Vivi

Four years of Amsterdam have not dented the Portuguese in her English and she gave up trying some time ago. Small, strong and methodical, she has a particular gift for transitions: one long pass becoming the next without any break in contact, which is most of what separates this from ordinary massage. The gel is kept hot and she uses more of it than most, on the principle that running short halfway through an hour is unforgivable. Evenings and nights are her hours, and a booking made a day ahead gets the best of her by some margin.

Vivi 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.