Screwed by the Economy (Kreme Klassic Book 26)

Everyone has been screwed by the economy in the past number of years in one way or another. Not everyone, though, has been screwed like a couple of employees at Curious Collectibles.

Sarah hates the fact the business is going under, even hates the feel of showing up for one final day of sales, a clearance sale quite simply proclaimed by the large banner going up outside.

Everything is for sale, and those are words that will come to mean a lot more than she thinks as they meet a new customer. The man shows up several times throughout the day, always friendly, always taking more items, fixtures, cases, and more with him when he goes.

He's just slightly off, Sarah thinks, but not in the definable way her fellow salesgirl Tina is. Tina is the boss' stepdaughter, not unfriendly but typical of an eighteen year old girl. She's always off a bit in her work drive, but the man who keeps stopping by just is off some different way.

He visits one last time towards the end of the day, a successful day where nearly nothing is left from the once happy little oddities shop. However, as he points out, and has pointed out on occasions before, Sarah is still there.

Taking an assumed joke a bit too far, the man comments to Gary, her boss, how surprised he is no one took Sarah or Tina. Presumably kidding right along with his day's best customer, Gary comments on their prices being higher.

Something though just isn't right, and as Gary and the man begin actually discussing his final purchase of the day, Sarah realizes no one is kidding. As she and Tina are lined up, studied, their every attribute debated and used in a sale, they find themselves oddly cooperative.

Everything not nailed down must be sold and Sarah and Tina will find that they may get nailed, but they aren't nailed down. One of them will be sold, but which one. Sadly, in a poor economy like this one, it isn't easy to choose, and then there's the whole haggling on the price.

In the end, Sarah discovers just how much the economy can screw a girl, and just what it takes to make a sale. The most Klassic of Klassics gets refreshed for Kreme Klassic Month.