[raises her eyebrows just a little.] A... guide? That does sound a little less like a friend, but it's to your merit that you're thinking of him all the same!
You might become very good friends indeed now that you can interact with each other in person. And there's no work to get in the way of things now too!
[Isn't that what you were? Boss and subordinate?]
And no, no I haven't meet him. But if he's as cute as you and Perry, I'm bound to like him!