I know I'm probably not the typical person on here, if there is a typical person. Fairly new to this, eighteen months or so. Secondary school PE teacher, which I mention only because when I decided to try this I spent quite a lot of time worrying about what would happen if it got out, and I think anyone in a similar job probably does the same.
Nothing has got out. I don't think it will. But the worry doesn't fully go away.
The reason I started is honestly boring. Mid-thirties, never been very good at the dating thing. I find it genuinely difficult in a way I don't fully understand. I'm decent at talking to people generally, you have to be teaching fifteen-year-olds, but the romantic version is something I've always struggled with. So this felt like a way of having some of what I was missing without navigating the parts I'm not good at.
Eight or nine bookings now. All of them have been fine, a couple have been genuinely nice. There was one woman I booked twice who was very easy to talk to and funny and I came away thinking: that's what I was after. Not just the physical thing. The company. The conversation. Someone being pleased to see you, even if it's paid for.
I made her a cup of tea before she left the second time. She said nobody ever does that. I don't know if that's true or if she was being polite but it felt like a real thing to say. It stuck with me.
Still figuring out where this fits in my life, if I'm honest. Whether it's a phase or something permanent. Don't know yet. Fair play to everyone on here who seems to have it more sorted than I do. I'm learning.