[ She nods, acknowledging the apology. In truth, she should be the on apologising, so... ]

I've been here for almost a year now, and it's always unfortunate when a friend [ Yeah, she said the F-word. ] disappears. I thought I could get used to it, but the longer I stay here and the more people I met, it becomes more difficult.

I'm sorry for acting that way, though. And for not responding to your letter right away. I didn't want to, because I wanted to do it in person. It just took a while to figure out how to tell you all this.