Chapter 78: A Sudden Masterclass

Fifteen minutes before the morning masterclass was scheduled to begin, Hall A at the Manhattan Conservatory of Music was completely packed...

Graduate fellows filled the tiered workstations, while faculty members and undergraduates stood along the side aisles.

Word of Jude’s playing from the previous afternoon had spread across Lincoln Center, and most of the room had shown up just to see him in person.

10 minutes before the hour, the rear doors swung open.

Vanessa Thorne walked in, flanked by 2 classmates from her sorority.

A brief murmur moved through the back rows.

"That’s Vanessa Thorne."

"Marcus Thorne’s daughter."

"Even she showed up for this."

Used to turning heads, Vanessa took a seat at the center console in the second row. She had only come because clips of the guest instructor were all over her feeds, and she wanted to see if the reputation was earned or overblown.

She had barely set her bag down when the hall quieted.

Every head turned toward the stage doors.

Jude Lawson walked out in a dark charcoal suit and headed toward the piano.

In the second row, Vanessa froze.

Wait...

She stared at him, stunned. It was the same man who had stepped in front of her at the Amsterdam Avenue crosswalk 20 minutes earlier.

She knew Sophie Reed... the sophomore on scholarship whom classmates occasionally compared to her.

When her Maserati clipped Sophie’s front wheel that morning, Vanessa had planned to make her apologize for the scratched paint.

Instead, this man had stepped out of traffic, caught her wrist, and forced her to hand over $500 in front of the morning crowd before police walked over.

Then another memory clicked into place.

The morning before, when her father had dropped her off by the gates, Chancellor Vivienne Cross had hurried down the steps, walked straight past their car, and greeted this exact man as he stepped out of his Koenigsegg.

The person who had ignored her father yesterday and shut her down in the street this morning was Jude Lawson.

She wanted to leave, but staying to watch for a mistake in his playing kept her in her seat.

Jude didn’t look up into the tiers.

He sat down at the Steinway grand, gave a brief breakdown of counterpoint structure, and began playing. The sound filled the hall immediately.

"Listen to that separation in the left hand," a faculty member at the back said quietly.

"That’s cleaner than most concert recordings."

In the second row, Vanessa’s hands stayed flat on her desk.

Her frustration gave way to focus. Growing up, her family had hired private instructors from top European orchestras, and she knew technique well enough to recognize that what he was doing was far beyond standard conservatory faculty.

"Take the next 20 minutes to work through the modulation on your consoles," Jude said, standing from the bench.

Keyboards clicked across the room as students started practicing the passage. Jude walked up the side steps, checking hand positions and tempo along the rows.

Two minutes later, he stopped beside Vanessa’s station...

He watched her hands move through 4 measures, then gave a brief nod. "Tempo is steady. Foundations are clean."

Vanessa looked at the keys, her face growing hot. Remembering how she had screamed at him in the street earlier, she couldn’t bring herself to look up.

"Your fourth finger is stiff on the descending run," Jude added. "You’re cutting off the lower notes. Watch."

He leaned in slightly, placing his right hand on the upper octave, and played the run once.

The adjustment in wrist angle was simple. Vanessa tried the passage again, matching the shift, and the phrase smoothed out immediately.

She looked up to say something, but the aisle was already empty. Jude had moved 3 stations ahead to correct another student.

Watching him walk down the row, her perspective shifted completely...

When the 90-minute session ended, a crowd of students headed toward the stage to ask questions.

Vanessa stayed at her console, waiting for the aisle to clear.

"Aren’t we heading to lunch?" one of her friends asked.

"Give it a minute," Vanessa said, watching the front. "I need to speak with Mr. Lawson."

Her friends exchanged looks. Vanessa had never waited around to talk to an instructor before.

Gradually, the remaining graduate students packed their folders and left the hall.

Jude took his notes and walked toward the exit doors.

Vanessa stood up, smoothed her jacket, and stepped into the aisle to catch him.

She stopped short before reaching the doorway. Waiting just outside in the hallway was Sophie Reed.

"Mr. Lawson," Sophie said, stepping forward with a smile. "I’m sorry I missed the class. Our jury ran 40 minutes over, and the department head wouldn’t let us out early."

Jude stopped, his expression relaxing. "Don’t worry about it, Sophie. Are you done for the day?"

"Yes, sir. Done with classes."

"Good," Jude said, heading down the hall with her. "Let’s grab lunch first, then we’ll replace your bike. That driver in the Maserati ruined your front wheel this morning; you shouldn’t have to walk back and forth to campus tomorrow."

Sophie smiled, keeping pace beside him. "Thank you, Mr. Lawson."

They turned the corner and walked toward the courtyard. By the doorway of the empty hall, Vanessa stood completely still, watching them leave together.

He hadn’t looked her way once, greeted Sophie by name, and referred to her as the driver who wrecked a bike...

She had been ignored twice in one morning, and having Jude walk off with Sophie Reed only made it worse.

Jude didn’t give her a second thought. Outside the main archway of the Conservatory, he spotted the black Ducati Panigale V4 R parked along the curb.

Anna stood beside the bike in her leather riding jacket. Seeing Jude step onto the sidewalk with Sophie, she gave a brief, disciplined nod. "Sir. I’m on site."

Sophie stopped beside him, taking in the scene. Anna looked more like private security than someone managing household logistics.

Before Jude could answer, the doors of a black Cadillac Escalade across the street swung open.