From Arsenal to the Ball God

His presence was astounding, instantly captivating everyone in the tavern, but his moment of glory was not over yet, ”He won the Golden Boy Award, shattered doubts and earned so much admiration. I’m happier than anyone else!”

”Bang!” Jones slammed the glass in his hand onto the ground and raised his right hand high, ”All in!”

At that moment, everyone around the round table raised their heads, stood up, and shouted along with him, ”All in!!”

The others froze in place, some raising their hands tremblingly, ”Possessed! Possessed! They’re all madmen!”

....

On December 29th, two days before the last game of the first half of the season away against Sheffield United.

Ma’el was training alone at home, the team of four hadn’t arrived yet, and he would still have to live by himself for a while.

In the evening, just as he lay bored on the sofa watching TV, the doorbell suddenly rang.

As he got up, he actually knew who it was. Those four said they’d come back early January, Mendes and the others would notify in advance, only Miss McCabe would be so unrestrained.

Nonetheless, a few touches of joy still rose in his heart, and he quickly walked to the door to open it.

Isabella stood outside the door, wearing sunglasses at night, her hand resting on the doorframe in a supermodel pose, trying to make a dazzling entrance, ”Surprise...!”

”Haha...”

Ma’el burst into laughter. He had spoken to Gilbert a few times these days; perhaps Isabella heard he was alone and came over as she wasn’t far away.

Isabella looked at Ma’el’s face without much emotion, somewhat disappointedly took off her sunglasses, and strode past Ma’el with her long legs.

She wore a black and white sweater coat today, with a pink scarf, and inside was a pink thin gauze layer. Her lower body was simple riding pants and riding boots, a conventional loose top and tight bottom attire.

But on her, it gave a different impression, as if these were seasonal fashion items.

Ma’el followed her inside, seeing her holding a bag filled to the brim, asking, ”Why would Miss Sheffield United visit me at this time, are you planning to recruit me?

”Let me be clear, this matter is off the table. If anyone is loyal to Arsenal, then.....”

Before he finished, Isabella’s laughter interrupted him. She sat down at the table, ”Haha, rest assured, I’m not so irrational.

”It’s just that Primacy’s chain stores have opened in London, so our headquarters naturally moved to London. I’m planning to settle here.”

”Oh, congratulations.” Ma’el still remembered the sports brand he first endorsed, and their contract was about to end.

After he signed with Puma, Isabella hadn’t invited him to do any ads or events, seemingly worried he might embarrass Puma..... In this matter, he did owe her a bit.

”Our contract, would you.....”

He was about to suggest some compensation but was anticipated by Isabella, who seemed to understand him well, ”Stop right there, why be polite with me, you’ve already done a lot for Sheffield United and our brand.

”That hundreds of thousands of pounds were incredible value..... alright, let’s talk about something else.

”I invested all my money in the company during the startup phase, renting an ordinary apartment myself. Drinking alone at night was dull, so I thought I’d come here to drink, your living room is big, it’s great.”

She smiled brightly, opened her bag, took out two bottles of wine, and some mixed drinks; it looked like drinking spirits was a shared hobby in their family.

”I can’t have a drink with you.”

Ma’el sat on the sofa and turned on the TV, immediately feeling like the house had a bit more life and warmth.

”Dang dang dang dang!”

Suddenly Isabella pulled out a bottle of fizzy drink and laughed, saying, ”I prepared this for you, is this okay?

”I checked the info; if you drink it today, just exercise for half an hour tomorrow and it’ll be flushed out, no harm.

”Safi’s not here anyway, just make an exception, come on, I came all the way to see you.”

Ma’el smiled as he exchanged glances with her, hesitated a moment, reached out and took it, no longer resisting, ”Alright, I’ll have this.”

Isabella pulled out dice and some cards, crouched on the floor, teaching Ma’el to play games, and every now and then, bursts of laughter erupted between them.

”Oops!”

”Haha, you lost!”

Ma’el forgot about everything else and focused entirely on the game with her, as if only those before him remained in the world.

Before long, Isabella’s face was scarlet from the drinks, adding some charm to her, and she began to speak boldly, ”Ma’el, your house is really rather messy; dust accumulates in many places.

”Besides the team of four, you might need 1-2 housekeepers and drivers to help manage life tasks.

”Even though my apartment is small, I brought our family’s best housekeeper with me.

”Or maybe an additional lady of the house would do, letting her help you manage these things, in whatever way, ensuring a better quality of life.”

”I never noticed.”

Ma’el looked around and shook his head, ”I think Safina manages this place well; she’s very nice, often doing things outside her work.”

Hearing this, Isabella rolled her eyes and probed, ”Do you like her? Want to make her the lady of the house?”

Ma’el shook his head like a wave drum, he’d long known he couldn’t have feelings for Safina.

”Because of age?”

Isabella pursued persistently, seemingly very interested, ”Or because of looks?”