A/N: I've been working on this story since the beginning of the COVID lockdowns, and now here we are!
This is a David x Fem!OC story, but I've taken a tip from Cyberpunk 77 and named my character Vie - short for Vienna. She is a non descriptive female character, and the closest I can get without making this a character x reader story. I hope you enjoy getting lost in this story as much as I have. Happy reading!
Life Insurance Claim Number: 05-90210
Death Date: May 9, 1986
Decedent: Alfred S Johnson
Age of Decedent: 78
Cause of Death: Heart Failure
Beneficiary: Margaret Johnson
Death Benefit: $25,000.
It was easy. It was repetitive. It was taking forever.
Vinnie was exhausted. Her eyes had glazed over long ago, leaving her left hand to hold up her head while she clicked to the next screen. The bright green letters on the dark computer screen were beginning to blur. But she had to keep going. The paperwork was almost done.
Under the weight of a heavy head her hand slipped out from under her, startling her enough to jolt up in the seat.
Maybe a break wasn't a bad idea.
She rubbed at her eyes to try and ease the sting from looking at the computer before giving up, looking back to the clock. 4:20 pm. She couldn't even muster the energy to make a joke about it.
It was only Wednesday. Jesus.
The skies were overcast and the music in the background sounded like tv static. Vinnie's coffee had been lukewarm for as long as she could remember.
"I need to take five."
Mumbling she turned, blindly addressing her boss across the room. He nodded, waving haphazardly behind his computer screen. Maybe everyone else was feeling the middle of the week creeping by slowly. She stood a little too quickly, head aching at the sudden movement. Vinnie closed her eyes for only a moment before hurrying along to the bathroom. She thought back to how she landed here in the first place.
Insurance. The transfer of risk. The big CYA.
For a while she thought It was a nice thing she was doing, and the work started off simple enough. She could help people prepare for the worst financial tragedies; for the loss of someone they loved. On paper it seemed like an upstanding job. A virtuous one.
But life insurance was a big deal.
It was a luxury until some wife with three young kids became destitute, or until a drunk driver hit a car full of high school kids. Okay maybe that was a stretch, but it was still important.
She started in service after she graduated, taking payments and helping with simple questions, and worked her way up to claims. It was Vinnie's job to make sure that the claims were spotless from top to bottom. It was a simple checklist.
Investigate the circumstances and cause of death.
Get a copy of the death certificate.
Confirm the beneficiaries.
Cut a check and close out the claim.
Insurance fraud was rare, and for the most part of her five years working in the department the claims were easy and quiet. It was safe work. It was stable work.
For the young and elderly alike claims were all the same. After all, no one could outrun death.
There was always a game of chance that people could get into a car accident or have their house struck by lightning, but death? Death was finite.
The claims were terribly sad sometimes, and not because of the death itself. The aftermath was just as hard to clean up.
It was common for the families to stick around the office for a little while, and while it was hard to put the pieces back together, some people just wanted to talk about it. They wanted to talk about their lost loved ones. They wanted to reminisce.
But it left Vinnie drained.
She was kind, probably too kind to listen to them drag on, but what else could she do? She could hardly imagine the way she would feel after losing someone. Well, that and she was getting paid hourly. So she didn't mind spending a little extra time with the families.
Vinnie shook her head quickly, locking the single bathroom door and leaning against it with a hefty exhale. The bright lights were disorienting, but she could live with it. It was fine. Anything was better than sitting behind the desk. Anything.
Looking into the mirror was probably a mistake, and she pushed out a breath. Did she really look that tired? It was like looking at a zombie; a feral, exhausted zombie. Her mascara was flaking and her blush was starting to look splotchy, but it was long past time for touch ups.
Vinnie had an appointment with a recent widow earlier in the day and the lady was irate. She was beyond help.
Her husband had insurance and passed away about a month ago and had left a rather generous amount of assets and life insurance, but not nearly enough for his wife's expectations. It was a mess.
She took her frustrations out on Vinnie like she personally caused his heart attack. The widow was swift with her jabs and was without remorse.
She was a grade A bitch.
And Vinnie had reflected on it for too long, pushing her teased hair over the top of her head and out of her eyes. Her eyes were glazed over.
The widow's name was Margaret Johnson. The widow Johnson. She had wormed her way into Vinnie's head and she couldn't get over it. She had felt so weak during the appointment.
Yes ma'am. No ma'am. I'm sorry for your loss.
She was too empathetic.
He had this much coverage. No ma'am, we can't increase coverage now. Too gentle. Too accommodating.
It was exhausting.
After work Vinnie dragged herself up to her second story apartment with enough groceries to get through the rest of the week.
The apartment building would have been the talk of the town if it were the 1940's, but it did not live up to the fame of the 80's. The hallway was old, and a ghastly green wallpaper adorned the walls and there had been a thick coating of tobacco smoke that made it look all the more aged.
The smell was...inescapable. She would never get used to it, and while she wished she could blame the neighbors for smoking or their bad cooking, it was a useless scapegoat. Vinnie's next door neighbor Marcella was a fabulous cook.
Marcella had four kids and she was constantly in the kitchen. If it wasn't at home, she worked at la Playa de Sol. It was the best, no exaggeration, the best breakfast spot in town. Living next door was a blessing in disguise.
Vinnie really didn't cook. Couldn't cook. She had cleverly come up with an excuse that the old stovetop would combust.
It was a fire hazard. How were the appliances even up to code?
Once in a while Marcella would surprise Vinnie with dinner, and sometimes, on the odd weekend, Vinnie babysat her kids while Marcella was out. Even a mom of four needed a date night now and again. And it would make sense; Marcella was beautiful.
Her dark hair was curly and it flowed over her shoulders down to the middle of her back. She had dark brown eyes and they were filled with care and love. And she had a figure that made it look like she had never had any children.
When men came around they practically fell to their knees for her. She was a stunner, but it was never too long before she was on to the next one. Vinnie couldn't tell what Marcella was after, but all that she knew was that her neighbor had a much better dating record than she ever had.
While walking down the hall Vinnie could hear them before she could see them, but Marcella's two youngest kids were bouncing around inside the apartment, laughing away. The walls were as thin as paper.
Vinnie stopped as she heard something crash to the ground. A lamp maybe?
Marcella wasn't going to be happy about that. Vinnie smirked, shaking her head as she walked past their door to her own, pulling the keys out of her pocket.
Vinnie's place was cute. It was green. It wasn't a fake, painted green like the hallway, but it was filled with life. While she didn't opt for a lot of furniture, she spent her free time clipping plants from outside work and bringing them home to repot. She was a leaf thief.
She didn't have time or energy to commit to a pet, but plants? Easy. Vinnie liked to think that was because she had a green thumb, but maybe that was a stretch. Looking affectionately at the different pots of snake plants and golden pothos leaves she strode into the kitchen, depositing the grocery bags on the counter.
"Look dad, I'll visit this weekend." Vinnie bargained with a grin. Her eyes were glued to the tv and her fingers covered in electric orange cheetos dust. Diving her hand back into the bag she continued, pressing her ear into the phone receiver. "It'll be a three hour drive and it's been a while. It'll be fun." She assured him with a confident edge. "And I think that you and grandpa could use the company."
Vinnie hadn't visited her family in months.
Her dad would call in once in a while to play catch up, filling the distance between the two of them with wild stories of life on the coast. He was a fun guy when inspiration struck, spending his weekdays working on skateboard designs and on the weekends he was a self proclaimed wine connoisseur.
He was a busy man and didn't get out too often - mainly it was to see his own father who was getting up in age. They both lived in Delano. Vinnie's grandfather was a retired farmer, and he was currently recovering from his most recent chemo treatment. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He was tough as nails, but the recovery periods were getting longer and longer.
"Thanks, Vie. It's a real favor." Her dad replied with relief. He could use some help with grandpa. "I'll even make your favorite to take home."
Vie raised an eyebrow with a smirk.
"Oh Dad, you don't have to do that-"
Vinnie was interrupted by his enthusiasm.
"It's too late, I've made up my mind. We'll make brownies...and tacos!" Her dad was thrilled. Those two things didn't go together at all, and she loved it. It was perfect.
"That, by the way, is called bribery." Vie laughed into the speaker.
She could have sworn that she could have seen her dad shake his head on the other end of the line.
"It's not bribery if you already agreed to make the trip." He countered in his gentle, comforting tone.
Vie was happy to make the drive from Santa Barbara to Delano, and her father seemed pretty happy about it too. Maybe it was the long day that she had, but she was starting to feel homesick. It was time to go home.
"Friday night." She confirmed with a smile, sitting up from her slouched position. "I'll head up right after work."
They said their goodbyes and Vinnie inched her way back towards the phone stand to hang it up, the bag of cheetos falling to the floor with a grumbled crunch. Looking down she was covered in the orange dust.
Well this is embarrassing.
But Vinnie looked forward to the weekend. A trip would be nice. She hadn't had a home cooked meal in a while, and something told her that it would be well worth the drive.