I'm Virtually Yours. Jennifer Bohnet

struggling to get things right.”

      “Don’t be daft,” Marty said. “You’ve got loads of things right. This is just a bit of a blip. You’ll see.”

      “Ever the optimist,” Polly had laughed. “Let’s hope you’re right.”

      Deep down she knew it took time to establish any sort of new business, especially in these hard economic times. She’d only set up ‘Virtually Yours’ eleven weeks ago, dreaming of instant success. Which of course hadn’t happened.

      Lots of enquiries and promises of future work but so far she hadn’t exactly been rushed off her feet. She’d even started sneaking looks at the Sits Vac in the local paper for office work. Signing up with the local temping agency for a few hours’ work each week was beginning to look like a good idea — although the thought of being a lowly typist again didn’t appeal one bit.

      A new client account today would certainly have been a boost to her current regular batch of three, but she doubted that Daniel Franklyn would bother to respond now she’d queried the need to go haring off down to the West Country.

      Her mobile rang as she was about to log off and close down her computer. She didn’t recognise the number showing on the small screen, or the voice.

      “Hi. Daniel Franklyn here. I know it’s unusual for VAs to travel but this is a special case. I really need someone to represent me in the West Country for the next week or so.”

      “It’s very short notice,” Polly said. “I do have other work commitments,” she added, crossing her fingers. Not that many and nothing she couldn’t work on from the depths of, “Where exactly in the West Country?”

      “Devon. Down near Dartmouth. I’ll obviously pay all expenses plus a bonus at the end of the job. You’ll have full powers to act on my behalf. Be my proxy. With luck it will take less than a fortnight to tie things up. If I could do it myself I would. Unfortunately I’ve been delayed.”

      “What exactly do you want me to do down there? Why can’t I do it from here?” Polly asked. “Sorry I didn’t catch that — your voice keeps disappearing.”

      “I want you to check out a boat business for me before I commit to investing in it. You’ll need to look at the books, talk to the workers, generally get the feel of the place. Suss out whether I’d be putting my money into a going concern.”

      “Err — I wouldn’t have to actually go on board any boats, would I? I’m not good on boats.” The actual word was ‘terrified’ but Polly didn’t think Daniel Franklyn needed to know that.

      “No,” Daniel answered shortly, his transatlantic accent cutting through her protests. “You can stay on terra firma at all times.”

      “It’s a lot of responsibility to give a VA you don’t know,” Polly said. “Are you sure you don’t have a business contact down there who can act on your behalf?”

      “My lawyers are doing all the checks they can but I want a more personal view of everything. You’ve got a Business Management qualification haven’t you? So you’re more than capable of assessing this company for me. So do you want the job? Yes or no? You come highly recommended but you’re not the only VA around you know.”

      No, Polly thought silently, I’m not. But I’m probably the only one free enough to drop everything to go and work in Devon for however long it takes.

      On the other hand though, it did sound like a dream assignment and one, if she did a good job of course, that would help spread her reputation out into the big wide world. Fleetingly she wondered who had recommended her to Daniel Franklyn.

      “OK,” she said taking a deep breath and coming to a decision. “I’ll drive down this Sunday. E-mail me all the info so I can familiarise myself with things before I go. Oh, and as I’ve not worked for you before, I’d appreciate some money before I start accumulating too many expenses like petrol and hotel bills.”

      “Sure thing,” Daniel said. “I’ll transfer some dollars to the lawyers tonight.” He named a three-figure sum that took Polly’s breath away. Whoever Daniel Franklyn was, he certainly didn’t appear to be short of money.

      “That should cover things for the first few days,” he added. “Just one more thing. If anyone asks, you are working for a company called Worldsend Enterprises. My name is not to be mentioned. Got that?”

      Before Polly could ask “Why not?” Daniel continued.

      “Book yourself into the best hotel the town has to offer — I hear The Royal has a great spa. Right, got to go. Something’s come up. I’ll be in touch.” And the line died.

      Polly closed her mobile. A client with a no-expenses-spared attitude was a welcome addition to her client base but what did she know about Daniel Franklyn? So far her clients had come by personal recommendation and although he’d said she came highly recommended she knew nothing about him. And this thing about not mentioning him by name — what exactly was that about?

      Thoughtfully Polly typed ‘Daniel Franklyn’ into Google. Nobody there on the first two pages sounded as if they could be ’her’ Daniel Franklyn. Next she typed ‘Worldsend Enterprises’ into the search box and found their web page — which was ‘Under Maintenance’ and unavailable. A brief notice apologised and said to check back in a few days when the site would be up and running again. Hmm. Fat lot of help that was.

      Polly bit her lip. She’d committed herself to going down to the West Country now and she did need the money. Apart from the bills on her desk, her ancient car was coming up for its mot next month — her car!

      She’d forgotten the state it was in. Would it get her all the way to Devon? There was a strange knocking noise when she went round corners that would probably turn out to be expensive to fix. And she’d completely forgotten about Rosie. What was she going to do with Rosie?

      Ben Robertson pushed his breakfast toast away and finally opened the letter he’d been ignoring for the past ten minutes.

      “The loan company are getting heavy. Say if we miss another payment, they’ll call in the loan immediately.”

      Lillian rubbed her eyes tiredly. Sleep had again evaded her for most of the night as she’d tossed and turned worrying about the business. They so didn’t need the loan company piling additional pressure on. She looked at Ben.

      Seeing the dark circles under his eyes and the worry lines across his forehead she knew he hadn’t slept much either. She’d be glad when everything was sorted — one way or the other. She hated seeing Ben like this. At their time of life she’d expected things to be getting easier, not more difficult. All this business with the yard and finance was definitely taking its toll on both of them.

      “Can they do that?”

      Ben nodded. “Yes. We can only pray that the season starts early and the weather is kind to us this year. And hopefully this ’Worldsend Enterprise’ deal comes off.”

      “You don’t think we could be getting into even murkier waters?” Lillian asked quietly. “We don’t know much about them, what with their offer coming totally out of the blue.”

      “Just at the right moment as far as I’m concerned,” Ben said. “I know it’s a risk but what’s the alternative? We can’t let the business go without putting up a fight. A sleeping partner prepared to let us continue to run the business sounds like a good offer to me. And at least Worldsend is a nautical business so it must know all about seasonal fluctuations. Not like this bunch of sharks,” and he threw the paper angrily down onto the table.

      “Will’s not happy,” Lillian said. “He still says we should try and manage without outside investment. The barge will be earning money this season and there’s another instalment due on the new-build this month. He reckons if we did some more advertising, set up a website…”

      “Show him that letter,” Ben said. ‘He’ll change his tune