263. Sleepless

"I am so nervous to meet Cayden," Kate said the next day at work. "I just can't wait to meet the guy who makes you this happy!"

I'd had a smile on my face for three days straight. But I knew the real reason she was nervous to meet him was because Cayden would be reporting back to Topher to tell him what she's like in real life. She was so nervous it was almost like she was about to meet Topher himself.

"Oh, you'll be fine," I told her. "He's just a big ol' goober with a cute accent."

We both knew he was much more than a big ol' goober to me, but at least the accent part was true. I counted down the minutes until lunchtime. I'd managed to get a few things done at work earlier that day, but by 11 am my mind had wandered to Cayden and I had flashbacks of the night before. There's nothing more awkward than having dirty flashbacks while you're in a meeting with coworkers.

Thirty minutes until lunch. I responded to a few more emails and read a few Mashable articles to catch up on any new social media news.

Ten minutes until lunch. I gave up on being productive. I rolled over to Emory's desk and tried to distract him while he finished installing a contest tab to a client's Facebook page. If I couldn't be productive, no one should.

My eyes lit up when I saw Cayden walk into the office. Time after time, I'd imagined him walking through those doors and surprising me at work. I had to look twice to make sure it wasn't one of those daydreams.

"Hey, beautiful," he said when he reached my cube. "Ready for lunch?'

"You have no idea," I answered.

Kate came around the corner and smiled from ear to ear when she spotted Cayden.

"You must be Kate," Cayden said, reaching out to shake her hand. "I've heard so much about you."

Kate's cheeks turned dark red. "So you're going to give me the scoop on Topher, right? Tell me all his dirty secrets?"

"That's the plan," Cayden responded.

A group of us split into a few cars and headed to Pluckers. Cayden was craving wings, and I had a hard time saying no to honey BBQ wings and sweet potato fries.

Cayden sat across from me and we played footsie under the table. Footsie isn't as fun when you're wearing boots. He and Kate hit it off really well. In fact, I couldn't think of anyone Cayden hadn't hit it off with yet. They talked about Topher and London and when she'd get to take a trip to London to meet Topher.

"A girlfriend and I have been saving up for a Europe trip. We planned on going in 2012, so it looks like I'll get to meet him this year," she said excitedly.

I tried to imagine what her flight over there would be like. Would she be hyperventilating into a barf bag when they landed in London? Would she have an asthma attack at Heathrow knowing he's on the other side of Customs? I knew the feeling all too well.

"It's just so weird," she said. "I mean, I've never met him, but we talk to often and we see each other on the webcam, it's like I've known him for a long time."

"That's what he's been saying," Cayden said. "He said he'll stay up to chat with you and before he knows it, it's 3 a.m."

"I always feel so bad when he does that!" Kate said.

I remembered when Cayden and I used to do that. It didn't happen as often anymore, but at the beginning we lost a lot of sleep getting to know each other.

Those sleepless nights were totally worth it.