Good luck!!! Honestly, I think it wasn't something that he did recently...something left over from last year. He was red in the face b/c he was as shocked as you, and shocked that he knew how it would look to you. I guess that's a good thing that he still gets flustered at what you might think? Right? Not total apathy.
Do use this to open something up....nothing major. GOOD LUCK!!!
PS--was BOW an EA or PA? It's hard to let go of EA friends when you're still feeling low and like life is a mess.