So, Darla gets really excited about certain ideas that she gets. One of these ideas was setting me up with her roommate Jill. Jill is white and blonde, so I warned Darla that I probably wouldn’t be interested since as everyone knows I seem to have a bit of “yellow fever.”

“Well,” said Darla, undeterred, “probably you could still be really good friends though.”

So while we were eating dinner she found out I was only in town for a week, not a month as she had thought, and that night was our only time to hang out together. Panicked, she immediately got on the phone to track down her roommate so I could meet her immediately, and then of course we would instantly fall in love, making Darla very happy.

At least, I think that’s what Darla thought. She couldn’t reach Jill, so she called other friends, sometimes repeatedly, who might know where Jill was. I think she was quite worried I might not get a chance to meet Jill and be smitten, as well as smite her (?) in return.

This was all high entertainment for me. I jokingly suggested leaving a message on her voicemail introducing myself, and Darla immediately handed me her phone which was in the process of leaving Jill a message. So I left Jill a message which went something like this: “Hey, this is Zach, some guy you don’t know. Darla, your roommate, thinks we should definitely date or at least be really good friends. And… oh, it beeped — it cut me off — oh no, wait, that’s another call coming in… oh… so it’s still going… ok bye.”

Charming, right? Yes, I was sure at that point that Jill would be instantly besotted the moment she checked her voicemail, and would immediately call Darla and try to arrange a romantic tryst with me.

Finally, Darla reached someone who knew where Jill was. She was studying at a coffeeshop halfway across the city.

Darla looked at me excitedly, a study in potential energy. “Okay, let’s go.” She dragged me out to her car, ditching her plans with Pamela to take me to meet Jill. Our dinner was over. I had to meet Jill, she just knew we would hit it off.

I have never had so much fun watching someone else be so excited about taking me somewhere. I was playing along because it was so awesome to watch. Darla had this gleam in her eye as she pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop and spotted Jill. I think she was even nervous.

Then we met Jill. She turned out to be cute and clever and funny and a good conversationalist, and good looking (for a white girl). Funnily enough, she hadn’t checked her voicemail yet, so she had no idea who I was even though half the people she knew had just been in a rush trying to introduce us to each other. Jill, the object of the last-minute romantic plan, was the only one who didn’t know about it.

Out of consideration for Darla, I pretty much ignored Darla and just talked with Jill. To make Darla satisfied. Haha! It was an awesome situation. I’m talking with one girl just for the other girl’s happy reaction. (Well, actually Jill was really interesting to talk to so it wasn’t a chore by any means… I guess I just got a kick out of the whole shebang.) Darla occasionally joined in to mention how awesome I was to Jill, but mostly she sat there smiling happily to herself.

Darla’s not stupid — probably Jill and I could have hit it off and become great friends, if we didn’t only have 20 minutes together at a coffeeshop. But that’s what we had.

And then Darla was driving me back to where we had left my car, beaming with happiness. Meaning Darla was. I, on the other hand, was just so entertained I didn’t know what to do. It was better than any sitcom I’ve ever seen.

Thanks for the awesome situation comedy, Darla and Jill! Positive emotions all around! You guys made my week.