De Pijp, twenty-five, quiet in Spanish and in English, and a good fit for the evening before an early flight home the next day.

The night before a morning departure needs a session that ends cleanly, and she is careful about length on those. Ninety minutes at 540 euros begun early is what she suggests, rather than two hours finishing at midnight. Spanish and English, used sparingly in both. She works out of the streets below the canal belt, where the flats are modern enough to be warm and old enough to be quiet. Twenty-five, and generally the calmest person in a room that has spent all day being busy. An early finish suits the partner who has to be awake for a car at six, which is the usual shape of a last night.

Nico 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.