Chapter 14 AC Milan vs. Brescia (Part 1) “ You…
On May 16, 2004, in the 34th round of Serie A, AC Milan played against Brescia at home in San Siro.
Although Milan secured the league title two rounds in advance after defeating Roma 1-0 at home in early May, the defeat in the Champions League and the 2-1 away loss to Reggina in the 33rd round forced them to cheer up and hope to get a good score in the last round to achieve a perfect end to the season.
Moreover, this game has a special significance. It is the farewell match of Baggio and Redondo, so the tickets for this game were sold out as soon as they went on sale.
This was Kaka's first season in Milan. Apart from his parents coming to settle in and watch a few games at the beginning of the season, and his father leaving his work at home to fly to Brazil to accompany him in winning his first Serie A title against Roma, he rarely had to ask the team for family tickets.
So when Rosalia agreed to come and watch the last round of games, Kaka ran to the assistant coach and asked him to reserve a family ticket for him almost as soon as the training ended that day.
He even laughed and stabbed the man who had just broken up: "Oh, to whom? Of course it's my girlfriend. She promised to come to the game."
"Who asked you?" The assistant coach closed his eyes, not wanting to see his gleaming white teeth. "Hurry up and go. I'll have someone bring you the ticket a day in advance."
Seeing Kaka still standing in front of him and unwilling to leave, he sighed and asked, "One is not enough? How many girlfriends do you have?"
Kaka was in a very good mood and didn't mind his joke at all. He even patted his shoulder and comforted him: "It's okay, William. It's not your fault that you broke up. If you are willing to exercise and lose some weight, there will definitely be someone willing to be your girlfriend."
After saying that, Kaka left quickly, leaving William standing there alone, smashing the football in his hand hard on the ground to vent his useless anger.
Rosalia parked her car in the parking lot outside the San Siro Stadium and walked to Gate 14 to buy some merchandise. She was wearing the red and black number 22 jersey she'd gotten from Kaka's house, paired with jeans. To avoid drawing attention, she even wore a hat to partially cover her face.
"Yes, I'm here," she said while picking out jerseys from the rack. On the other end of the line was Kaka, who had arrived in the locker room with the team early. He had just returned from warming up on the field. "Go get ready. I'll see you after the game."
After hanging up, Rosalia focused on the jersey. She planned to buy a women's jersey with Kaka's number on it and return the one she was wearing. But before she could even reach for her clothes, the phone rang again—it was Lita.
"What's wrong, dear?" Rosalia held the phone between her shoulders and struggled to move through the crowd. "I'm at the San Siro Stadium now. There are too many people."
"What? I was planning to ask you out for a drink tonight." Rita shouted in surprise on the other end of the phone, "Why are you going to watch a football game? Wasn't it the last time I invited you to watch the Italy game at the World Cup and you said what was the fun of watching a group of men chasing a ball?"
"Things are different now. If nothing else, I'll hang up. I'm busy."
"Don't--"
Before Rita on the other end of the phone finished speaking, Rosalia felt someone bumped into her shoulder and the phone fell to the ground. Fortunately, it was caught by her legs and did not break.
As she squatted down to pick up her phone, a pair of slightly weathered hands reached out and grasped the phone at the same time as hers. Rosalia felt the thin calluses on the person's hands, noticed her broad knuckles and the scarred back of her hand.
"Sorry, I didn't notice. Is there something wrong with your phone, ma'am?"
The person also squatted down. Her voice was a little awkward and not obvious, but Rosalília could tell that she seemed to have a Spanish accent.
"It's okay, I didn't notice it," Rosalia first comforted Rita on the other end of the phone, stood up and looked at the man.
With just one glance, she keenly sensed that something was wrong.
The woman in front of him wore a white short-sleeved shirt and a plaid jacket. Like Rosalia, her hat was pulled low, revealing only the lower half of her face. Even when she spoke, she didn't look up at Rosalia.
"That woman had a mole on her neck. When I was making her ID, I noticed it wasn't in the photo. I don't know if it grew later."
Rosalia recalled the homeless man's words and calmly scanned her lips and profile. Excluding minor plastic surgery, a person's lips rarely undergo significant changes over a short period of time. Yet, the woman before her appeared in the AC Milan store wearing a black and white outfit, without a single fan logo. Her lips were thick, a striking resemblance to the description the homeless man had given her.
Rosalia shook her phone, rolled her eyes at her impatiently and said, "Do you know how expensive this phone is? Can you be more careful?"
She bumped the woman's shoulder and continued walking. As they passed each other, Rosalia pretended to tilt her head to one side, put the phone to her ear and complained loudly to Rita on the other end of the phone, her eyes passing across the side of the woman's neck and landing on the mole.
She kept walking, her voice so loud it made people stare sideways. "How many times has this happened? If your company can't do it, just close it down! Last time, that cleaning lady broke the bottle I just bought. Do you know how much that bottle cost? I could buy your company with it!" Rosalia's tone was unusually harsh. "This time, I told you not to go into my closet. And what happened? Not only did she go in! She even rearranged my clothes. What does she mean by that? Is she looking down on me for not being able to tell colors apart? Who is she trying to show off that condescending attitude to?"
The fans who were also selecting products on the side whispered to their companions, wondering who was so superior.
Rita reacted quickly. She knew the special nature of Rosalia's job and had watched many TV shows and movies. Faced with such an emergency, she remained calm and said with a hint of apology in her tone, "Sorry, ma'am, it's our fault. Could you please find someone else for you?"
"Change? Change someone else to set my house on fire?" Rosalia sneered and handed the jersey and credit card in her hand to the front desk waiter. Her movements were exaggerated, but the force was very light, which made the waiter look at her a few more times.
"I'm telling you to find me a reliable cleaner right away. If I come back from my business trip next week and see that my house isn't spotless, your company will be bankrupt!" After saying that, Rosalia hung up the phone, signed Christine's name on the receipt, and walked out angrily, dragging the packaging bag.
Her eyes swept over the couple in the corner. The man had his arm around his wife's shoulders and lowered his head to listen to what she was saying. The two seemed to be arguing, but they soon calmed down. While talking, they even glanced in Rosalia's direction.
Took the bait.
Rosalia smiled faintly, but she didn't stop until she was out of the shop and at the stadium's entrance. She had stopped at the entrance to wait for them because she had never been to a match at the San Siro before and wasn't sure if the entrances to the stands were connected, or if the family and general aisles would merge. She was afraid that if she went in, they wouldn't be able to find her.
"Please wait a moment."
Sure enough, when Rosalia stopped to look at the ticket, the woman caught up with her.
"What? Are you trying to blackmail me? Saying I broke your things?" Rosalia acted like a nouveau riche again, pretending to take out her wallet from her pocket and give her money.
"No, sorry, I just heard you on the phone. You're still short of a cleaner, aren't you?" The woman's hat had risen slightly as she caught up, revealing her eyes. She looked at Rosalia sincerely, her gaze casually glancing over the logo on Rosalia's wallet and the credit cards inside. "I've worked as a cleaner for many years and have a lot of experience, so I wanted to recommend myself."
"You?" Rosalia's tone was a bit uncomfortably condescending, and she looked her up and down. "Why should I use you?"
The woman lowered her head and stroked her fingers across her barely noticeable belly. "I'm pregnant. My employer didn't want to take the risk of hiring a pregnant woman, so they fired me because I'm red-green color blind."
This is a serious act of discrimination. If Rosalia didn't know the truth, she would subconsciously let her guard down when she heard her say this.
The two of them were in a stalemate for a moment. Just as the woman was about to say goodbye, Rosalia pulled a business card from her wallet and tossed it to her. "Just this once, the balance will be settled on the spot. I have a business trip tomorrow, and my assistant will let you know the specific time and place. Remember, don't come into my cloakroom."
The woman looked down at the name on the business card: Christian Ferrante, Fashion Designer, with the assistant's contact information below. When she looked up again, Rosalia was gone. She returned to the corner she had just turned, where her husband was waiting.
The man's tone was not very good: "Well, what did she say? I told you not to take such risks. We came to San Siro to watch... the game today. It was already very dangerous, and you insisted on coming..."
"She agreed." The woman, in contrast to her earlier honesty, interrupted the man, still playing with the business card in her hand. "The money is right here, waiting for me to take it. Why should I give it up?"
After saying this, she smiled slightly, took the man's hand and leaned on his shoulder: "This is really the last time. If there is any risk, I will not do it. I will honestly finish the cleaning. Then we will fly away, take the money and go to other countries to watch the children grow up."
After passing through security, Rosalia followed the staff all the way to the backstage and entered the family seats through a special passage. She kept walking, her fingers clacking away on her phone, sending messages to Grayson and the others, and then calling back Rita, who had just performed so well.
"Dear Rita, you're so quick to react. You're worthy of being my good friend," Rosalia praised loudly and exaggeratedly. "Didn't you say you wanted to drink? I just happen to have someone I want to introduce you to. How about coming to my house?"
"Are you praising me or you?" Rita rolled her eyes secretly while Rosalia couldn't see through the phone. "Just tell me what you want to do."
"Hey, you know you're my only good friend in Milan..."
“Three, two…”
"So lend me your apartment in the city center and renovate it for free. When I finish this case, I'll invite you to take a ride on my dad's new yacht and have a party for handsome guys." Rosalia was afraid of being interrupted, so she kept talking. She said all the words in one breath, then took a deep breath to relieve her oxygen-deprived brain.
"...Are there really any handsome guys?" After a while, a faint voice came from the other end of the phone, "Didn't you quit nightclubs? Where are the handsome guys to organize a party? Are they your former suitors?"
"Oh, that's not the case. Just wait." Knowing that Rita had agreed, Rosalia hung up the phone decisively and silently counted the names of the handsome guys she could invite. She decided that if she couldn't get enough people together, she would let Kaka invite his teammates to come and play.
Rosalia thought so and cast her eyes on the Milan players who had already come out of the player tunnel, scanning from the captain No. 3 all the way to the faces of No. 13, No. 7 and No. 22 Kaka, and then to No. 5 and No. 9 Inzaghi on the bench.
Very good, all very handsome.
Watching men chasing the ball depends on the situation. Men with this kind of appearance are acceptable. She looked at the two coaches in suits and ties, standing on the sidelines with their hands in their pockets, chewing gum non-stop. This kind of thing is not acceptable.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Yay! New name and copywriting [sunglasses]
The sweet love continues in the next chapter!
[Panda Head] and the "nouveau riche" Leah would like to say hello to everyone, and wish all the babies who see this to become rich this year!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
