Danica

In the margin

Half rain and half ice, driven along at the height of a face: there is no version of that worth being out in. Danica leaves her own door in it anyway and arrives composed, which guests do notice. She warms the oil for longer in February than in August and keeps a spare towel over the bottle so it stays that way across the hour. Serbian and English, unshowy in each. Twenty-six, and firmly of the view that a room only has to be warmer than the guest was expecting, not hot.

Danica 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.