The Raging Storm (ARVI) - Chpt 22 - Page 98 - Page 5

Originally posted by: vgiri

@Laurie... Awesome Awesome...got goose bumps.

I felt the same, kudos to Laurie..

Originally posted by: soapwatcher1

Laurie, loved it all, lapped it up like a person parched with thirst devours the mirage you promised in Chapter 1! Loved your play with words, the wicked wind lifting her tresses, the night sky - beautiful evocative writing! As for the voice she hears behind her, I know, I feel (fingers and toes crossed) that it is for real!! No imagination this but Arjun's voice!

Keep writing, as Shyamala has put it dil maange more!

Originally posted by: purethought

Laurie .. 👏

Want to read more, since there is nothing in the serial left to watch as of now.

Your story about ARVI is a great relief. 👍🏼

Originally posted by: lola123

Ohhh...I couldn't help smiling reading it...very well written...

Originally posted by: latika19

I just loved it...its superb please continue soon i m eagerly waiting for the next part...:)

Originally posted by: abhimg

⭐️⭐️👏Hi Laurie,

Lots of love, wonderful post. The feeling you described in Purvi at the beg of part 2, cld feel it in the guts...i too hope its really Arjun...

This is sooo romantic...ofcourse there is the pain...but i think we are all used to pain by now...

This is a amazingly lovely and brilliantly written...thank you Laurie...we all love it...kudos...

👏⭐️ Keep it up and yes, me too- dil maange more.. and more...

Originally posted by: bee5

Laurie,
Chapter 2 was beautiful. Very beautifully written. Written with lot of love and tender care.

p.s: I am not a FF/OS/SS reader. I won't bore you with my reasons, but since it is from you, I am reading it.

There are a lot of questions that came up when I was reading, but for now, I am not asking any questions. Since I started reading, I would like to finish it. You are a gifted writer, so you should continue to write, not just ArVi, but something else as well.

Originally posted by: Urben

I loved ur post writting LAURIE keep up the good work..and we all want our ARVI back togather soon but till then we have to wait 3 months for it..but till den we can read ur wrtting LAURIE and feel and c that we can c our ARVI getting back togather..pllzz keep writting more n more it keeps A SMILE ON US ARVI FANS.. :) ⭐️

Chapter 3 - And It's No Sacrifice At All [Arjun]

Deshmukh House - Canada - Three months and four days ago

"You're breaking up with me, aren't you?" asked Ovi in a frenetic voice. She turned to face Arjun as he stood in the doorway. "You've been distant on the way back from India and now you're telling me that you have to go to London for a project? We just got back! There's someone else, isn't there?"

"Sachin really came through for us" Arjun thought sarcastically. Sachin had found a loophole in Ovi's contract that allowed her to perform her duties while still being engaged to Arjun. The only caveat was that Ovi had to be in Canada for the next four months to satisfy the terms of the agreement and she could not be married before then. Arjun heaved an excruciating sigh, drew a hand down his haggard face and replayed the last twenty four hours in his mind.

*** Ovi was so ecstatic when she came to Arjun's office that she was practically shrieking. Arjun was in the middle of calming her down when Manav, Archana and Purvi came rushing into his office to see what the commotion was about. Ovi explained how Sachin was able to help her resolve her case without penalty and, in her glee, she danced over to Arjun and neatly wrapped her arms around his neck.

Arjun promptly turned ten shades of red and quickly disentangled himself from her grasp. He moved behind his desk to put some distance in between them. Manav and Archana surrounded an elated Ovi as she rambled on about her plans for Canada and her upcoming wedding. Arjun took stock of the situation as he read the unexpressed emotions in three sets of eyes.

Manav's eyes were full of pride and relief as his daughter would have been able to fulfill her contract and still realize of her dreams of getting married. Archana's eyes were pregnant with unshed motherly tears. She was happy that her all her estranged daughter's troubles were resolved and that she could move on to the next phase of her life unburdened.

Duly ashamed, Arjun forced himself to look into Purvi's eyes. Those beautiful, fathomless, clear pools of love and hope were now discolored by misery, distrust and pain. A piercing ache Arjun never knew ravaged his heart as he saw Purvi struggle to keep her composure. He felt truly incapacitated as she stood aloof and hurting as he knew he could not console her in front of this audience.

He wanted to run to her and hold her in his arms so tightly that no one could tell where one began or the other ended. He needed to comfort her and soothe her so badly that his entire body almost declared mutiny against his mind to go to her. His beautiful flower was riddled with so much pain at that moment that he wished the earth would open up and swallow him whole for causing her one ounce of distress.

"My Purvi" he thought. "My precious girl! What have I done to you?" Arjun started to reach for her when he saw the most amazing transformation happen. Inflicted with turmoil, Purvi's once adoring eyes started to harden towards him. He saw her put her emotional wall up brick by brick as they continued their staring match, oblivious to the other three in the room. His flower was so strong and he admired her all the more.

Arjun witnessed the light of hope extinguish in Purvi's eyes and devastation set in. In that instant, he knew that Purvi had given up. An immense, crushing pressure settled upon his chest as he saw Purvi turn to the group and state in a calm voice, "Ovi ma'am. I am so happy things are working out for you."

The three chatty faces stopped to look at Purvi. "I think you should leave for Canada right away to make sure things are settled and that there are no more hiccups." she continued. Purvi then turned to look Arjun squarely in the eye as she delivered her final blow, "Sir, since you both are engaged, I think you should accompany Ovi ma'am to Canada and help her get this sorted. You can give her all the support she needs. I will manage everything. You can go to Canada and FORGET all your worries here."

Arjun couldn't breathe. His heart slammed into his chest as he struggled to form a protest against Purvi's tirade. Unfortunately, Archana beat him to the buzzer. "Sir, Purvi is right. As you both are engaged, if you go back to Canada with her you can provide a great support for her as she is going through this phase. It can only strengthen your foundation as a couple. Purvi can handle everything here. You go with Ovi."

'No, this can't be happening!' Arjun thought frantically. He saw Purvi turn to move towards the door and panicked. "Archana-ji you make a valid suggestion. Manav uncle, Ovi can we continue this later? I have a few important cases to discuss with Miss Purvi before our deadlines expire. Miss Purvi, can you stay back for a few minutes?"

Trapped, Purvi stood close to the door as if to make a quick exit as the others exchanged farewells and left. Arjun stalked over to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the corner away from prying eyes. She looked up at him, lost in his touch for a moment and then her eyes were ablaze with fiery emotions.

"Don't touch me. Don't you touch me ever again!"

"You are mine Purvi. MINE! I'm never letting you go."

"Yours? You have no right over me Arjun. NONE! Now let me go!"

"I won't let you go, Purvi. Not now. NOT EVER! You and I were meant for each other"

"If you don't let me go I'll scream and then everyone will come in here and see what you are doing."

"I don't care, Purvi. I've had enough of this nonsense! Scream if you want to! Let them come in! Let them see us! I want them to know about us! Do it!" he challenged her knowingly. He would never risk her reputation but he wanted her to know that he meant business.

Purvi stiffened in his arms for a second as she considered his dare. She pierced him with incandescent eyes, "You are a despicable man! You string along both of us, play with our emotions and now you want us to both be available to you whenever you need us?" He loved that fire in her eyes. She was radiant when she was passionate about something and in that instant, her fell in love with her all over again.

Arjun cupped her face and brought them closer to each other. Just inches apart now, he said, "I only want you." With her breath hot on his face, Arjun felt no pull of gravity from the earth. "I am not betraying you Purvi. My heart belongs to you alone. You are my life! Please don't do this! Don't push me away from you."

Arjun felt like a man dying of thirst and Purvi was his only oasis. He reached up with one had to brush away the fairy wisps of her hair from her face. "Purvi, when I see you smile I can face the world. You are my strength, my light, my home - please don't take that away from me. I need you."

At his evocative words and tender touches, Purvi's floodgates opened up and the tears flowed uncontrollably down her face. Arjun held Purvi close as giant sobs wracked her body. "Please don't cry, my love. I will set everything right -for everyone. I know you love Ovi like a sister and you can never hurt her or your parents but I PROMISE you that I will find a way out of this that will have the least effect on everyone. Please don't cry, my flower. I'm here. I'm with you. Always."

After a few minutes, Purvi went quiet and still in his arms and Arjun thought the worst was over. He carefully and slowly pulled Purvi away from him and held her half an arm's length away. He was devastated to find that her mask was firmly back in place. Her face was devoid of any emotion as she reached up and shrugged his hands off her arms.

"Sir, you are engaged to Ovi and you need to take care of your FIANCE." Purvi slowly started backing away from him, each step taking her closer to the door. "You will get on that plane to Canada with her, you will get married and move on with your wonderful lives and you will forget all about US. It's what's best for everybody. I don't love you. I don't need you. If you love me as you say you do, then I want you to get on that plane with Ovi. If you try to get close to me, you will never see me again. Will you do this for me?"

Arjun's heart stopped cold. "Purvi, listen to me" He started for her but she backed up almost to the office door in view of anyone who glanced in this direction. He would not risk her reputation being tarnished so he stayed where he was.

"Will you do it?" she asked again, this time more forcefully. He knew she was hanging on by a thread and he could not let her fall. His heart plummeted to the floor as he heard himself say, "Yes, I will do it for you."

"Thank you" she said as she turned and walked out of his office. With those two words he knew that Purvi had effectively banished him from her life. In what seemed like five minutes, Arjun was on a plane with Ovi headed back to Canada. Each mile he flew away from Purvi he felt that his soul was being crushed to the point that it was difficult to breathe.

When they arrived at Deshmukh house, Ovi's grandmother received them and went to get dinner ready to celebrate their engagement. Arjun knew he had to get out of there before he succumbed to this insanity. He told Ovi that he had another project in London and had to leave the same day. He told her that they needed time to be by themselves to sort out their lives and to make sure that they were making the right decisions for the right reasons. She did not take the news too well. ***

"There's someone else, isn't there?" Ovi repeated shaking Arjun out of his jog down memory lane. Arjun knew that he was at a crossroads and the next words that came out of his mouth would either pave the way to Purvi's heart or take him away from it forever.

He mustered up his courage to face his best friend, "Ovi, you and I have always been best friends. We have been through a lot together and I know this is something you really wanted. I love you Ovi but I'm not in love with you. I've tried to make this work but I won't cheat you. I care about you too much to take advantage of your feelings."

"I never wanted to hurt or embarrass you which is why I went along with everything up 'til now. But I can't do this anymore Ovi. I just can't! I'm going to London tonight. I will call Manav uncle and explain everything when I get there. I'm sorry Ovi. I truly am." Arjun turned and started walking towards the door. As he put his hand on the handle to let himself out Ovi asked in a small voice, "You never answered my question Arjun. Is there someone else?"

Arjun conjured up Purvi's face in his mind to give him strength. He thought of the time she came to him in the airport and confessed her love for him. That memory zapped him with enough energy to light India entirely for a month. He turned to Ovi not wanting to lie and said, "I don't want to hurt you anymore that I already have Ovi but, yes, there is someone else. She is my world and I am nothing without her. She is the only one for me. I love her."

With that Arjun left and as he shut the door, he heard the loud smash of glass behind him. "One down, many to go." He sighed as he got into the waiting car. He looked back at Deshmukh house one last time and said, "Driver, to the airport."