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The Forte Bar was booming with activity as the sun started to go down and the crowds of thirsty people started looking for a home. Soul-lifting piano music filled the room, provided by the daily player, Piper. Without the spirit of her music, the Forte wouldn't be as exciting as it was now. People were lured by her music, making them come in and see who played the beautiful music.
Piper didn't think that was exactly the case for that night's customers. On a regular night the crowd would be of the sophisticated sort, people in dressy shirts out for a date with their cute beau or their fancy co-workers. But tonight their guests were rather...odd. Dressed in bright, overly extravagant costumes. Top hats and bedazzled canes were around the room, and it was no wonder where the crowd was from: the carnival around the corner.
When the first of the showed up it surprised Piper. Her soft music seemed out of fit for the colorful people around her. Bartenders and waitresses gave her a look. What do we do? The looks asked. Piper just continued to play her music, trying not to feel awkward in her floor length dress and fancy jewelery.
A man in the corner that was wearing a large pair of glasses munched on an apple, the noise of it echoing off the walls and making Piper feel unnerved. Why did they have to do their business here, she wondered. But like a trooper, Piper continued to play her set, letting her own symphonies calm her and take her away to another land. Somewhere quiet, where the only noise was the crashing of waves against a shore, trees singing in the wind, and the songs of birds.
After a few songs that were comfortably familiar to Piper, she started to play ones that she thought might appease the crowd. They were a little more upbeat, but not so much that she would risk the disapproval of her boss, who was sitting at the bar making sure none of the carnival crowd made trouble. They weren't, but their roaring laughter sent the boss on edge, his forehead wrinkling with distraught every time it seemed to pick up. Piper wouldn't dare to tell anyone that, but it was something she noticed quite often in the uptight man.
Soon some people started to sway their hips, humming along to the repetitive notes. But they didn't seem too happy about it. They made their own music, some singing and others humming tunes that they were all familiar with. It made Piper frustrated that they weren't appreciating her music. She would have thought that the juvenile crowd that was around her age would like it, but it wasn't. With a sigh, Piper slumped her shoulders and took a break, resting her fingers on her lap and trying not to lay her head down on the piano.
Nobody approached her after she stopped; no one begged her to continue. Her pride was fading, and it wa becoming rage as well. All her life Piper had been taught to please, and oh how she wanted to please this crowd! Her eyes swept around the place again, her heart longing for inspiration. Working at such a calm, lowkey place had made her music more dull lately, nothing like her old taste in music. It was depressing, but Piper was so lost in wanting to please that she let the company mold her taste.
