De Pijp eats late, and Caroline, who lives there, is used to messages that arrive after ten from a table with the coffee still on it. She speaks Spanish and English and reads a message for its timing before anything else. At twenty-nine she has seen how a heavy dinner changes an evening, and she prefers slow erotic oil or tantra afterwards to anything quick. She sets her own limits and keeps them, whatever the hour or the wine list. The guest's part is simple: be back first, and be clear about when.

Caroline 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.