Chapter 10: New Studio (Edited)

"The god's tongue?" Maia was intrigued.

Alex just skipped over the subject. "Forget it. You can't understand this. It's not something for children."

Maia just chuckled at this.

And like this, their date happened in a very harmonious atmosphere without any problems, filled with smiles and laughter.

After leaving the restaurant, Alex reached for Maia's hand, intertwining his fingers with hers.

"Would you like to take a walk?" he asked, looking down at her with a sincere smile.

Maia nodded, her eyes sparkling in the dim light. "I'd love to."

Maia had already forgotten about Alex's surprise because she was enjoying this moment very much, just the two of them without any masks or hypocrisy. She hoped this moment could last forever without anything interrupting them.

Ten minutes passed just like this. They never spoke, just enjoying holding each other's hands quietly. After walking for a while, they arrived in a quiet area, away from the heavy traffic and industrial noise.

Maia saw a strange building here. From the outside, it looked like a house. But since Alex was the one who brought her here, she was curious about what would happen, especially after she now recalled the surprise he mentioned.

When Alex opened the door and they entered, it was dark. Alex said, "Surprise," then turned on the light.

Maia was shocked because what she saw looked like a professional studio.

At first glance, it was evident that it was designed by acoustic engineers to optimize sound quality. This included floating floors, soundproof walls, and isolated recording rooms to prevent sound leakage and external noise.

There were high-quality soundproofing materials used in walls, ceilings, and floors to prevent external noise and internal sound leakage, with strategically placed acoustic panels, bass traps, and diffusers to control reflections, standing waves, and flutter echoes, creating a balanced acoustic environment.

There was almost anything that a top professional studio could have, with isolated recording booths, a mixing console, a digital audio workstation, etc.

Leaving aside the building price, this professional setup must have cost more than $50,000.

Before she had time to ask, Alex said, "Originally, this was just a small studio that I bought for my hobby. But knowing how much you love singing, I couldn't help but think about what face you would make if I turned it into a top professional studio for you. And it seems I was not wrong, haha."

Maia was touched by Alex's gesture. Originally, she was living with her father in Argentina and then going to different locations for filming. She didn't even have her basic studio. It seemed that she earned much from filming, but in fact, she had to pay the rent for the hotel room when filming. She wasn't sponsored by anyone and had to buy her clothes, cosmetics products, etc., plus, she didn't settle in one place as she was always moving between living with her father and staying in hostels.

She smiled beautifully and hugged Alex tightly. "It seems that you didn't let me down." This act of Alex's was like asking her to move in and officially live with him.

After the hug, she said to Alex: "Let's take a selfie of my first time in the studio." After that, she directly posted it on her Instagram account.

Alex could only smile. He knew that Maia had a little inferiority complex here. His two ex-girlfriends are big celebrities known internationally, and although she started gaining fame, she didn't even have 2 million followers on Instagram. This is also one of the reasons she didn't want to announce their relationship.

By posting this selfie of the two of them, she is officially announcing that they are together. At the same time, she must also bear the pressure from the media. The English media are well known for putting pressure on celebrities, and there will be many fans who will compare her with his two exes, especially since she is Argentinian. They will have an initial negative impression of her thanks to Diego Simeone's deeds at the World Cup.

"Are you sure you will not regret doing this? You have to know that there will be some pressure that you must bear."

Maia just smiled. It's a lie to say that she didn't feel pressured. Alex's ex-girlfriends are all international singers while she had to act in a movie to gather some fans. But to be honest, as long as Alex continued to be honest and considerate, she felt that she could overcome this pressure.

After the date ended, Alex and Maia naturally returned to Alex's home, and only they knew what happened after returning home.

-----------

In the morning, Alex woke up much earlier than he used to because today was the day of the training reprise. It is also the first training session that Alex will officially direct. Although he has done it before as the captain when the coach asked him, today will be completely different.

Alex is truly a fearless person, but not a fool. He knew that there must be players doubting him, but his advantage is that no one would dare to disrespect him in Sunderland no matter what he did, just like no one would disrespect Leo Messi at Barça in 2012.

Putting these careful thoughts aside, Alex was already at the training ground. Today, as it was the first training session since becoming a player-coach, he would not do too much but just give the players some encouragement, playing a training match to show his new ability. Since it's an open training, fans can also participate, which will entertain the fans.

---------

Only one hour after he arrived, all the players were already there. Even though they are friends with Alex, they also know that it's basic respect to arrive a little earlier for the first training of a newly appointed coach, a little bit of an unspoken rule.

Right now, they are not in the locker room but on the training ground, and the atmosphere is a little more formal than it used to be.

First, Alex coughed a little before saying: "Hey, why does everyone seem so shy? You aren't meeting a girl but your new boss."

Jordan Willis, who has a good relationship with Alex, responded with a grin: "Well, captain, maybe we're just intimidated by your new 'coach' aura. It's quite something."

The group chuckled, easing the weird atmosphere that had built up. Alex appreciated the levity, knowing that humor would be key to maintaining a positive atmosphere. It was also one of the reasons why he has a good relationship with Willis because the latter has a high EQ.