GEM TALENT

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William stared closely at the bright screen of his phone for a very long moment, and he knew deep in his heart that the simple message he was about to send would completely change the direction of his life forever.

The room was perfectly quiet after his friends had left, so the only sound in the completely silent apartment was the soft, rhythmic tapping of his fingers on the digital keyboard as he began to type a very important message to his manager, Mr. Stewart.

He wanted to be completely honest about his hidden feelings, so he clearly wrote that he was officially quitting football, and he explained that after a lot of deep thought and careful planning, he had finally seen that he might not be able to make his family name great through the sport, and the plan Chelsea had for him will not help him go far in that line.

He typed out his personal reasons slowly and carefully, telling his club director that the path of a professional football player was far too unpredictable, and since he desperately wanted to build a strong legacy that would last for many generations, he needed to find a completely different career path.

He read over the glowing words on his screen several times to make absolutely sure that they sounded very respectful but also very firm, and after taking a deep, long breath to steady his racing heart, he finally pressed the send button with a confident push of his thumb.

As the tiny message flew quickly through the invisible digital space toward Mr. Stewart, William suddenly felt a very heavy burden lift right off his tired shoulders, and a strange but wonderful wave of peace washed over his mind because he had just taken the first bold step toward his new, stable future.

He knew that this simple text message was the true end of a long, painful chapter of his life, but it was also the exciting beginning of a brand new story where he would finally be in control of his own destiny, he will try his best to succeed and be the best chemist that will provide solution to problems that's seems incurable.

It did not take a long time for his phone to buzz loudly with a quick reply, and William picked the device up quickly from his desk to see exactly what Mr. Stewart had to say about this shocking news.

The surprised director had sent a short but very passionate message full of intense encouragement, strongly urging William not to quit the beautiful game because he was still very young and his real time to shine brightly was still coming in the near future.

Mr. Stewart quickly typed that almost every single great player faces very hard times during their early career, and he begged William to strive hard and endure the current struggles instead of simply throwing all his years of hard work away.

The final sentence of the manager's text message was a very heavy question that was clearly meant to make William pause and rethink his bold choice, asking,

"But, if you quit now, when will you make that name great?" However, as William stood quietly in his silent room and read the flashing words on his screen, this heartfelt encouragement did not make any impact at all on his final decision because the burning fire for football had already been put out entirely in his heart.

He did not feel angry or confused by the director's supportive message, but he just wanted to quit the game completely and focus all his mental energy on the completely new career he wanted to choose, which was to become a highly respected chemist.

He gently put the phone back down on his old wooden desk, feeling completely unmoved by the director's promise of future football glory, he also thought that this encouragement will not change the manager who wanted an experienced player mind, he knew that his true greatness might be found in a clean science laboratory instead of a muddy, grassy stadium.

He realized that Mr. Stewart meant well and was just trying to do his job, but William's mind was perfectly made up like a solid rock, and absolutely no amount of sweet words could ever convince him to put his football boots back on.

Knowing that he urgently needed to share this massive, life-changing news with the people who cared about him the most, William quickly unlocked his phone again and dialed the phone numbers of his two best friends, Adams and Stone.

While waiting for others to pick his call, he remembered that if his father was alive, he would have called him instead of calling his friends, even he and his father would have talked about the situation before giving the final reply, he remembered when the championship giants were fighting for his signature then, his father played a vital role is choosing Blackpool FC, which later turn good decision then, but now, he is no more.

When they happily answered the group phone call, he explained his bold decision very clearly and confidently, proudly telling them that he had just taken a massive step by texting Mr. Stewart to say he was leaving the football world behind for good.

As soon as the serious words left his mouth, a loud and joyful cheer quickly erupted from the small phone speaker because Adams and Stone were incredibly happy to hear that William had finally chosen a much safer and more respected path for his life, not because they had left, but because they want William to choose the best part too, so that he would not be left behind.

They loudly praised him for taking such a bold step, telling him that making such a huge life choice took a massive amount of courage, and they deeply promised that they would always support him no matter what hard challenges came his way.

Adams quickly added with a lot of excitement that they would both come over to his apartment right away so they could continue planning the very next step of his educational journey, which was helping him gain entrance into a good higher institution.

Stone strongly agreed with this helpful plan, loudly reminding William that they really needed to act fast to fill out all the necessary university applications before the time finally ran out, because the strict deadline for that school, which came right after grade twelve, was closing in very soon.

They also added that William might meet the girl he met in the beach the other day, and might even meet another one who looks more beautiful.

William smiled warmly as he stood by the window and listened to their happy voices, and the nice teasing of his friends, feeling incredibly lucky and blessed to have such wonderful friends who were so eager to help him quickly transition from a lost, sad athlete into a focused, determined science student.

After he finally hung up the phone and waited patiently for his good friends to arrive at his apartment, William sat down slowly on the edge of his bed, and the deep quietness of the room allowed his hidden feelings to slowly float up to the surface of his mind.

Even though he was completely confident in his new choice and felt very ready to face the future, deep down inside his heart, William was feeling a sharp pain because he knew that he was about to leave his biggest dream behind forever.

Ever since he was a tiny little boy playing happily in the dusty streets of his neighborhood, he had dreamed of becoming a massive football legend just like Zinedine Zidane, who was known all over the entire world for his amazing skills, smooth moves, and beautiful goals.

He closed his eyes for a short moment and allowed himself to clearly picture the magical, thrilling moments he had always wanted to experience on the pitch, like lifting a shiny golden championship trophy high into the air and hearing a massive crowd of thousands chant his name loudly, but he quickly opened his eyes and shook his head to push those distracting thoughts away.

He knew very well that being a successful chemist would definitely not be an easy journey either, because it required spending long, tiring hours studying very complex formulas and facing many difficult, brain-bending exams in the university, but he strongly believed that he had to choose the best option for his future.

Chelsea Football Club had totally refused to believe in his special talent, treating him like he was just a regular player who was easily replaceable, so he realized with complete clarity that he had to move on with his life immediately, but his forward progress would certainly not be in the unpredictable world of football.

He was fully ready to close the heavy door on his old life, and officially start his brand new journey.

A Chemist.