{"quotes":[{"text":"Well why don't you lean over this counter a little more and give me your best kiss, and then I'll tell you if I want you to take me out to dinner.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["alex","humor","new-york-city","short-story","suspense","true-love","zack-love"],"id":2910,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"My decision to become a teacher suddenly seemed even more appropriate. Life had just become that much more unpredictably precarious and ill-suited to long-term planning, and it felt that much more necessary to spread love and knowledge to those who would one day have to manage this messy and painful world of ours'Also in Zack Love's 'Stories and Scripts: an Anthology.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["911","contemplation","l-thought-provoking","life-lessons","life-philosophy","new-york-city","short-story","zack-love"],"id":23565,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"...And on my fourth morning in Naples, I woke up alone. There was a note on the table with the breakfast that Cinzia had quietly prepared for me. It read, 'It could never be. But that's why it will always be - perfectly divine. Cinzia' City Solipsism: A Short Story.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["attraction","connections","love-lost","memories","new-york-city","short-story","strangers","subway","zack-love"],"id":42029,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"Adding to my emotional dizziness on Sunday, I spoke with my sister, who kept noting how amazing Michael is, and what a brave and selfless man he is for having helped as he did.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["anissa-s-redemption","book","college-romance","despair","dreams","fear","feelings","life","life-lessons","love","lovers","michael","new-adult-contemporary-romance","new-york-city","night-terrors","nightmares","philosophy","relationships","romance","syria","tags-anissa-julien","the-syrian-virgin","truth","war-romance","wisdom","zack-love"],"id":47735,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"That could also be because at one point during the film, our hands found each other. And when I felt Michael's middle finger caress the inside of my palm, it sent a tickle up my spine, and the fingers of my right hand were soon exploring his left hand, and we each took turns tracing the contours of the other's hands.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["coming-of-age","immigrant-experience","middle-east","new-adult-contemporary-romance","political-fiction","political-romance","syrian-civil-war","the-syrian-virgin","zack-love"],"id":62475,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"At one point, I began to think that I had a divine doorman. Lenny was the most unlikely incarnation of God I could imagine, and yet, I kept drifting irresistibly towards this absurd conclusion. Despite my staunchly atheistic inclinations, I couldn't explain Lenny any other way. But eventually I came to my senses and realized that he was just one of those game show freaks with an encyclopedic memory. That didn't make him God, did it? Would God proclaim so regularly how much he likes Patsy's Pizza?","author":"Zack Love","tags":["alex","faith","god","lenny","life-lessons","nyc","religion-and-philosophy","short-story","thought-provoking","unexpected","zack-love"],"id":66237,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"In addition to my new outlook on life, in some absurdly simple way, Anissa gave me several new reasons to live. Above all, I had to see her again and find out what, if anything, would happen between her and me.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["anissa-julien","anissa-s-redemption","book","college-romance","despair","fear","feelings","life","life-lessons","love","lovers","michael","new-adult-contemporary-romance","new-york-city","philosophy","relationships","romance","syria","the-syrian-virgin","truth","war-romance","wisdom","zack-love"],"id":98682,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"It's bewildering to me how you can just start chatting with a complete stranger on Facebook, and - next thing you know - it seems as if there's some intense connection with the person - or at least you feel that closeness and hope it's mutual.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["anissa","college-romance","coming-of-age","crush","immigrant-experience","michael","middle-east","new-adult-contemporary-romance","new-york","political-romance","syrian-civil-war","the-syrian-virgin","zack-love"],"id":125661,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"The lead-up to the moment was magical in every respect, but a part of me was, and still is, uneasy about the whole thing for many reasons.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["anissa-julien","anissa-s-redemption","book","college-romance","despair","fear","feelings","life","life-lessons","love","lovers","michael","new-adult-contemporary-romance","new-york-city","philosophy","relationships","romance","syria","the-syrian-virgin","truth","war-romance","wisdom","zack-love"],"id":128644,"author_id":"Zack+Love"},{"text":"We pick the people who populate our personal lives as much for who they make us as for who they are. I chose Anna for the person I became in her presence, and in this respect, my love for her was a more selfish one.","author":"Zack Love","tags":["alex","anna","connection","lovers","nyc","short-story","thought-provoking","zack-love"],"id":135656,"author_id":"Zack+Love"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":34,"pages":4,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}