Sunset - Chapters 1 and 2

Sunset
Chapter 1
Calandra Ramsey was an only child and liked nothing more than playing with her dolls and being pushed by her father on the swings, as she grew up she was popular at high school and was quite sporty also competing in many teams although academically she wasn't too flash. Time moved on and after school she worked as a receptionist for an insurance company keeping the staple work hours of 9 to 5. She was quite sexy standing at 5"7 with a fair to medium complexion, black hair, blue eyes and with a body that wouldn't quit. Whenever she went out men were always cracking onto her but she rarely, if ever, talked to them, it's fair to say she was a snob having grown up with daddy giving her everything she wanted and no man had ever come close to matching him in her eyes. She would only date men who had great jobs, were attractive and who dressed and spoke well while maintaining good manners while Calandra did what she wanted and had no idea how selfish she really was.


At age 22 she was a bit bored with the whole reception thing but it paid the bills and kept her independent in her two bedroom apartment 10 minutes from town. Monday arrived and Calandra turned up at work and on arrival just got slammed on the phones with everyone seemingly ringing in on the same day to get insurance or check their policies, by the end of the day Calandra was absolutely exhausted and felt a bit light headed as she got ready to go home, she hopped in her car and soon enough was back in the sanctuary of her apartment.


The next morning Calandra awoke and headed off to another day of work, this day was a bit easier though so after work she decided to pick up a few groceries and make herself a special meal, she needed carrots but as she reached up for a tin of them realised they were just out of reach, as she pulled back her hand a man reached up and grabbed a tin for her, he was a good looking man and although Calandra wasn't one that was easy to please she liked the cut of this man's jib plus he smelt amazing. "Thanks for that" said Calandra.
"No worries. All part of the service" said the man with Calandra immediately thinking he worked here which meant he went down in her calculations.
"You work here"? she asked to make sure.
"No i work at a legal firm in town, McKenzie and sons, I'm Brian McKenzie" he said putting out his hand. "I know this is very forward of me but can i take you out for dinner sometime" asked Brian.
"Well normally i would tell a guy to work for it a bit harder but something about you is telling me to do away with my rules and just say yes so ok i will go out to dinner with you Brian" replied Calandra.
"Ok excellent. 6pm at la roux restaurant good for you?" asked Brian.
"Sounds good see you there" said Calandra. Brian left and Calandra got the rest of her groceries and headed back home. Once there she started to cook her meal in a very good mood knowing she had a hot date the following night, she still couldn't even believe she said yes which was most unlike her she thought. Later that night after her meal and watching one of her favourite trashy shows on TV she suddenly started to feel a pain towards the lower end of her back, it wasn't too bad but it was quite annoying so she decided to go to bed and sleep it off.


The next morning she got up for work and the pain in her back had gone, "Must have just sat on my chair the wrong way at work or something" Calandra said to herself thinking nothing of it as she made her way to work. It was a pretty easy day which Calandra wanted as she had her date with Brian at 6 and she didn't want to be too frazzled by the time that came around. She decided to knock off 15 minutes early so she would have more time to get ready, she looked at her wardrobe and picked out a stunning figure hugging white dress with slits up the side showing off her toned and very well formed sexy legs as she walked, it also showcased her perky breasts which were just the right size for her body,to finish off the outfit she wore black stilettos showing off her freshly painted purple nails, the white dress against her long black hair was a remarkable contrast and as she walked towards the restaurant she got many glances from admiring men.

Once inside the restaurant she saw Brian who waved to her, she waved back and sat down. "Hi Brian how are you?" she asked
"I am very well thank you Calandra, i must admit looking at you i feel very lucky to be in your presence tonight" replied Brian
"Yeah i am pretty special" said Calandra not even joking as she thought she was god's gift to men. They took a look at the menu with Brian ordering a steak and Calandra a salad. Brian hinted maybe she should have a proper meal to which she replied that eating too many carbs or fatty restaurant food wouldn't help her keep this figure. Soon enough the meals came and Brian polished off his steak while Calandra nibbled at her "rabbit food". As the night progressed Calandra and Brian got on like a house of fire with many similar interests such as going to the gym,reading literature, motor sport and they both even liked playing tennis. The night was going better than Calandra had thought and Brian seemed to be a real catch not to mention he was quite wealthy having a house on the beach as well as numerous properties he owned that he rented out. "Being a lawyer must pay well" said Calandra who had always had a chip on her shoulder that she was never able to go to university and do what she wanted due to poor grades in high school. That didn't stop her still thinking she was superior to most people though.
"Yes we have had many high profile cases worth a lot of money but the most important thing to me is people getting justice" replied Brian
"Well yeah i guess that's important but all lawyers take cases just for the money don't they" hinted Calandra
"Yes most lawyers but not McKenzie and sons, money isn't everything Calandra" said Brian. Calandra looked at Brian and thought "yeah right" as she thought money was definitely the most important thing and if you had none you were nothing in her eyes. The night progressed a little further and soon the night came to a close, Calandra was quite impressed by Brian and allowed him to give her a kiss on the cheek and talk of a second date was briefly mentioned. While on her way back to the car Calandra saw a homeless man on the side of the footpath, he had lost his wife and child in a fire along with the family home and then his job due to becoming an alcoholic from the grief over it all, depression had struck and now he lived on the streets but Calandra being Calandra and believing in stereotypes she just thought he was just another dirty bum. "Stop clogging up the sidewalk and get a job you lazy excuse for a human being" said Calandra as she walked by, the man just looked up at her with sorrow in her eyes while she looked back with pure disdain and contempt at such a hopeless unkept man in her eyes not having any idea of the torture the man had been through over the last few months. Even if Calandra did know the result probably wouldn't have been much different.

After giving the poor homeless guy a serve Calandra arrived back at her apartment and once inside took off her stilettos and fixed herself a nightcap, as she sat on the couch once again she felt a bit of pain in her lower back so once again she thought the best medicine was to sleep it off. Calandra awoke the next morning and the pain was still there, it was barely noticeable but just enough to be nuisance value as she went to the daily grind of work, the more she moved around the work the worse it seemed to get so afterwards she decided to head over to the doctors, she told him what was occurring and after a quick check up told Calandra she was fine and could find no evidence of anything being wrong. Calandra left the doctors and headed home, she pulled up in her car before going inside. Once there she took it easy kicking off her shoes and lying on the couch, after a few minutes she fell asleep and woke up a couple of hours later hungry so she cooked herself a meal but after moving around a bit she suddenly felt a little sick so she went to bed once again. The next day once again she felt pretty good in the morning but her condition deteriorated as the day went on,Calandra didn't know what was happening and had no idea of what was to come....
　
Chapter 2
　
Calandra continued on her daily routines as if there was nothing wrong with her, she attended work again and said to herself a bit of back soreness wasn't going to stop her. Brian had been on the phone to her again regarding a second date and told her he would come over to her place and cook her a meal if she wanted, Calandra wasn't overly keen on Brian knowing where she lived just yet but she agreed as she couldn't be bothered cooking herself. Brian soon turned up and said "I hope your not expecting rabbit food again" which was met with the reply "I don't care what it is as long as it's good, i need a tasty meal after the last couple of days I've had" by Calandra.
"What's been the matter?" asked a concerned Brian
"Oh it's my back, it's just been flaring up the last couple of days and when i move around too much it gets really sore" replied Calandra
　
"That's no good, have you seen a doctor"?
"Yeah but he said there was nothing wrong with me, it's probably just sore and needs rest that's why i have had today and tomorrow off"
"Ok well if you ever need me then give me a call and i will be straight over"
"Ok will do" replied Calandra. She was a pretty independent woman but she was glad for the offer although her dad would probably be the first port of call if she needed help. "Here you go, dig in" said Brian as he plonked the meal on the table, spaghetti bolognaise with garlic bread. Calandra looked at it and wasn't too excited, she took a couple of bites of spaghetti before she claimed "It tastes funny" as she pushed it away not even touching the garlic bread. "What are you talking about it tastes great" replied Brian scoffing at Calandra's suggestion it tasted weird. Calandra left the table and walked over to the couch to watch some TV, Brian finished off his spaghetti and garlic bread then joined her, as they sat on the couch brian put his arm around calandra which she enjoyed but then when he lent in for a kiss she said "Eww you've got garlic breath . You have to clean your teeth if you want a kiss mister". Calandra pointed to the bathroom and an unused toothbrush, Brian quickly brushed his teeth and resumed his spot on the couch where he once again tried to kiss Calandra but she was making him earn it and after the third attempt was finally successful, with all the passion generating in the room Calandra didn't even notice her back.


After an hour or so of kissing on the couch Brian had to head off, Calandra got up and walked gingerly to the door to see him off, they shared one last kiss before Brian left. Calandra closed the door and moved to her bedroom to get changed into her little pink nightie she was planning on sleeping in, after managing to pop into that she walked into her bathroom to brush her teeth, as she went to put the toothpaste on though she felt quite unsteady and decided to bypass that and try and get into bed but as she made her way back her legs suddenly gave way and she tumbled to the side of the bed, she layed there and suddenly realised her legs had gone numb, she tried to hit them to wake them up but they weren't moving, she decided to try and get herself into bed using her arms to push her body up with her now limp legs completely useless for the time being as she achieved status on her bed, she knew she probably needed to call someone but that would require her to crawl all the way into the kitchen where her phone was and it was just too far, she was utterly exhausted and while convalescing on the bed she fell asleep...She ended up sleeping for close to 10 hours and the next morning she woke up and her legs once again were working, she was over the moon but couldn't work out what had happened the night before, legs don't just stop working and then come good again she thought "There must be something wrong but what"? she asked herself as she moved off the bed.


The next day she took a day of work and headed to the chiropractors thinking maybe her vertebrae were just out of alignment but after feeling her back the chiropractor told her there didn't appear to be anything wrong in the way of fractures or bulging disks etc and nothing he did seemed to cause any sort of real pain or discomfort to her so she went home thinking she was ok. Calandra had now been to the doctor and a chiropractor and both had said she was perfectly alright so she decided to just push through and felt like her paralysis of her lower legs the previous night was just some freak occurrence that wouldn't happen again with her denial at the situation now at an all time high. After the chiropractors she decided to catch up on some shopping but after walking around for a bit she got tired and caught a taxi home not feeling fit enough to drive. As soon as she got to her apartment she felt her legs go partly numb again as she flopped on the couch. After an hour or two of rest her friend Eliza rang her up to see if she was coming to the gym later, she hadn't seen her for a couple of days and that was most unlike Calandra who was a stickler for physical fitness. "Been having a bit of trouble with my back" said Calandra.


"Your back? Well just do some light exercises then, might help it" replied her friend Eliza who had no idea what she was talking about but Calandra really wanted to get to the gym so she would believe anything.
"Yeah you might be right Eliza see you there in 10" said Calandra. She changed into her gym gear consisting of a yellow tank top and black leggings with white socks and runners and took off for the gym. Upon starting her workout Calandra actually thought it was helping, she did some light weights and a few stretches before going on the treadmill, after only 5 minutes though she felt something was wrong and told Eliza she was going to head off who wasn't too pleased. Calandra just made it in her apartment and collapsed on the floor, once again her legs went numb and she lost all feeling in her lower legs, she grabbed her phone and went to dial an ambulance when she realised there was no dial tone and the power had gone out, with the extreme pain to her back she lost consciousness....."Calandra, calandra are you ok" she heard a voice say as she slowly started to wake up and get her bearings, she looked up and it was Brian. "Brian what are you doing here?" asked Calandra as she continued to lie on the floor.
"I was coming over to surprise you then i found you lying on the ground" said Brian
"How did you get in? asked Calandra thinking something was a bit suspicious about all of this.
"You left the door wide open baby" explained Brian. "Let me help you up on the couch" Brian added picking Calandra up. He moved her over to the couch and took off her shoes and socks to try and make her feel more ocmfortable.
"I can't feel my legs they have gone numb" said Calandra.
"Can you feel this" asked Brian as he gave her feet a rub.
"No i can't feel anything in my lower body. I'm really frightened Brian" replied Calandra now starting to tear up, she wasn't one to really show too many emotions but this was worrying her a great deal.
"Has this happened before?" asked Brian
"Yes once before, I've had a sore back for days though" cried Calandra.
"Have to get you to hospital" said Brian as he rang an ambulance. The ambulance soon arrived and Calandra was taken off to hospital, the doctor on duty said it was quite late now so nothing could be done tonight but the next morning hopefully they can run some more tests to find out what's wrong. After a sleepless night and plenty of tears the next morning came around but unlike the other night Calandra still had no feeling in her legs, a battery of tests were done and the results of them would take 7 days to work out so calandra decided she wanted to go home as she waited and they put her in a wheelchair that she would now need to get around in. Brian picked her up as Calandra's dad was on holidays in the bahamas with Calandra thinking he couldn't have picked a worse time to go as she needed him but guessed Brian would have to do for now. Brian and Calandra pulled up to her place and Calandra wheeled into her apartment just able to squeeze through the door with her hand almost getting squashed between the edge of the door and the metallic rim of her wheelchair as she entered, it was a really crummy standard issue wheelchair so it didn't steer very well but Calandra was hoping it would only be for a week and then hopefully the mystery of her back would be solved.


　
After checking to see that she was all settled in Brian left for an hour to pick up some groceries for her. Calandra was normally always on the go and having to do something so even in the wheelchair she wanted to stay busy and decided to wheel out and check the mail, her perfectly manicured hands ran down the wheels of her rickety old chair propelling it forward towards her letterbox, once there she realised it was quite tricky getting her mail out with the wheelchair having to face in the right position to allow her to get it, as she went to obtain it though she put too much pressure on the side of the wheelchair with it flipping over and turfing her out onto the cold hard sidewalk, she felt pain in her elbow and saw it had been badly grazed, while she layed there she cursed the terrible quality of the wheelchair that threw her out and after regaining her thoughts she rolled the chair back over upright and attempted to get back in it, her legs were still immobile at this point and it proved quite difficult as every time she put her arms on the wheelchair to pull herself up it seemed to move backwards and she would lose her grip with the brake on the wheelchair broken in the fall. After about the 4th attempt she gave up, although calandra was a regular in the gym it was mainly for weight loss and fitness not for pumping iron and she had poor upper body strength as was evidenced by her inability to get back in the chair even if it was shonky. After 30 minutes stranded on the sidewalk Brian came back with the groceries to find an emotional Calandra, he helped her back in the chair and inside. When there he placed Calandra on the couch to rest while she wondered if this was going to be her life if the test results didn't come back as she hoped....