"Hey baby."

I turned around.

"Hey baby, how you doin'?"

Her perfume flooded my nostrils. It was overwhelming. I coughed as my lungs struggled to suck in some oxygen.

"Hey baby, you're cute. You want to buy some cologne?" She held out a pamphlet. It was a list of colognes and prices.

"Nah, no thanks." I turned back to the gas pump and watched the price meter soar into the stratosphere (Goddamn gas prices).

"C'mon baby." She smacked me in the ass. "Hey, you're cute. I'm single, you know."

I turned toward her again.

"C'mon, buy some cologne. Look at what I have. See this list? What do you want?"

"No thanks."

"Buy some for your girlfriend. You got a girlfriend? C'mon, you gotta buy something. What do you want?"

"Really, no thanks." I turned around and held a staring contest with the gas pump.

"Okay, fine," she huffed. She walked off.

"Hey baby, how you doin'?"

I turned around. She was approaching a guy on the sidewalk.

"Hey baby, you're cute. You want to buy some cologne?"

I looked back at the car behind me. The driver there had just gotten a dose of Ms. Cologne Pusher too. We both grinned and shook our heads.

"C'mon baby" she said to sidewalk guy. "Hey, you're cute. I'm single, you know."

I got into my car and couldn't help smirking. The helpless sidewalk guy met my eye. We both grinned and shook our heads. Then I drove out of the gas station.

. . .

Have you had any interesting gas station encounters?