Chapter 29: First Experience

When Axel saw the person in a pink jacket behind Ryan, he was certain that it was his little sister, Aurora and that was why he had that resentful look on his face.

That certainty was the reason why he was staring at the lady sitting down on the couch in his living room with a confused expression on his face.

She had that strawberry blonde hair just like Aurora and their faces were almost similar with those emerald green eyes but she looked more mature and had quite the long eyelashes.

He felt like he was looking at an older version of her and if he didn't know any better he would have come to the conclusion that she was her twin.

He always saw Aurora like that little sister that he always felt inclined to bully but the person sitting in front of him gave off this faint aura of intimidation.

Axel told her to make herself at home as soon as they walked into the house and she started by taking a seat on the couch while the two of them just stood there.

"So, Axel, this young lady here is my cousin, Alice Wilson," Ryan said, beginning the introductions. "Alice, this is my best friend and the newest addition to City's squad, Axel David."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Axel," Alice said before offering her hand for a handshake.

"Umm..yeah, it's a pleasure to meet you too," Axel uttered before accepting the handshake.

"Alright." Ryan joined his hands together before taking a deep breath. "The introduction's done now so you two should get to know each other, in the meantime, I'll go help you cook up something in the kitchen, I hope you're not out of supplies."

Just after saying that, he turned and began to make his way to the kitchen.

"Hey, Ryan, wait up."

Axel had to quickly rush after his friend because he didn't like the spot he was put in.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked, making it clear that he was annoyed as he closed up on him.

"Huh?" Ryan replied, feigning ignorance.

"You know I have a strict no-girls policy that even extends to your sister to an extent and you went and brought your hot cousin to my house. Do you mind explaining the motivation behind this, please?"

"Hot cousin?" 

He felt like bursting into a feat of laughter but that was going to draw Alice's attention so he held it in.

"That part sort of slipped out, please forget I said anything like that." The youngster shook his head trying to hide the embarrassment he felt at that moment.

"Sure," Ryan responded with a nod. "But you don't have anything to worry about."

"Huh?"

"Alice is here for something serious business, she's not the type of person that would want to meet up with my friend just because I told her about you, no matter how impressive that friend may be." Ryan disclosed.

"Oh?"

He didn't know why but that sort of rubbed him the wrong way.

"And what is this serious business that she's here for?"

"You'll have to go ask her that for yourself because as you can see, I'm busy right now." He replied before opening the fridge.

Axel didn't have any proper response to give to that as he let out a sigh before turning his gaze to the living room to see Alice bringing out a small notebook from her bag.

'I think I already have an idea of what this might be about.'

He returned to the living room with his mind now at ease and slowly sat down beside her.

"I see you're done talking with Ryan," Alice remarked before dropping her phone on the table.

"Yeah." He replied before turning his gaze to her.

The fact that she had a striking resemblance to Aurora who he had no problem looking straight in the eye made things easier for him.

He's been in a couple of composure-breaking situations so it wasn't anything new to him.

"And I take it that he told you why I am here?" She inquired.

'She's so formal.'

"No, he said I should find that out from you, although, I think I already have an idea of what it might be."

"Oh, you do? Well, that's interesting but I'll still like to explain it to you."

"Okay, go on," Axel responded.

"Alright, but can I ask you a question first?"

"Um…sure."

After giving her the go-ahead order, she just kept her gaze fixated on him for a while without saying anything.

At a point, Axel got uncomfortable and had to shift his gaze to the door.

"Outside Manchester City, what's that dream club you would like to play for one day?"

"Hmm, dream club."

That question piqued his interest to the extent that he had to turn his gaze away from her with his hand on his chin.

"I haven't really given much thought to that, but if I were to say, maybe Barcelona, most of my favorite players in the history of football played there but I don't really plan to play for top clubs for the rest of my career." He articulated.

"Oh, and why's that?" Alice asked, leaning a little closer to him.

He seemed to have piqued her interest with that last part and now she wanted to know more.

"Well, that's simple, in a big club that has already achieved a lot, the mark I'll leave might end up not being that impactful but if I go to a smaller club, I can help them achieve something they had never achieved before and that would be leaving the ultimate mark because they'll never forget the one who helped them get their first."

"Yes, you're right, Axel, but you're missing something."

"Huh?"

"Those clubs are below the top clubs for a couple of reasons that include, the lack of quality players, a good coach, poor mentality, injuries due to poor training methods, and a lot of other things. Do you honestly think you can steer one of those clubs in the right direction yourself?"

"And why would I need to do that?" Axel responded before leaning back on the couch. "Football is a team sport, isn't it? Some of the big clubs didn't suddenly become big, they started somewhere, you just have to make them see what they're doing wrong, and my job will be with mentality shifting. It doesn't have to happen in one season."

'Although, something like that may end up ruining my career goal so joining a team in danger of relegation may be dangerous.'

After hearing him say all that, Alice couldn't help but smile.

"You know just saying Barcelona could have answered my initial question but I sort of like the direction this took off to."

"Yeah, me too," Axel said, returning the smile.

After that, she went on to explain why she was there. She had a project to take care of.

A project that required her and her coursemates to get a full report of what someone's first time in a workplace was like.

It was going to be easy for some them to just make something up and write it but regardless, they were required to get their information from real people, and Alice wanting to make sure hers was as authentic as possible asked Ryan to arrange this meet-up today.

It would have been easier if her cousin was part of the first team, though.

"If I get a report of what your first time was like, there's no way anyone will judge its authenticity, after all, you are slowly becoming a popular footballer." She concluded.

"Okay, but does my first time equate to my first training session with the first team or my first match?" Axel inquired.

"I want to hear everything from your first training session to your first match." She asserted before picking up her pen.

"Really? That's a lot to talk about you know." He replied with an awkward expression on his face.

"Don't worry, being a good listener is a basic skill for anyone aspiring to be a journalist to acquire and I love listening to anything about football so there's no problem." She assured him with a smile.

'Oh, dear, I was trying to cut time short for myself but it looks like she won't be budging.'