"...and the moment he sees Gabe. All his professionalism is forgotten, and he acts like the heroine in a regency novel.
...As long as he doesn't just vanish from the job entirely, I'm okay with this bit..."

But he does! He could have come back later, after the event, to look for Gabe. Now that he knows where he probably works. But no! Without thinking he "...and begins to walk into the crowd."
That's a very stupid thing to do at that moment!

"...Ah, now we disagree over Kate MacLean too, I seem to remember... I adore her Pros stories!"

Well, then we should put her on the list for the next Novel Read-Along! :-)