A Year With Real Madrid

Chapter 3

I woke up to someone poking my cheek. I swatted the hand away and turned to my side but the poking started again. I finally opened my eyes and saw that it was Marcelo. He just gave me an innocent smile, "Hi."

I couldn't help but giggle at the adorable look on his face "Good morning, Celo. Any particular reason that you're poking me for?"

"Just wanted to wake you up for breakfast! We have to leave in 2 hours."

"Okay, Thanks!"

He smiled and left the room. I headed towards my bathroom to freshen up and get ready for the exciting day ahead. I applied a little makeup on and dressed into a nice fit and flare dress paired with strappy heels since Mike had told me to dress nicely. I twisted my long dark brown hair into a bun and made my way downstairs.

The guys were all dressed in suits looking handsome.

I was so hyped for today! I was going to meet Zinedine Zidane and the rest of the squad! We had breakfast and then we headed out the door.

Gareth spoke up once all of us got out of the house, "Alice you get to choose who you want to ride with, Marcelo and Cristiano aren't gonna come back with us since they have to go home."

I thought for a moment and decided to ride with Marcelo. He stuck his tongue out at everyone when I said that I would ride with him. Gareth shook his said and said, "You know we call Isco the kid but you act like a kid more than him."

Marcelo nodded proudly, "Of course, I get it from my kids." 

We all chuckled at his explanation. Man! There was never a dull moment with this team!

We got in Marcelo's Audi and drove off. We turned the radio on and sang our lungs out the whole way.

After 15 minutes, we finally got to the Santiago Bernabeu and Marcelo parked the car. Everyone was there in a few minutes and we all headed inside the huge building.

We walked through the glass sliding doors and headed towards the communal area where I met the rest of the squad and the man himself, Zinedine Zidane.

"It is an honour to meet you, Sir." I told him as I shook his hand.

"It's good to meet you kid. Welcome and call me Coach." He smiled.

I smiled back, "You got it, Coach."

"You ready to face the world?"

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

He looked surprised, "You don't know? We're having a presentation and a press conference to introduce you and the 'A Year with Real Madrid' programme."

I started panicking, "WHAT?! Mike didn't tell me anything about that!"

He held my shoulders and spoke in a calm voice, "It's okay, you don't have to worry about anything. It's just like the unveiling of new players. Mr. Perez will tell everyone about the programme and you, then he'll invite you on the stage and you'll just have to say a few words about how you're feeling and everything. Then there will be a press conference where you'll have to answer a few questions but you wouldn't be alone there, Sergio and I will be there so if you feel uncomfortable at any moment we'll take over. Okay?"

I looked at his reassuring face and nodded feeling a bit calm. "Okay, I can do it."

He smiled, "Let's go then."

We all made our way to the presentation room and took our seats. I was in the second row, in the first seat, next to me was Isco. Soon Mr Perez made his way to the podium and started to speak.

"Good Morning everyone. Thank you for being here. This day is very special for the club since we're doing something never done before. To give our fans an insight on how our club works and what kind of people our players are when they are not on the pitch, we've come up with a perfect programme that we call 'A Year with Real Madrid'.

"We've chosen a Madridista who is not related to anyone in the club in any way and she is going to live with the players. She'll get to live life the Real Madrid way, and all of it will be recorded and aired as a TV series."

"The chosen Madridista is Alice Carter. If you would please join me here Miss. Carter." He gestured toward me. Everyone clapped as I stood up and made my way up to him.

He shook my hand and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, the traditional Spanish greeting. He motioned towards the podium and I took a deep breath as went to the mic.

"Hello everyone. Thank you for being here. I still can't get over the fact that this is happening. It has been a dream of mine to meet this legendary squad and now that I'm standing here and living with them, it's hard to believe that all of this is real. I want to thank the Real Madrid management team who came up with this idea and for choosing me to be a part of this programme. I also want to thank the whole squad for being so nice, understanding and welcoming. I am very grateful for this opportunity and I will try my best to provide the viewers with the best ever Real Madrid experience. Thank you again. Hala Madrid!" 

The room was filled with cheers and applause as I stepped away from the mic.

Mr Perez  presented me with a Real Madrid shirt. It had 23 on the back with Alice Carter written on it. "Welcome to the club, Miss Carter."  

I held the shirt as pictures were clicked, "Thank you, Mr Perez."

We were joined by Zidane and Sergio on the stage and soon everyone was up as we posed for group pictures.

After that, we made our way out of the room and I let out a deep breath, I did it!

Mike came and hugged me, "You were great out there."

I pushed him away, "Go away, you're mean! You didn't tell me about this yesterday!" 

He rubbed his neck sheepishly, "I kinda forgot. Sorry."

I just shook my head at the idiot, "It's okay, I forgive you since I'm such a nice person."

"Yeah, in your head!" He laughed as he went away.

Okay, so one thing is done, now for the press conference. Let's hope it goes okay.

*~*~*~*~*

Author's Note

Hey guys! Do you have any questions for Alice? If yes then comment them! I'll add them in the next chapter!

Don't forget to vote, comment and follow!

Dedication to @Cassassidy1 for the votes. Thank you.