I should have seen it coming, although there's no way I could have.
Granted, when my friend set me up on a blind date with a friend of his named Gillian, it raised an eyebrow. Still, anyone would see it as a coincidence.
But it was just me standing outside the restaurant. So when I heard a female voice calling my name, it was easy to figure out that it was Gillian.
Figuring out it was Community's Gillian Jacobs was quite another matter. But it appeared there she was.
After four years of obsessive viewing, I was among the select few millions of viewers and bloggers that could instantly recognize her. My TV brain even connected that Gillian's pretty red dress was like the one Britta Perry wore to end Community's first Valentine's episode.
Why the hell was she wearing that to meet me? Why the hell was she meeting me? What the hell was my friend trying to pull? Out of all those questions, the one I actually asked, "You're Gillian?" was just marginally better.
"So this is where I yell 'Surprise!' then?" Gillian joked while I tried not to get beside myself.
"How does Dan know you? Why didn't...." I stopped myself. When I actually started to think this through, I asked, "Did he enter me in some 'Win a date' contest for mega fans? I think I would have heard about that myself."
"No, we haven't tried that yet. Now I'm kind of surprised we didn't," Gillian said. "He didn't even tell me you were a fan."
"Well, I'm a big one, so...." I started and stopped again. Now the whole situation hit me β and now I saw I probably hadn't made the best impression. If Dan was doing this for me β this unreal, incredible thing β I couldn't waste his efforts, no matter how he used them.
"I've got a ton of questions, obviously. Maybe you'd be more comfortable hearing them inside," I offered.
"I was going to eat there anyway. I'll bet once I shut my stomach up, I can hear you better," Gillian figured. I gave my first smile and headed inside before I lost my nerve.
As we waited for our table and ultimately got led to one, I was hesitant to get too close to her. I told myself I'd be the same if this was any other blind date, given that we'd have just met either way. But it wasn't like I hadn't seen this blind date before, or hadn't laughed at her work, read about her, written about her....done other things with her in my mind, etc.
Still, I kept myself steady as we sat down and ordered our appetizers. Once we got that sorted out, I was ready to ask, "Okay, so how long has Dan kept you a secret from me?"
"He told you he's a guard at Warner Brothers studio, right? You do know that much about your friend?" Gillian asked.
"Yeah, but he just guards the front gates. Supposedly," I answered. "He didn't tell me he talks to the stars. Trust me, I made sure to ask. Besides, he's only been there a few months."
"He said he got hired right before we got a fifth season. I'm guessing you know what day that was, for at least one reason," Gillian guessed. And with my photographic memory of the day Community actually got renewed again -- and my good memory on when Dan got his job -- the math worked out.
"You've been filming for about a month. He got cozy with you guys that quick?" I asked next.
"His lunch hours match up with ours. He said he was a big fan....but I guess he might have been playing you," Gillian answered.
"He has a real bag of tricks, I guess," I realized. As a few more things dawned, I voiced, "I'm sure he didn't keep it a secret because I'd freak out. I'm not that kind of fan."
"I've met every kind of fan there is. We all have. It's the only reason we're still on the air," Gillian said fairly accurately. "If he did this for you, he must have been really sure you'd like it."
"You could say that about anyone. Anyone sane, anyway," I made my way to a compliment. "Maybe not married guys. Not the really good ones. But the ones who look and wouldn't touch...."
"Well, I'm not here with any of them. Unless Dan buried even juicier secrets," Gillian said while glancing at my ring-less hands.
"No, five or so is our limit," I assured her. With the ice broken and awkwardness brushed aside, I felt lighter as the appetizers arrived. But just as things were perfectly comfortable, I risked it anew.
"So why are you blind dating to begin with?" I asked. "I don't think it'd be a problem to let dates see you first."
"Not during a hiatus, anyway," Gillian started. "But with our Dan back, and all we've gotta do for Season Five, we're really hunkering down. That doesn't leave me time to find a date myself right now. So I casually mentioned blind dating to your Dan, and he pitched you as a candidate. That was two days ago."
"Yeah, that's when he got around to pitching you too," I confirmed. "He just told me he knew an available, lovely blond named Gillian. And he said we had a lot in common. Seems he's been right about all of that so far."
I didn't know if it was good or bad to be so bold, as true as it was. She seemed pleased and flattered, so I took that as promising.
"Wait, you really didn't think it might be me? Even if he didn't tell you he met me, you know he works near us! What other Gillian did you think he meant?" she asked