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reflected on how the same people who had been so reluctant to hire him in the States would be more than happy to throw money at him to build software for them in India.
    He noticed a girl at a quad machine nearby smiling at him. She was cute, maybe in her early twenties with light brown hair, and, as her Lycra workout clothes revealed, a slender, athletic body. He smiled back at her. What he was going to miss more than anything about living in the States were the girls. All different colors, shapes and varieties. He was always running into girls here who viewed him as something exotic, and he was only too happy to show them how exotic he could be. His parents had arranged for him to marry Amrita once he moved back to India. He remembered her from high school as a plump and not very attractive girl. Always a sour look stuck on her face. Nectar my ass, he thought, reflecting on the meaning of her name. Maybe the nectar of some spoiled fruit. That was who he was going to be stuck with for the rest of his life.
    Well, he still had some time left in the States. He got up and walked over to the girl who had smiled at him.
    “Excuse me,” he said. “I need someone to spot me for another set of bench presses. Maybe you would be willing to help me?”
    “I’d like to. I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”
    “You won’t have to lift much. When I’m on my last rep, you’ll only have to pull the bar with a couple of pounds of force. Believe me, you’ll be able to do it with one hand. Maybe even one finger.”
    “Maybe you’d be able to do it with one finger,” she said, laughing. “I’ll need both hands.”
    “You will be surprised how easy it is.”
    As she stood up, Shrini introduced himself. She told him her name was Sonia.
    “Sonia? That means golden in Hindi. And you certainly are golden.”
    She laughed. “Are you looking for someone to spot you or to hit on?”
    “No,” Shrini said, smiling broadly. “Even if you were some smelly guy I would’ve asked for help. Believe me.”
    “Sure you would.”
    “Yes, of course. I wouldn’t lie to someone so golden. Come on, help me out.”
    Shrini led the way back to the bench and showed Sonia where to stand.
    “All you need to do is wait until I ask for help. Then use one hand to guide the bar back to the rack. I’ll do most of the work, you will only have to help a little.”
    “I hope so,” she said, laughing. “This looks heavy.”
    He made a face. “This? Two hundred and twenty-five pounds? That is only sixty pounds more than I weigh.”
    After positioning himself back on the bench, Shrini firmly gripped the bar and jerked it off the rack. With each repetition he cheated a bit, letting the bar bounce off his chest with each explosion of breath. Usually, he only did a set of six repetitions with that weight. Having Sonia watching him, he went past that. On his eleventh press both arms started shaking and the bar started to sink towards his chest. Sonia reached to help him.
    “No, no, not yet,” Shrini forced out, his face red.
    With a grunt, and arching his back, he got the bar moving back up and was able to push it back on to the rack.
    “That looked difficult,” Sonia said.
    Shrini quickly sat back up. Exaggerating a look of dismay, “That? That was nothing.”
    “It was nice meeting you, Shrini.” She hesitated for a few seconds, then, “I guess I’d better let you get back to your workout.”
    “I enjoyed meeting you too.” Shrini held out his hand, and smiled a bit inside noticing she seemed reluctant to let go of him. “Of course, the least I can do for your help is to buy you a drink later.”
    “Sure, I’d like that.” She blushed slightly. “I have to admit, I’ve noticed you here the last few times I’ve worked out.”
    “I noticed you too,” Shrini said as he tried to remember if he had ever seen her before. He found himself smiling a bit more on the inside when he noticed the subtle change in her expression, the way her