DEAR Sonali,

At long last, I have sat down to write to you. It has been on my mind to write for a long time now, but somehow I never got around to it. Then I thought I’d better get in touch before you gave me up for lost!

I have been completely thrown by something that happened last week and I really need to get it off my chest. I was in two minds whether or not to burden you with my troubles but when I really need a friend to talk to, yours is the only name that comes to mind.

I had been going out with Rohit for a year, and the two of us always got on like a house on fire. Although we had our share of ups and downs, it was, by and large, smooth sailing.

A couple of months ago he started acting strangely. He would bite my head off without any rhyme or reason. I truly didn’t know what had gotten into him. He would just fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. For a person who has always had a good head on his shoulders, it was unusual to get so worked up over nothing. No matter what I said, he would give it to me.

Last Saturday he told me he wanted to call it quits with me. For a minute I didn’t know what had hit me. Looking back, I realise I should have seen it coming, but at that time, it came like a bolt from the blue.

I don’t have the foggiest about what went wrong. Tell me should I try to reason with him? Should I give it another shot? I need your help to make sense of this.

Love, Kavita

At long last: after a long period of time

Have something on your mind: to think or worry about something

Get around to (doing) something: to do something that you have been planning to for a long time

Get in touch: to write or speak to someone

Give someone up for dead/lost: to believe that someone is dead and stop looking for them

To be completely thrown: to be confused or shocked

Get something off one’s chest: to tell someone about something that has been bothering you so that you feel better afterwards

To be in two minds: to be unable to make a decision

Come to mind: think about something

Go out with someone: have a romantic relationship with someone

To get on like a house on fire: to get on extremely well with someone

Ups and downs: a mixture of good and bad experiences

Smooth sailing: something that is easy and happens without any problems

Bite someone’s head off: speak angrily to someone

Without rhyme or reason: used to mean doing something without any apparent reason

What’s gotten into someone: used to express surprise that someone is behaving very differently from the way they usually behave

Fly off the handle: to suddenly become very angry, especially about something that appears trivial

Drop of a hat: at any time without preparation or warning

To have a good head on one’s shoulders: to be sensible or intelligent

Get worked up about something: be very upset or excited about something

Give it to someone: to angrily criticise or punish someone

Call something quits: to stop doing something

Not know what hit you: to be so shocked by something that you cannot think clearly

See something coming: to realise that there is going to be a problem before it actually happens

A bolt from the blue: something that happens very suddenly

Not have the foggiest (idea): have no idea at all

Give something a shot: attempt to do something

Make sense of something: to understand something

(Reference: Longman Advanced American Dictionary)