The beige phone on Mrs. Pine's desk started ringing. I ignored the first two rings before realizing that she wasn't around to get it, having stepped out into the windy, cloudy November weather to interview the newest driver who was applying to use our daycare as their checkpoint agency.
I put on my most responsible-grown-up voice as I picked up the phone from the wrong side of the desk. “Caring Arms Daycare, how can I help you?”
“This is Helen Montoya, New Mexico Secretary of Commerce. I’m calling to speak with Monica Pine, is this the right number?”
I gulped. So this was the ‘teacher’ reading our reports. “Yes, this is her office, but she's not available right now. Can I take a message?”
“Please have her call me back at 505-827-3333, regarding a driver whose insurance company failed to send us paperwork. The driver's insurance token was: DECL9171GM02A98F21E23S37J –”
“Oh, that's Mr. Burnside! He told us he was switching insurance companies last week. Did we do anything wrong?”
“I'm sorry, … who am I speaking with?” The pause - and her puzzled tone - made me realise just how quickly I'd dropped the grown-up voice and fallen straight into teacher's pet mode. I felt my cheeks grow hotter.
“Um, sorry, my name is Echo Thomas and I'm Mi-” I stuttered as I decided to consider my words very carefully, “Monica's … secretary. I help her with the checkpoint agency paperwork.”
“And you know Geoffrey Burnside?”
“He's been a client for a month and a half now. He usually checks in every other Thursday.”
There was a short pause on the line as Ms. Montoya considered this. “Did you catch the name of his insurance company? The ‘GM’ was new to me.”
My mind was getting foggy, and I was only half-sure about the name of his insurance company. “Ma'am, I know this is going to sound strange, but I want to say ‘Gallifrey Mutual’, like the planet in Doctor Who.”
“Oh! My husband watches that show, that would be clever.” She paused for another moment. “Ms. Thomas, to answer your previous question, you've done everything correctly. In addition to your reports, we also get paperwork from each insurance agency describing the truck's itinerary, and we have 14 trips without paperwork from this company so far. For the time being, could you please send in the physical tokens for this company and visually verify the cab's license plate?”
I finished scribbling on the pastel pink sticky note. “Yes ma'am. By the way, I know all our clients have Delaware plates on their cabs, are you ever planning to let them register in New Mexico instead?"
A long sigh came through the phone earpiece. “That's tied up in legislation at the roundhouse. Delaware likes to be a tax haven, and guess what, they barely have any roads to maintain. You know we have 20 times as much road mileage as they do, right?” I began nodding as she continued, “Anyway, thank you for taking my call, and please tell Monica I really appreciate how thorough your reports are. If you ever visit Santa Fe, please feel free to drop by our office.”
