Invisible String

C.1: drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar

Madison cringed slightly as the current person playing the piano hit one too many bum notes in a row.

"You think you could do better?" Rosa asked, noticing that Madison twitched each time a bad note was played. She continued wiped down the spot next to Madison.

"I haven't played in a long time, but I think I could," She cringed once again as another bum note was played. She couldn't even pretend to enjoy this drunken rendition of what she assumed was Beethoven's Für Elise. A simple piece. One that even a child could play. Maybe not a drunk one. But a piece that a child could play.

"Oh thank god," Madison remarked out loud as the piano finally.

Before getting up, Madison listened for a moment, trying to figure out if anyone else was going to head to the piano.

"Can you watch my bag?" Madison asked, Rosa nodded, taking it from Madison's hand and placing it behind the counter.

"There's no money in it," She remarked.

"Damn it," Rosa laughed, "There goes my plan to steal from rich white ladies to pay off my college debt."

"I'm not that rich," Madison replied on instinct, which was in fact the truth, there was next to no money in her American bank account, most of her money still tied up in Switzerland.

"You have red bottom shoes, and I'm gonna assume that suit is something fancy like Italian. And that watch is probably worth more than my college debt." Rosa remarked, as she cleaned a glass.

Madison stayed quiet, knowing that she was still considered as someone who was pretty well off, despite her current run of bad luck.

"My point exactly." Rosa finished up, shaking her head before she turned to serve customers at the other end of the bar.

Madison picked up her own drink, keeping the coaster and napkin on the bottom of the glass, nodding over to the bartender, who was busy mixing drinks for the patrons who had just arrived.

Madison set her drink down on the small table to the right of the piano as she let her feet rest against the pedals. Immediately realising that it wouldn't be possible for her to play with her heels on, so she slipped them off. And once again rested her feet on the pedals, which thankfully wasn't sticky.

She took a moment to get situated as she searched through her brain, trying to figure out which pieces she could remember, ones without any lyrics. Having not gained the trust of the staff to sing.

Her hands hesitated over the keys for a second, not knowing how they'd sounds, having not heard anyone half way decent play since she took refuge inside the bar. Hoping that the piano had been retuned lately, Madison shakily started off having not played the piano for an audience bigger than one person, her ex, in as long as she could remember.

Not that her fellow patrons who were nursing their drinks could have been considered that big of an audience, but still. It was more people than she had played for in forever. She knew that the Rosa was paying attention to her and that might be the only person who cared enough, as she played the piece that had been butchered just moments ago.

It was an easy piece for her to play, having committed it to memory when she first started playing piano back when she was five years old. This increased the internal pressure Madison placed upon herself as her fingers moved across the keys with next to no extra effort as she played.

A small and scattered round of applause broke out from around the bar. As people clearly appreciated someone who actually knew how to play.

Madison looked over at Rosa behind the counter, who nodded towards her, as if she was impressed. A faint smile broke across the bartender's face as she realised that Madison undersold her abilities.