For the past two years I have been dating someone who was previously one of my best friends for the past fifteen years. For about the past year I have been questioning whether it was a mistake and have tried to force a relationship because of the friendship but it just is not working out because I do not have romantic feelings for him. I know he has loved me for over fifteen years and patiently waited. I have tried to force things...

I am 30 years old and after going on a business trip with my mentor & boss, I fell hard for his best friend who also works for the same company but in a different region. I cannot stop thinking about this man. Nothing inappropriate has happened but at one point during our summit we sat and talked for about 4 hours straight about life and work. He is 18 years older than me and my mentor thinks of me as a daughter. He also lives about seven hours away but he is someone I can learn so much from work wise.

This has reinforced the idea that my current relationship just needs to end if I am able to develop feelings for someone else. This is a two-parter provlem and believe me I feel like a horrible person! How do I end a relationship with a genuine friend, and what do I do about a connection to someone else I've never quite felt but could cause problems with others I care about?

This other man is everything I've ideally wanted in person yet our relationship could cause drama amongst other people in my life based on our age difference and my mentors protectiveness of me... Any advice would help!

P.S. My long term goals do not include having children. I do not want any so that would not be a factor in our age difference if I were to pursue something in the future