MY MOBILE MAN
My Mobile Man
UK & Commonwealth rights: Working Partners Ltd
US rights: Working Partners Ltd
German rights: Heyne
All other rights available
A story for the modern young woman who worries they spend too much time in cyberspace and not enough time in the real world.
When the packed commuter train Kristy Simmons is on is delayed, she hauls out her i-phone to get a few things done. Today’s a busy day. First, she has to pick up her sister’s fiancé at Newark airport, deposit him at a suit fitting downtown, swing uptown for several business appointments, then mid-town for an all-important auction, and all before getting her sister’s fiancé to her family’s place in Upstate New York that evening for their engagement party.
Pausing for breath between calls, Kristy picks up a text from an unknown caller-id. The message reads, “Can you please be quiet? I’m kinda having a tough day here, Will.” Instantly she’s embarrassed, and snaps her phone shut, shoving it away. Her gaze is drawn to the cute guy opposite her, mobile in hand. He’s different from all the rest of the commuters, being the only one not in a suit. Before she can defend her self, her train is pulling into Newark and she’s gathering up all her things in one heap, and rushing out the train, only to realize too late that she’s left her i-phone behind. She bangs on the glass. Looking up, the last thing she sees is cute guy retrieving her phone and holding it out vainly to her but, it’s too late, the train is already set in motion.
Arriving at the airport, Kristy holds up a placard for Marcos, her sister’s Spanish fiancé, and waits it out. She can’t even run to the shop for a pay-as-you-go replacement because she’s never even seen Marcos and daren’t miss him. Helpless without her i-phone, and not knowing her own number even, Kristy must ask for help. A tour operator, Roger, spots her plight, and offers her his cell to use. First, Kristy phones her mother to ask for her number, not wanting to alarm her sister, Janey, who can be a bit flaky and dramatic. Spotting a Spanish man approaching her, Kristy jots down her number and hangs up. Greeting her future brother-in-law warmly, surprised at how limited his English is (although, not all together surprised, this is Janey after all), Kristy would have marched him onto the next Manhattan Express but she still has Roger’s cell phone. Hurriedly calling her phone, a guy called Will picks up (So it was him). Will explains that he is out of town in New Jersey for the best part of the day dealing with family business (what he doesn’t tell Kristy is that this is to do with the sale of his grandmother’s home after her recent death) so he’s not going to be able to swing by Starbucks in Manhattan to arrange a simple handover. (But, later, he can swing by her family’s place). Will can inform her that her sister just texted and that Marco’s flight is delayed! She has the wrong Marcos! In a jam, Kristy has no choice but to ask for Will, Roger and Marcos’s help. And until she can hook up with Will, and arrange a handover, she’s kind of dependent on him to get her from A-B.
Meanwhile, Will gets inundated with calls from Kristy’s family, business associates and friends. On gardening leave (although Kristy believes he’s an unemployed bum), Will decides to have a little fun and help remind Kristy that nothing compares with face-to-face time with her loved ones (he’s been thinking about this a lot since he lost his own grandmother). But maybe Will has some lessons of his own to learn along the way. For the thing is Will is a delegator, not a doer. And Kristy? Well she’s a doer who wouldn’t dream of asking anyone else for help. But when these two ‘connect’, they show each other the pleasures and the pains of confronting life, when you have nothing left to hide behind.
This title was created by Working Partners Ltd.Since 1995, Working Partners has created some of the most recognised series in children's fiction including Animal Ark, Heartland and, more recently, Rainbow Magic and Warriors. Rainbow Magic now has sales of five million copies in the UK and Commonwealth and translation rights have been licensed in seventeen territories. Animal Ark, now with its own Classics list in the UK, has sold over fifteen million copies worldwide.
In 2006 Working Partners Two was formed to develop book ideas and to establish a network of writers to emulate the children’s success in the arena of adult fiction.Lucy Hepburn is a pen name.
