Between Coffee And Cigarettes

-19-

When the girl stepped outside the house, the next morning, a freezing cold breeze hit her face. The pavement was wet and small and large puddles were scattered all over the concrete. Nevertheless, it was a bright day and the sun decided to come out most of the time. Even though Lenny wore a coat, a scarf and a hat, she still was freezing. She narrowed her eyes to protect them from the sun and looked the street up and down until she saw Remus leaning casually on a car, smoking. As if he'd sense her gaze, he looked up and watched her coming towards him. "So", Lenny said, standing in front of him, "Why did you order me here, today?"

"Are you feeling better now?", he asked, ignoring her question completely. "Yes. Much better", she replied nevertheless, although she didn't like how he didn't take her seriously, so she asked again, more harshly: "Why am I here, Remus?" 

He didn't answer directly, just stared into her eyes. And then he opened the door to the passenger seat and said: "Come on. I want to show you something". Hesitantly Lenny got in, but not without making a sarcastic comment; she simply couldn't resist. "Mum told us not to get into strangers's cars", she said mockingly, when he shut her door. In the next moment, he opened the driver's door and when he himself got in, he said: "Good that I am not a stranger". She looked straight forwards onto the street and with a sharp exhale, she breathed: "I'm sure that I know nothing about you, just the parts you want me to...".

She said it more to herself, but unfortunately not quiet enough. From the corner of her eye, she could see how his body stiffened before he turned the key and started the car. They drove mostly in silence, both listening to David Bowie. Her head was leaned against the window as she watched the world flew by. After half an hour, Remus took out David Bowie's album and inserted another CD. When Lenny heard the first notes, she immediately recognized the song and sat up, shifting sideways, to look at him. A big smile was on his face as if he knew that she liked this song very much. His fingers drummed on the steering wheel and his head bobbed to the rhythm of the music.

"Elton John?!", Lenny exclaimed, "that's 'I'm still standing'!" He looked at her with an amused face, before he retired his eyes back on the street and said: "No shit". She boxed him slightly into his sides for making fun of her. "Ouch", he exclaimed playful, still calm, "I'm driving, keep your hands to yourself". With a slight smirk of triumph that she still had on her face, she lowly began to sing along to the stereo. She knew every single word of the song and when Remus laughed at her poor singing and the refrain began, she yelled the lyrics and laughed with him.

"You really like that song, don't you?", he asked as soon as the refrain was over. "Yeah, I do", Lenny answered a bit breathless and with a huge smile on her face, "although", she added, "'The  Jack' or 'Can I sit next to you Girl'  I like even more". "AC/DC?", he looked surprised, "You listen to them?" She had to chuckle, it was just too funny how he now looked at her. "Of course! Who do you think introduced Sirius to their music?" For a moment, he threw his head back and exclaimed: "Ha! You showed Sirius?! You can't believe how many times he praised himself for discovering and liking the Band before everyone else did". 

Lenny knew exactly that her twin did that and even if she didn't knew, it wouldn't really surprise her, so she acted shocked. "He does not!", she added ironically, which made both of them laugh. When the last refrain of 'I'm still standing' played, Remus was the one, who suddenly sang along loudly and really off-key. She happily joined in and so both sang and danced, as far it was possible in the car, to the song until it ended. The lightness that existed between the pair was like a feather. It was never uncomfortable between them, rather electrical.

Breathless and with big grins on their faces they came to a halt and when the silver-blue haired girl looked out the window, her eyes fell onto an old-looking sign from a bookshop. "A bookshop?", Lenny asked, while she spun her head around, seeing him already getting out of the  car. She did the same, although she didn't quite understand. "You know that there is a bookshop like five minutes away from our home?", she questioned him, looking over the roof of the blue Fiat 130 coupé.