Pinched between sweaty fingers, the love note—a carefully crafted purple-inked questionnaire that would potentially determine the rest of their lives—was passed to the blonde in front of him. She firmly marked “No.”

“Okay,” he sighed, erasing the dark X of rejection. “Well, would you pass this to Julia?”

This is Alexandra’s eighth fifty-word story. She learned early on that love was a numbers game, but the good news is that you only need one.