Location: Conference room, Ministry of Finance, Shanghai Commercial District
Riva Jadhav tried to keep a compassionate smile on her face for Barry's sake, but inside the twenty-six year old analyst was dying for the sake of the teenager.
Less than a fortnight ago, mere days after her eighteenth birthday, Barrymore "Barry" Lockridge lost her parents in a terrible accident.
To add to the tragedy, Barry's parents had been Samuel and Andrea Lockridge, two of the most influential investors in the world. Which meant the Lockridge's adoptive daughter and sole heir was not going to be given the proper time to come to grips with her grief.
The Lockridge family had been traveling to London, where they were scheduled to travel on one of the Spindrift's sister ships from London to Vancouver, and from there to their home in northern California. Unfortunately, a ground transport accident claimed the lives of Barry's parents, though Barry herself emerged from the accident unscathed.
Barry had been allowed a short ceremony to bury her parents, then had been sent on a round the world trip, rather than allowed to return to her family's home. The reason was simple. Upon her parents' death, several trust funds kicked in, which would cover the teenager's expenses. At different points between now and her twenty-fifth birthday, Barry would gain direct access to several small fortunes, any of which would make her a wealthy young woman. But on Barry's twenty-fifth birthday, Barry woud gain control of her parents' shares in Lockifen, one of the world's biggest and most influential investiment funds.
It was no wonder that political and financial leaders around the globe wanted to get a first hand look at the heir apparent to the Lockridge economic empire.
Riva had been the junior member of a workgroup visiting London from Lockifen's offices in Mumbai when Barry lost her parents. The multilingual Riva was tapped to escort young Barry across the world, with the main reason being that nobody was too worried about a junior Indian analyst using her brief connection to the grieving heiress to establish a power base.
Riva might have resented being made a glorified nanny if the hadn't discovered what a sweet girl Barry Lockridge was. Barry might be trying to present herself to the world as a bastion of serenity, but in reality she was a scared desperately looking for any life line the world would throw her. So Riva happily played the part.
It wasn't easy being Barry's lifeline. During the day, Riva stood by Barry's side as the teenager went through a gamut of bankers and politicians. At night, Riva comforted a young woman who had just lost her parents.
Finally, Barry and Riva arrived in Shanghai. All they had to do was suffer through a couple of meetings, and then Riva could put Barry on a ship back to North America. Barry had been talking about Chipper, the long haired miniature terrier she had at home. As Riva and Barry suffered through a meeting with one particularly insensitive bureaucrat, Riva squeezed Barry's hand under the table, as if to remind her young charged that she would be home with her beloved Chipper tomorrow night.
Riva Jadhav, financial analyst, age 26
