Fragment #9 - Welcome to Scotland, Louis!

We're off to pick up Louis at the airport. I can feel Charlie fidgetting next to me, on the passenger seat. We've been having an on-off conversation, since she can't really focus on anything else than Louis' arrival.
"Why does it have to be cloudy today?" she suddenly mutters between her teeth.
"Honey, it's Scotland. It's always, at some point of the day, cloudy." I laugh. Weather has always been a kick-down for Scotland, but us Scots don't mind it. It's part of who we are. Without the clouds... I don't know. I guess, we'll just be different. More tanned for one.
"I wish it could have been sunny though. It would have been so much nicer for Louis..."
"He's staying a week, Charlie. I'm sure the sun will make an appearance..."
I take the exit for the airport, and after a couple of minutes, we park.
We reach the waiting area, where passengers get their luggage. We stop in front of the big staircase, and wait for the announcement that will tell us about Louis' plane's arrival.

After a couple of minutes, a crowd starts coming down the steps. Charlie, being slightly smaller than everybody, is almost jumping around to see. Eventually, Louis appears, carrying a suitcase. He looks a bit lost, but otherwise, he's just like I remembered him. He looks so French to me. I'm sure even if I didn't know him, and I was to meet him somewhere in the street, I could immediatly see that he's French. Charlie moves forward to meet him and gives him a hug. Louis seems a bit more at ease now.
"Content de te revoir, miss Collomb." he says.
If it was possible, Charlie's smile would be even bigger now.
"Et moi donc, Mr Malvo. Vous avez fait bon voyage?"
"Très bon, très bon. Plus de peur que de mal, comme la dernière fois." He turns to me. "Salut Steve!"
"Bonjour, Louis. Bienvenue en Ecosse." I feel so proud, but so ackward as well. Compared to Charlie's, my accent is so wrong. But I don't let it come to me. I've been working hard enough, and I know it's only a matter of practice.
"Thank you very much." Louis seems to have done the same thing as me. And apparently, he feels as ackward as I do. A silence lingers on. Following an impulse, I stretch my hand out.
"C'est comme ça, qu'on fait en France, non?"
A big smile comes on his face as he shakes my hand. "Yes, yes, c'est comme ça!"
I look at Charlie and I can see sparkles in her eyes. She's loving this. She sets her arm around Louis' shoulders.
"Venez, on rentre à la maison." Yes, let's go home.

Outside, the weather remains the good old Scottish one: cloudy and cold. Welcome to Scotland, Louis!