The air is filled with the scent of sweat; the combined efforts of the gathered devotees, the tang of oil and the sounds of the clank-clank of steel on steel and the beat of the rhythmical music in the background.
I've been watching you for a month now; I'm on a treadmill running; you, at a free weight stand doing reps. Your face is intent on the series; your brow beaded with sweat, and your jaw clenched.
I watch as you finish your set, and stand, pumped, in front of the mirror, checking your symmetry, admiring the work and devotion you have put in on your form. Broad shoulders, narrow hips. Rock solid glutes, diamond calves. You raise your arms and your biceps peak, vascular and cut.
I have asked around; you've been working out here for ten years and you have a reputation as being narrow minded, not socialising with anyone else. Oh, you have the occasional partner, who spots you for the first week or so when you start working with heavier weights. But they come and go, you remain, getting bigger, harder, more intense.