Black Friday

It was the day that Denise feared the most. The day that all retail employees at the store she worked at feared the most. The day the entire mall feared the most. The day retail employees from all over the world feared the most!

Black Friday.

"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen!" The Manager said as she addressed Denise and her coworkers. "I won't lie to you. Once the mall opens those doors, today is going to be Hell on Earth. That said, we mustn't lose our heads. Now, I am going to assign each one of you your positions for today."

Denise gulped, her and each of her coworkers praying to work the backrooms.

"Jesús, Emily, Mei, and JaMarcus." The Manager called out. "Registers!"

The four coworkers in question gulped nervously, but were glad they weren't working the floor.

"Rachel, Daniel, Ken, and Tomesha. Backrooms! Everyone else. Working the floors!"

The second four let out a sigh of relief at the news while Denise and three other coworkers looked out at the floor with dread.

A dread that only grew once what sounded like a stampede of elephants echoed through the mall.

After drawing straws with her three other coworkers, Denise muttered to herself as she was stuck with the job of pricing all the clothing that was on sale. A task that was easier said than done as several women crowded the store as they asked questions, demanded to speak to the manager, and, in one instant, emptied an entire rack of dresses before the twenty-three year old could even price them.

"Oh, come on!" Denise hissed under her breath as she watched a woman her age pull off the last dress and run to the register. Sighing in annoyance, Denise shook her head and headed over to another section... Only to pause as she heard several footsteps coming her way. "What now...?"

Turning to the left, Denise only had enough time to go wide eyed as another group of women pushed past her. As Denise tried to push herself out of this herd, she was unaware that her pricing gun was going off, labeling her pants, shirt, and vest before falling out of her hands and labeling her socks and shoes before hitting the floor.

"Ugh..." Denise groaned once the herd moved on, holding her head as she waited for the dizziness to stop.

"Look! There's a sale on the outfit of that interactive, life-like mannequin!" A woman's voice called out.

"None of the mannequins in this store even have heads, let alone look anything life-like. Nor are they interactive..." Denise muttered in confusion. Looking up she saw yet another wave of customers stampeding towards her direction.

No, not her direction. Towards her!

"Huh?" Denise looked down at herself, seeing the sales tags now clinging to her uniform. Putting two and two together, the dark skinned beauty looked up to see the crowd only inches away from her, her eyes widening. "Uh oh."

Denise put up her arms and smiled nervously. "N-now, Ladies. I know what this looks like, but -"

But alas, it was too late. The crowd of bargain hungry women jumped on Denise like a pack of wolves on an elk, grabbing at the young woman's clothes.

"This shirt looks to be my daughter's size!" An African-American woman exclaimed, yanking the shirt over Denise's head. "She'll love it!"

"Actually, Ladies -" Denise tried to say.

"Ooh! These shoes are simply to die for!" A redhead shouted as she slipped the shoes off. Pulling off Denise's socks, she added, "And they come with socks, too!"

"Wait a second!"

"That vest is so ugly and uncool that it's ironically cool!"

"The vest is part of my uniform and -"

"Dios Mio! I just love these pants!"

"Those aren't for sale!"

"Oh. My. God! These undies are so cute! And they come with a matching bra, too!"

"Those are definitely not for sale!"

Denise's protests fell on deaf ears as the pack of women argued and fought amongst themselves, giving the now naked employee enough time to sneak away and hid inside one of the dressing rooms. She slowly peaked her head through the curtain to see the crowd walking away as they fought over her clothes while heading towards the register.

Including her pants...

Which contained her phone and wallet.

"I hate Black Friday..." Denise whimpered, blushing furiously as she tried to think of what to do.