announced but Cheryl had other plans, and there was a bidding war between Keeley and Cheryl, with Cheryl winning the date night with Roy. The look on Roy's said it all as he got off the stage and left the room.
Frowning she watched as Keeley also stood up, flipped Jamie off, and left too. What was that all about? She thought as she stood up from her stool. Sighing, she was glad her night was done, she was only needed until the auction was done, so she moved through the crowd quickly making her way to the coat check she paused for a moment as an idea popped into her head and made her way over to Ms. Barnaby who was still sitting at her table. Walked up to the older lady, a fake smile plastered on her face as she bent down and whispered into her ear. The older lady contemplated what Lily had said before she smiled and nodded her head. With that taken care of Lily quickly weaved her way through the tables, collected her purse at the coat check, and exited the venue just as the performer started playing.
Once outside, Lily looked around for a taxi as she pulled her phone out of her bag and paused when she spotted Roy leaning against the side of the building. Smiling, she walked over to him.
“Good night?” She asked as she leaned against the building beside him. Roy glanced at her with a grunt. A light summer breeze flowed around them, causing a chill to run down her back and she remembered the jumper she had tucked away in her bag.
"Oh!" She exclaimed as she reached into her bag and pulled the jumper out as she turned to him. “I almost forgot! Here's your jumper back.”
He looked at her, took the jumper, and nodded.
“Also, Ms. Barnaby decided she was just going to donate the money she bid on you. No date required.” She said nonchalantly as she looked up at him, his dark eyes intense as he returned her gaze.
Her breathing hitched and she began to explain. “Well you know it really is for the children and lord knows you would hate to go on that date, and Cheryl is a friend of my grandmothers...so I…talked to her and she was more than willing to donate the money without the date.”
"Thanks." He muttered his voice still rough.
“Just think of it as a thank you for helping me out the other day.” She smiled widely at him and he grunted and pushed off from the wall. "Wait here," he said as he walked back into the venue.
Confused she replayed the conversation in her mind again, thoughts spinning, did she do something wrong? Did she overstep by having the date canceled? Or maybe he was just trying to get away from her. Sighing, she riffled in her purse for a piece of gum, hoping to satiate her growing hunger while she waited for Roy to come back out.
After a few minutes and no gum found, she saw Roy exit the building and walk back over to her.
“Do you need a ride home?” He asked and nodded his head to the parking lot and she nodded enthusiastically, "That would be wonderful! I won't have to track down a taxi now." She replied stuffing her phone back into her purse, following after Roy who led the way to his vehicle.
"Fuck me," she said as she got a good look at the car Roy was walking towards. It was big, black, and surely expensive as hell. She could probably buy her flat two times over with the money that was spent on it and as they got closer to the vehicle, she wondered how she was going to climb into it with her tight dress and heels. Roy having approached the vehicle sooner than she had, unlocked the doors with the fob and opened the passenger side door for her. Placing her right hand on the grab handle she started to climb into the vehicle but a hand on her lower back made her pause ever so slightly before she continued and sat down, Roy closing the door behind her. She buckled her seatbelt as he got in on the driver's side, started the vehicle, and began driving after programming Lily's address into his phone.
A few minutes passed in silence and to Lily's shock, it was Roy who broke it. “How did you get Cheryl Barnaby to drop the date?” Roy asked and the question made Lily purse her lips, as she thought the topic had been dropped earlier.
“Oh, it was nothing to worry about, you know family friend and all, Cheryl just loves me.” Lily tried to sound nonchalant as she stared out the passenger side window. Roy scoff, causing her to look at him, he had an eyebrow raised and looked at her from the corner of his eye. She changed the subject quickly, “I heard the food was fantastic tonight what entrée did you choose?” her stomach took that as its cue to gurgle loudly and she felt a blush rush to her cheeks.
“Did you not eat?” Roy asked, his eyes focused on the road.
“Pfft, of course, I ate.” She laughed as she rolled her eyes at him.
“You’re a terrible liar.” Was all that he responded with, and the car was filled with silence once more.
It was after a few minutes when she glanced out her window and realized they were not heading to her flat as they pulled into the parking lot of The Crown & Anchor.
“Come on,” Roy said as he opened his door and got out and Lily scrambled to unbuckle herself and get out of the vehicle to follow him. “I really am okay!” she yelled after him but he just kept walking until he got to the front door and stopped. After she caught up to him, he held the door open for her and she walked in.
The pub was quiet tonight except for a few regulars at the bar nursing their drinks or watching the telly. Roy picked a booth and sat down, and an expectant look on his face made Lily sit down too. Mae the owner of the pub was quick to rush over to the two once she spotted them and greeted Roy briefly before turning to Lily.
“Lily, love, you look absolutely stunning. How was the fundraiser?” Mae asked a mischievous gleam in her eye, Lily had taken to stopping into the pub on various occasions. More often than not, it was a safe place to bring blind dates to when she wasn’t sure about the bloke and Mae had become a sort of maternal figure for her, plus she always had the latest gossip.
“It was lovely Mae, Rebecca did an amazing job setting it all up. But I can catch you up on everything later.” She said with a smile, Mae nodded “Well what can I get for you dears?”
“Nothing for me,” Roy said his arms crossed, black suit tight around his arms hinting at the muscle beneath.
“Uh could I just get the usual Mae?” Lily asked and Mae nodded with a wink before rushing off to the back. Suddenly, Lily remembered what her usual was and turned to call Mae back but was unsuccessful the older lady already disappeared.
Turning back around she faced Roy again and began to lightly tap her fingers on the table as she looked around the pub trying to see who was all there. Roy stared at her for a while before he spoke again.
“What favour did you agree to?” The rasp in his voice caused her to lose focus on the rhythm she was tapping out and her fingers stopped midair.
“What favour?.” Lily responded feigning confusion, as she briefly caught his gaze before turning it to the telly on the wall. She felt Roy’s gaze bore into the side of her face.
“Tell me.” He said, the tone harsh leaving her no room to avoid the topic. Looking back at his face, his dark brown eyes intense as she felt herself get lost in them and she sighed.
“It really isn't anything at all. Cheryl is a friend of my grandma’s and has been trying to set me up with her grandson for like a really long time. So...in exchange for your date with her, I agreed to go out with him. Plus she still is donating the $6,000 pounds.” The words tumbled out of her mouth and felt her face heat up as she watched Roy nod.
“So you’re going on a date instead?” He asked and she nodded with a shrug.
“And you did this to pay me back for lending you a jumper?” She nodded again and jumped when Mae placed two pints of beer on the table in front of her, she glanced up at the barmaid who smiled at her and walked away.
Confusion sparked across Roy's face. Lily laughed lightly, “Well this is my usual” and his eyebrows rose slightly, “You come here a lot?” he asked.
But before Lily could speak, Mae answered for her while placing a plate of fish and chips down in front of her. “She is a welcomed regular, but we usually don’t see any of the guys she brings here come back round."
Lily shot Mae a playful glare, “Mae!”
“What? It’s true!” Mae laughed and walked away.
Rolling her eyes, Lily followed up on Mae's comment “uh yeah sometimes, usually after work or like Mae said...for blind dates.” She answered Roy as she began to eat the food and Roy grunted in response.
The conversation lulled while she ate, occasionally she would ask Roy a few questions mostly about football or work-related things and once she was finished and had paid, they left and got back into Roy’s vehicle.
The drive from the pub to her place was short and Roy was just parking in the parking lot of her apartment complex when her phone rang.
Pulling her phone out of her bag she saw that it was her ex-boyfriend calling and she quickly declined the call. Glancing out the window she looked at the entrance of the complex and then looked at Roy nervously, not wanting to get out. Another call came through but she declined the call again.
“You going to answer that?” Roy asked, his eyebrows furrowed together.
“Oh uh it’s just my ex…he does this sometimes.” Lily tried to laugh it off but the noise came out a bit strangled and she hesitated as she unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed the door handle only to be stopped by Roy's hand on her shoulder.
“Is… that him over there?” He pointed to a figure kicking a garbage bin beside the front door and Lily's eyes followed his finger quickly. She sucked in a ragged breath as saw him. She couldn’t go home, not now while he was waiting for her. Who knows what he would do to her if she tried to go home?
Seeing the panic on her face had Roy reaching over her and pulling the seatbelt back across her, clicking it in place.
-
Half an hour later, Lily was sitting in a large plush chair sipping on a glass of wine in the sitting room of Roy’s house as she told Roy about her temperamental ex-boyfriend. Roy had taken it upon himself to remove her from the situation and drove her back to his place for the night, offering an ample amount of wine to ease the panic and fear that had washed over her.
“…and then I broke up with him but anytime he gets pissed at the pub he finds his way to my front door and tries to uh break into my flat.” She said downing the rest of her wine as she tried to avoid eye contact with Roy.
“You call the Police?” He asked and sipped his own glass of wine.
“Yeah, but there wasn’t much that they could do besides write him a fine for noise disturbance.” She answered with a roll of her eyes and Roy nodded, “Stay in the guest room, I’ll drive you back in the morning.” He said as he leaned over pouring her more wine.
“Oh no I shouldn’t –” Lily waved her hand in front of her as she spoke but was cut off by Roy, “Stay the night, I’ll put out extra blankets.” Was all he said as he placed his wine glass down on the coffee table and walked out of the room.
“Fucking hell,” Lily swore to herself and pulled at the collar of her black dress, the fabric tight and uncomfortable from wearing it for hours. Why did tonight have to be one of the nights that her ex-boyfriend showed up at her place? Sighing she looked down at her sore feet, hours of wearing high heels having left red imprints on them.
Downing her glass of wine again and setting it down, she folded over herself and began to massage her calves and ankles as she waited for Roy to come back. The mixture of alcohol she drank that night made her head spin.
“Here” Roy’s voice startled her, glancing up at him, hands still touching her ankles she smiled widely. Roy stood beside her, clothes in hand.
Standing up rather ungracefully, Lily clasped the clothing between both of her hands as she felt the blood rush out of her head.
“Oh lovely, thank you so much. I really owe you one now, don’t I?” She giggled, the alcohol coursing through her, making her feel a bit giddy.
“The guest room is the second door on the left.” Was Roy’s only reply as he pointed down the hallway and walked away from her.
Nodding to herself, Lily walked down the hallway and into the second door as directed. The light was already turned on when Lily entered, and she saw the room was furnished with the basics. A bed with a dark brown headboard and frame, dark grey bedding that matched the curtains on the window to the left of the bed, and a closet door on the right side.
Closing the door behind her, she exhaled and sat on the bed, clothes tossed beside her as she stretched her arms into the air before reaching behind her neck and pulling at the zipper of her dress.
Her fingers fiddled with the zipper for a few minutes but no amount of pulling on it worked. She tried another way, reaching her arms behind herself she tried to reach the zipper but that too was unsuccessful. Standing up, Lily tried to shimmy out of the dress but the three-quarter length sleeves and high neckline didn’t allow it, leaving Lily panting as she once again tried to unzip the bloody thing. "Oh fuck off" She muttered in frustration as she ran her hands through her hair, trying to think of a way to get out of the dress without completely ruining it. Thinking she would just have to sleep in the dress she looked at the bed in disappointment and saw the clothes that Roy gave her to wear and remembered she wasn't all alone.
Padding her way over to the bedroom door she opened it and popped her head out looking down the hall.
“Uh, Roy? You there?” She asked and waited for a minute before asking a little louder, hoping she wasn’t disturbing him, “Hey Roy?” Lily heard a door open and saw Roy walk out of a room at the end of the hallway, he was no longer dressed in his black suit from the fundraiser but in a tight black shirt and pair of dark grey pyjama bottoms. She smiled weakly at him trying not to stare as she notice how tight the t-shirt was against his muscles as he came to stand before her.
“Um, could you help me?” She asked as she opened the door wider and turned around to point at the zipper as she looked over her shoulder at him. Seeing him nod she felt relieved.
Roy approached her quietly, his left hand placed against the side of her hip as his other hand gently moved her long hair over her shoulder. His breath tickling the back of her neck as he began to fiddle with the zipper. It only took a minute for Roy to get the zipper unstuck but it felt longer to Lily as she held her breath, overly aware of how his hand brushed against her back as he slowly unzipped the dress. Moving the zipper all the way down her back... leaving just the top of her lacey black thong exposed. They stood still like that for a moment, the sound of their breathing being the only thing that filled the space.
Roy was the first to move as he stepped away from her and she spun around to look at him, one hand behind her to grip the back of her dress as she smiled at him.
“Thank you,” she said a little breathless and he nodded as he turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Lily stood staring at the door for a minute until the cool air in the room made her shiver. Remembering what she was doing, she finished undressing and changed into the clothes that were left lying on the bed. They were large on her, the bottoms slipping off her hips no matter how tight she pulled the drawstrings, and the shirt came down to her upper thigh, and held a faint scent to it. The size of the clothes didn't matter to her as she crawled into the bed and snuggled herself into the blankets, finally feeling relaxed after such a busy day, sighing she closed her eyes and let sleep take over.