I've been working on / I'd worked on this essay for the last two hours so I'm tired now

After I was reading / had read her email, I was sending / sent her a private message to give her advice

I had / have only just met her when she was changing / changed her job and soon afterwards she left / she was leaving

When I had arrived / arrived, everyone had talked / was talking at once and it was impossible to hear what they were saying / had been saying

It was just last week that I had gone/went to visit an old friend who I didn’t see/hadn’t seen for years

I was born / was being born during a thunderstorm, and I love stormy weather now.

He left/had left the room without saying anything and I didn’t speak/wasn’t speaking to him again.

Although I was enjoying the meal, I had already decided / was deciding I din't want to go back to the restaurant again