My Cousin's Keeper/Ffrances Jones

A secondary character in My Cousin's Keeper and The Last New Start. Initially seen as Gabby's girlfriend.

• Her favourite coffee is a Hawaiian blend, which has a very strong smell but a sweet flavour. She generally has one mug with breakfast.
• Her car is a flashy sportscar; the luxury hybrid kind with a state of the art sound system and automatic parking. The colour is theoretically "crimson", but depending on the light it can look more like a very rich purple
• She parks on residential street close to PRMCT and walks into work, across a patch of waste ground near Brock Street
• Her job involves a lot of edge cases. Tries to make the facility as welcoming as possible to people with different kinds of trauma. There's a gym there ("recreation room"), a small flat for people who don't feel safe returning home temporarily, and a few years back she bought a pallet of mixed remaindered clothes from a discount store, so patients can be given a choice if staying unexpectedly

Personality

Easily amused, never takes anything seriously. Teases continuously, and even if she's worried about someone she can keep the conversation fun. Driven, and used to being in control: she's used to everyone doing what she suggests, because she radiates an aura of competence. As soon as she starts outlining a plan, it's obvious that she knows what she is talking about.

Gabby considered asking Ffrances to be a little; but never did because she knows she likes being in control too much. Maybe this isn't actually true – just another case of Gabby projecting onto other people and seeing the perfect domme she wants to see.

Background

Was a teaching assistant/tutor when Gabby took a single module in psychology at university. After completing her postdoctoral thesis and being highly respected in her field, she retired from research and is now a therapist working as an assistant head of department at the Pine Ridge Municipal Care Trust.

Before going into healthcare, she spent just over a decade travelling around different universities, doing research. Has a very broad base of knowledge when it comes to sciences, but developmental psychology is her speciality. She has also learned hypnosis, and has qualifications in using it for trauma therapy, but doesn't trust her own competence enough to actually do it. For fun might be a different matter…

Appearance

"I saw a figure walking with flowing golden-red hair and a sharp olive suit that almost matched her tan"

Exotic features, with ancestors from all around the world. Conventionally attractive; a little heavier than most of her friends, and has a bust that many women would be jealous of. The first time we see her out of work, she has a hat and a fringed suede jacket that Tess thinks looks like an outfit from some cowboy movie. A little eccentric in her choice of clothes when not working.