Default Boss

My boss got fired, so we had an acting manager until he went back to the UK. Now, we have a very curious problem: He is moving over here to be our permanent boss, his boss is here, and only sort of involved, and our former acting manager who is our new boss is trying to manage us from the other side of the world (or, at least, 9 time zones away). This is all well and good for those of us who happen to be self-starters. For the non-self-starters, and the contractors this poses a completely different problem. Who do they turn to when they don't know what to do or how to handle a situation? Who do they ask for more things to do? It is times like these that a natural leader emerges. Either because they want to, or because others want it of them. In our current situation, it's because others want it. I have become the default boss. Yes, you read that correctly. Yours truly, out of no effort of her own has become the person people ask all their questions of, and the one who hands out assignments when the contractors get bored. Is this what I wanted? No way. I like not having to be a boss. I gave that up years ago, and haven't really missed it. Sure, I'm a great type "A", but dealing with other people's problems at the expense of getting my own work done — thanks, I'll pass. Oh well. I guess we do what we have to do. I just have to remember to keep referring things back to our boss, so that people don't start thinking I'm the boss, and so no one's toes get stepped on. This isn't a job I asked for, but I've got to make the best of what has happened.