Emily

In the margin

The old streets act as channels, and a storm moves along them with more force than it manages anywhere open. Emily plans the last stretch of the journey around that instead of pretending it does not happen. Once she is inside, the door shuts and the weather becomes a sound rather than a fact about the evening. Romanian and English, both unfussy. Twenty-five, and she would much rather be told in advance that a room is cold than discover it once the coats are off.

Emily 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.