Now Hiring: Speech Writers...

Girlnextdoor is now reporting from a university computer lab in Israel.

OK, so I finally have a few minutes to report on my trip to Israel...untimed, free internet access is quite a treat! So here I am in beautiful Israel traveling with Seattle Crush. I believe at one point I contemplated whether or not inviting him was a good idea. It was.

Everything has been great. Not just great, fantastic. I had mentally prepared myself for many different scenarios that could've played out -- EXCEPT the scenario that involved him looking at me and saying, "I think we should start dating." Which of course -- was the scenario that played out during that awkward 5 minutes of us pretending to sleep on opposite ends of the bed. Oh yeah, I apologize right now for any typos...the shift key on the keyboards here in Israel is in a slightly different place so I keep hitting / instead.

The juicier details involved everything being totally friends and by the time we were able to crash at the hotel, I was earnestly trying to fall asleep and was able to stay tough by not saying anything when the awkward silence was broken with this conversation...
SC: So, are you dating anyone?
me: Does it matter? (trying desperately to hold onto the agreed upon condition that EP and SC do not need to know about each other)
SC: Well sort of.
me: It doesn't matter if I say yes or no because the outcome is probably going to be the same either way.
SC: I think we should start dating.
me: (trying to act as if an emotional bomb has not just dropped and is currently sending shrapnel into all internal organs) What does that look like to you?
SC: I could start coming to Boston to see you.
me: Didn't you tell me back in November that you didn't think this whole thing wasn't going to work.
SC: Yeah, but I just needed some time to think about it. And I think we should start dating now. I'm serious this time.
me: (awkward silence) I think I need some time to think about this.

Ok, I should probably get back to my conference but had to at least share those details. But instead of a chaperone, I'm now hiring a speech writer. Because regardless of what I decide to do with SC, there needs to be an important talk with EP when I get back. And I need someone to write that speech for me...because I can't figure out how to handle all of this gracefully. Any ideas?