A Little Excerpt

June 2019

Kevin Maggliardi and his girlfriend, Shanti Lee, spent the evening in downtown Boston and were about to head back to Cambridge to hang out with friends.

Shanti was drinking her French vanilla latte and brushed her hair behind her ears.

“Hey Kevin,” Shanti said to her boyfriend.
“Yeah?” Kevin responded.
“My family found out this evening that my sister’s pregnant.”
“Oh nice! Which one?”
“Sruthi, the middle one. Suha is with Liz.”

A few minutes later, Kevin grabbed Shanti’s hand and gently squeezed it every other few seconds. Shanti played with his watch.

“What are you doing?” Kevin asked with a coy smile.
“Playing with your watch,” Shanti replied back.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Oh, you know.”
“Checking my heart rate?” Kevin remarked.
“Yup,” Shanti said quietly with a giggle.
“I can feel my heart beating in my chest, so I can understand.”
“Your heart rate is 117, FYI.”
“Figured as much.”

Their train back to Cambridge arrived, and they sat next to each other. Shanti relaxed on Kevin’s chest so that she could hear his heart beating steadily and the intercom on the train. She closed her eyes and focused on the racket inside him.