The gym session went well. Dressed in her black sports bra and tight black shorts, Dr. Dupont was actually conscious of several pairs of eyes on her as she began her 20-minute workout on the exercise bicycle. She didn't really mind the attention; in fact, she would not be wearing that rather skimpy sports bra if she had really objected. But quite a lot depended, naturally enough, on who was paying the attention. Today she was conscious that a young female student - not one of her own, incidentally - was glancing in her direction rather frequently. The girl was quite tall with an attractive figure, short fair hair, and smiling blue eyes. She was dressed as if for tennis - a white T-shirt with a collar, short sleeves, and a pleated short white skirt. And she was pulling some weights on a pulley just to the right of where Dr. Dupont was cycling.

The girl had such a ready smile that Dr. Dupont found herself smiling back from time to time. After her cycle ride, she walked over to the drinks fountain, which was a fair distance from the various exercise machines, and she sensed that someone had moved to stand behind her. Sure enough, it was that same girl, and Dr. Dupont was the first to speak: "You looked like you were pulling some pretty heavy stuff there!"

"Oh no, not really. I don't want to bulk up my arms too much."

"I know what you mean! But you look in really great shape," said Dr. Dupont in genuine admiration.

"Why thank you, I'm sure!" The girl looked genuinely delighted. "And so do you!"

Dr. Dupont smiled inwardly at the compliment but tried to appear unmoved.

"What's your major?" the girl asked.

Dr. Dupont smiled inwardly again. That sounded like a nice compliment! I guess this girl must think I'm a student - maybe a mature student!