Ruby

English is her one language and she keeps it plain, so nobody with her ever has to worry about being understood. The work is slow and deliberate, a lot of gel and a lot of contact, the pressure arriving through the length of the forearm rather than the point of a thumb. Through most of an hour she is quiet but not remote, and she notices the moment the quiet stops being comfortable. Long bookings, dinner first, the occasional night that runs to breakfast; she prefers a day's notice, and walks home across the park at six in the morning rather than wait for a taxi.

Ruby decides which bookings she takes and may decline any of them; she sets the limits for what a session includes, says what they are, and may end a visit at any point, as the terms set out.