It was a beautiful morning and Rainn was listening to the drops of rain splashing on her windowsill. Her mind however, was focused on a piece that they were going to perform that night. She remembered a fellow violinist once told her that she had an advantage in being blind; she would never have to deal with stage fright. She only smiled at him, not revealing that for her, there was double the pressure. She had to picture how her audience looked and would only know their approval once they applauded for her at the end of the piece. She could hear distant footsteps approaching the room and knew that it was Margaret. Her usual honey lemon scent filled the room as she tapped lightly on the door.

“Hello dear,” she called “Have you had lunch?”

Rainn decided not to answer the question, as she knew that either way she would get a lecture.

“You don’t have to answer that”, she went on, just as Rainn had suspected “I’ve been to the kitchen and I feel insulted.”

“Come on Margaret, your cooking isn’t that bad,” Rainn defended herself, a wicked grin plastered on her face.

“Joke’s on you, I had take out delivered,” Margaret retorted. Rainn heard her pull up a chair; from the closeness of her scent, Rainn knew that Margaret was seated next to her.

“You know, you have to eat something,” Margaret began to lecture.

“I know, I know” Rainn nodded, as she got to her feet and walked out of the room. She could feel Margaret follow her closely and knew that she was going to take it upon herself to monitor her meal. Rainn knew her way around the house now; Margret had ensured that all furniture was well arranged and easily accessible when Rainn informed her that she was coming over. She got to the kitchen and from the way Margaret whisked passed her, Rainn knew Margaret was going to serve her food.

“Just have a seat, I will warm it up for you,” Margaret said and went about the kitchen. Rainn sat quietly and patiently as she heard the familiar clatter of plates and knives. Her cell phone vibrated a pattern in her hand and she simply ignored it.

“Jack again?” Margaret asked after watching Rainn ignore her cell phone.

“Yes.”

“I have to hand it to him, the guy is relentless,” Margaret said and placed a plate in front of Rainn “Do you want some soda with that?”

“Yes please.”

Rainn picked up her fork and slowly began to nibble and pick on her food. She had not realized how hungry she was until she started chewing; she could feel the rumblings in her stomach scramble for the chunks of food that she was throwing its way.

Margaret on the other hand, wondered whether she should touch on the subject of Jack. She watched Rainn, who went on to eat as Margaret pondered the thought.

“Go ahead, ask the question,” Rainn said as she went on to chew and sip on some soda.

“I hate it when you do that,” Margaret said.

“Hate what?”

“How you know that I am burning to ask you a question?” Margaret asked.

“I could feel it.”

“I do not want to get into that right now,” Margaret chuckled.

“So, what’s the question?”

“Why are you ignoring him?” Margaret asked, as she curiously looked in Rainn’s direction. She knew that Rainn was blind but also knew that she could feel her looking her way.

“It’s nothing personal, I just need to concentrate on me right now,” Rainn replied and continued to nibble and play around with her food for Margaret’s sake. She paused and was about to put her plate aside, before she realized that Margaret was still looking at her.

“What else is on your mind?” Margaret asked in a concerned tone. She had watched Rainn for the past two days and had noticed that she had been slightly distracted.

“I need to be my best tonight,” she let out and Margaret could detect the frustration in her voice. She watched as Rainn let her fork drop to her plate and it made a loud clanging sound throughout the dining room.

“Take it easy,” Margaret said to her. She had her arm around Rainn in a minute, holding her in a tight embrace.

“You are too hard on yourself,” Margaret said as she rubbed her hand on Rainn’s back comfortingly “I watch you, you hardly eat or sleep. You’re in overdrive.”

Rainn could not help it as the tears streamed down her cheeks; she wiped them with the back of her hand and stifled a sob.

“You’ll be fine,” Margaret went on to say, but did not stop Rainn from letting her feelings out.

“I need to be perfect,” Rainn said emotionally as she again wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

“You should hear yourself play my dear, I think you transcend perfection,” Margaret cooed, as she held Rainn ever closer.

“You are truly a wonderful cousin,” Rainn replied as let her head rest on Margaret’s shoulder.

“I know I am,” she replied smartly “Now, I want you to eat your food. I wouldn’t want to see you faint on stage in front of a thousand plus people.”

“That would be such a sight,” Rainn replied as she sat up and took the fork in her hand. She picked through her food and started to nibble into it again.

“I can almost see the headlines now,” she went on to say in between mouthfuls “Blind girl faints in the middle of a performance.”

‘That’s not supposed to be funny,” Margaret replied albeit her manner suggested otherwise “I shouldn’t be laughing this hard at such a scenario.”

The two women went on to make light of Rainn fainting in the middle of her performance as Margaret secretly monitored her eating. She felt relieved when she saw that Rainn had cleared her plate, giving her a thumbs up.

“Now you can go back to practice with more energy,” Margaret said and watched as her cousin slowly got to her feet and walked out of the room. She slightly shook her head when she thought of her and Jack and decided that she was probably doing her a favor by hiding the letters. Rainn had been dealt a hand in life and a straining relationship would not really work for her at that time.