Part 3
PARKLIGHT RENDEZVOUS
The Greyhound Bus was certainly not Kim's preferred transportation method. Although affordable, it seemed to be a perfect example of getting what you paid for. To travel this way was to sit for maddening stretches of time, dine mostly on fast food and mini-mart snacks, and listen to the clamor of some very uncouth passengers. In the rearmost seats were several young men with thuggish demeanors and an affinity for four-letter words, playing poker. On the other side of the aisle was an Army soldier who couldn't have been much older than her, clenching his fists tightly, his face expressing wasted disillusion; it was troubling for her to look at him. Yet, for the cause of a reunion with Edward, she was able and willing to endure all things.
For three days, the bus headed west, from Florida through the marshy lowlands of Mississippi to the windswept plains of Texas and onward across the harsh, saguaro-dotted deserts of Arizona. On the third day, near noon, it crossed the California state line, "Soon", Kim thought to herself, "I'll see Edward". Closing her eyes, she shivered with anticipation. There'd be so much to say and do.
Late in the afternoon, on December 23rd, the bus reached its destination: a station located in a gritty, working-class neighborhood, the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles visible nearby. "We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!", the bus driver howled earnestly as the passengers fumbled for their luggage.
"Thank God…" Kim muttered to herself. It'd been hours since she stood up and her legs felt awkward to use. As she walked off the bus and into the station, she made a mental note to avoid Greyhound in the future.
"Excuse me, sir?" Kim asked an attendant behind a counter. "Could you give me the address for a restaurant called 'Sideshow Bistro' in Burbank?"
"Sure, I can look that up." The attendant turned to a computer console behind him, tapped a few keys, and a printer spit out a piece of paper with an address on it, which he handed to her. Thanking him, Kim took the paper and walked outside to a bay of taxis located near the station's doors.
One of the taxi drivers motioned to her, so she opened the rear door, placed her suitcase in the backseat and got inside. "So, where will we be heading?", the driver asked her in heavily accented English. She handed him the paper the attendant had given her. "Could you take me to this address?", she requested. "With pleasure", he responded. Turning the key in the ignition, the car's engine rumbled and it sped down surface streets before lurching onto a highway heading north.
Staring out the window, Kim marveled at the scenery of the new world she'd arrived in: the epic mountain ranges, the houses perched upon hillsides, and the sheer sprawl were staggering to behold, yet also intimidating. "Edward really lives here?", she thought. She couldn't imagine how. He'd had enough to deal with in Middle American suburbia, which was nothing compared to the vast Los Angeles megalopolis. Apparently though, he'd found his niche.
The taxi drive took 30 minutes, SoCal traffic being what it was, but eventually it reached the requested address, located in an upscale shopping center in downtown Burbank. She paid her driver, took her suitcase and left. The restaurant's sign read "Sideshow Bistro" in brutal, medieval-looking font.
Before venturing inside, Kim remembered she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday. Rather unattractive. She wanted to look pretty and girly for Edward, as a treat to him. So she took a detour into the place next door, a salon and spa, and locked herself in their restroom. Searching for something different to wear, she decided on a white t-shirt blouse with a long-sleeved fluffy open sweater, a navy circle skirt, a winter scarf, black socks, lovely mascara and coral lipstick. Finally, she pulled her hair back and tied it into a graceful ponytail. As she stared into the bathroom mirror, honing her look, a series of sharp raps on the restroom door startled her. She opened it and an older woman stood before her.
"Paying customers need to use the restroom too."
"I'm sorry for taking so long."
Scanning Kim from head to toe, the woman added…"you look nice."
"Aww, thank you."
Feeling newly confident, Kim left the salon and walked into Sideshow Bistro. She was immediately met with aggressive metal music coming from speakers, blinking strobe lights, bursts of fire, clanking and scraping noises, people hollering and cheering. It was quite a bit to take in.
Cautiously moving across the restaurant's floor, she scanned the entire place for Edward…and did not see him. Disappointed, she looked around for someone to ask and saw a man who she perceived to be a manager. The man was tall and brawny, with a hardened, unemotional face and a black tank top. His head was shaved and his muscular arms were decorated with runic tattoos. As Kim approached him, his eyes widened into an unnerving stare.
"H-Hi.", she stammered. "Is Edward here?"
"Edward already left for the day."
"Oh. I see…do you know where I could find him at this time?"
The man glanced quickly around the restaurant before focusing to look at Kim again.
"I've seen him in Griffith Park a couple times. Walking along the main road. You could try there."
"Thank you. I'll be sure to look there."
Kim caught another taxi to Griffith Park, irritated that she could've saved money on travel if she'd known Edward's shift had ended. During the taxi ride, her mind was fixed on the man she'd spoken to. Aside from his back-alley enforcer appearance, what he said seemed strangely specific. "Walking along the main road". It bothered her, and she wondered if he were luring her into something perilous. "Then again, maybe it's just my imagination.", she thought. After all, Sideshow Bistro was an establishment built on strangeness, a place where strangeness was the norm. It probably was nothing to worry about.
Griffith Park was a lush retreat among the Hollywood Hills, a welcome contrast to the fast-paced urban world that surrounded it. It was also large. Very large. If Kim had not been given a specific spot to go to, she'd never know where to start looking.
The taxi dropped her off shortly within the park's entrance. With suitcase in hand, Kim strolled along the main road's sidewalk. The temperature was cool and pleasant, with a gentle breeze. Late afternoon was turning to evening as the sun dipped further west, a brilliant gold among the sky's pink and blue hues. Although the place wasn't highly crowded, there were still some pedestrians out and about, and a modest number of cars on the main road. Some parkgoers sat at picnic tables. On the right was a golf course where, even with fading daylight, a few players were still teeing off. Past the golf course was a playground where children frolicked.
After that, there was a large amphitheater. Beyond the amphitheater, the number of people began to diminish, one by one. Eventually, after Kim walked far enough, she became the only person in the vicinity, her footsteps and the wind rustling in the trees the only sound. It was at this time that the park's streetlights flickered to life.
In this more remote area of the park, the main road was a valley flanked by hillsides, where tall trees blocked the sun. The road bent sharply to the left and began to steepen, heading up a hill. Kim followed the curve and ascended the incline, higher and higher, for a couple of minutes. As she continued climbing, looking forward, something caught her eye. Roughly fifty yards ahead, at a fork in the road, she distinctly saw an object move near a tree.
She wasn't sure what it was, having only seen it for a split second, but her attention was fixed on that spot as she tiptoed upward. Could it have been an animal? A hiker? A few seconds later, she saw it again, a near-silhouette moving out from behind the tree and into the middle of the road. It was a human. A man who appeared to be armed. When Kim saw him, her mind flashed back to the man she talked to at Sideshow Bistro. Fear coursed through her body. Maybe her imagination wasn't so farfetched. Everything was playing out exactly as it would...if she were being ambushed.
The man stood motionless, his features obscured by darkness. Kim wanted to run but she was frozen to the spot. All she could do was stare in front of her at the frightening figure. About thirty tense seconds passed. Then, all of the sudden, the man began striding down the hill, directly towards her.
"No..." Kim uttered with dread, her adrenaline kicking in. No longer paralyzed, she dropped her suitcase, turned around and began sprinting down to the bottom of the hill like a hunted deer, as the man sped up and gave chase.
Kim's thoughts raced as fast as her legs. "It's the guy from the restaurant! I knew it! I should've trusted my intuition! Oh, how could I have been so naïve?! This is like something out of a horror movie! What unspeakable things does he plan on doing?! He's not going to catch me. I did three years of cheerleading and I'm in good shape, I'll just outrun him!"
The man yelled to Kim. She opened her mouth and screeched as loud as she could, hoping to alert someone, anyone, that she was in danger. Just then, however, her thoughts caught up with her instincts and she realized what the man had actually said.
"Kim, don't go!"
It wasn't the man from the restaurant's voice. It was someone else. Someone who knew her name.
And the voice was one she recognized.
…could it actually be...?
With her heart pounding and her nervous system firing at full power, Kim halted and slowly turned around. And in a single moment, everything changed. Her fear transformed into incredible happiness. Standing in the road, partially illumined by the glow of the streetlights, grinning at her...was Edward Scissorhands.
"It's me. Don't worry", he said sweetly.
She looked upon him in wonder. "It's you! It's really you!", she called back with elation. She could feel tears of joy coming on. Edward held his arms wide open as she ran towards him, threw herself around him and wept on his shoulder.
"I missed you so badly!", she bawled. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"
"I missed you too." Edward told her softly. "I thought about you every day."
Kim hadn't thought about Edward every day. She'd pushed thoughts of him aside throughout the past year, though they'd always return sometime later. Now, she seemed to understand why they did.
"I thought about you alot too", she replied.
Edward folded his arms to lovingly embrace Kim, being cautious to assure his hands didn't make contact with her. And she held him as if he would have to say goodbye again if she didn't hold tightly enough. As they hugged, Edward closed his eyes and felt the soft strands of her blonde hair against his nose and his chin. Kim closed her eyes too, slowly her frantic heartbeat slowed, her tears ceased and she was still.
Nearby, in a parking lot, an older man sat in his car with the window rolled down, observing Edward and Kim cherishing one another. "Well, isn't that cute?" he remarked light-heartedly. Edward's ears pricked up when he heard the man's voice.
"Kim, we're being watched."
Kim opened her eyes and looked around. When she saw the man in his car, she became self-conscious. Just like Edward, she was an introvert and being the center of attention was unappealing to her.
"I know a place where we can be alone. Follow me", he beckoned to her with his hands.
Edward began walking back up the road. Kim went with him, retrieving her suitcase. They passed through a tunnel carved into a mountain. As they neared the tunnel's exit, Edward told her: "Close your eyes. I want this to be a surprise." She did so, and linked arms with him, letting her trust in him guide her.
The two of them walked a bit longer. Then, he announced: "You can open your eyes now." When she did, she discovered that he had taken her to a concrete balcony on the mountaintop, which overlooked the Los Angeles area. It was dusk, and the city lights burned like fire for miles and miles.
"Wow...it's so scenic..."
"I like the view up here." Edward said. "Sometimes you can see all the way to the ocean."
Kim turned her head. Behind them was a grand building resembling a Roman temple, with several copper domes.
"That's the observatory", Edward explained. "They look at stars in there."
Kim smiled at that comment. Edward was relatively new to the world, and he still became excited by things many people would take for granted. Despite the passage of a year and his big city surroundings, he seemed to have retained much of his innocence.
"Kim, so many things have happened to me since the last time I saw you."
"That's awesome! Alot of things have happened to me too. And there are things I want to ask you, you know?"
"Sure. You can ask me anything."
So, with a stellar view before them, free from disruptions, Edward and Kim did what circumstances had previously preventing them from doing: speak with one another as lovers and companions.