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Bernadetta had just finished setting up her camera for the show and was now observing the way the fans were slowly trickling into the venue. A few posts and ropes were surrounding her in a nice little 5 x 5 square. After the first few shows she had attended where people kept bumping into her and pushing her, the band had noticed and pulled her backstage to work out a new arrangement. She came to every show they performed in Fódlan and she got them some front page features for the magazine she works for. All in all it was a good deal.
Most of the fans rushing forward to get good pit standing room were young adult women. That was expected. Black Magic tended to attract more female fans than male fans.
This venue was one of the smaller ones in the city, and while Black Magic could easily sell out the larger stadium ten times over, the band had said years ago they liked the smaller venues to be able to put on a more intimate show for their fans. Bernadetta was actually the one interviewing them for that statement and was proud of the reaction it got from Black Magic fans on the internet for it. It was a good community filled with good music and good people. She really did love her job.
Ten minutes before the show was set to start, the seats were all filled and the pit was a ball of chaotic energy. Fans held signs and boards they made for each of the band members. Most of them had Dorothea’s face on them, but Bernadetta could see each member had multiple of their own.
She had fished her phone out to take a picture of one of the signs when a hand on the small of her back startled her. She whipped around and came face to face with someone she hadn’t been expecting.
Hubert smiled softly in apology. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said over the roar of the crowd.
Bernadetta flushed as she realized he was still touching her. They had met years ago when Bernadetta was part of the press for a movie premier. “It’s ok. What are you doing here?” Hubert worked for a private security team and it was odd to see him in a place like this. As far as she knew, he only worked for one person.
Hubert turned them both away from the crowd and pointed to an area behind Bernadetta’s box. Past the rest of the cameras set up, between all the press that were there to cover the show, Bernadetta could see two people that Hubert was pointing to. She immediately understood why he was at the show that night. With a silent look up at him, neither of them needed to say more before he was ducking underneath the rope and disappearing from view. She tried not to think too hard about the way his hand lingered against her for as long as possible.
Bernadetta turned back to her equipment immediately so that other people didn’t see her staring. She was surprised to see both Ferdinand von Aegir, ranked Fódlan’s number one newest heartthrob actor, and Edelgard von Hresvelg, one of the most decorated young actresses in history, at a rock concert. More importantly, a rock concert for the gayest band Bernadetta had ever heard of.
She didn’t have time to come up with a how or a why before the lights were dimming and the crowd was threatening to split her ear drums. She reached into her bag and pulled out her ear plugs before pressing them in tight. The relief was almost immediate.
Though the venue was now enveloped in darkness, Bernadetta could see shadows moving across the stage and knew that the band members were getting into their positions. She could see Ingrid sit behind her drum set, doing last second adjustments on her equipment. Marianne sat behind the grand piano that was raised up on a platform. She couldn’t tell the difference between Petra, Hilda, or Lysithea at the moment, only able to pick out the guitars slung across all their shoulders.
There was no mistaking Dorothea as she approached the microphone set in the middle of the stage. The fans were chanting the band name by then, eagerly awaiting something- anything .
The opening set shook Bernadetta to her core. The music was loud and energetic and the fans ate it up. She found herself silently singing along to the songs, knowing all of the words. It helped that the band made genuinely good music that she enjoyed listening to. Perks of whatever weird form of friendship she had formed with them over the years.
The band was one cohesive unit, having done this since some of them were still in high school. No one talked about how technically, Lysithea and Petra were still in middle school when they came up with the idea. Lysithea especially got testy in interviews when people point out how young she is in comparison to the others.
Ingrid was a machine on the drums, flailing around perfectly and never missing a single mark. The kick of her bass pounded in time with the hearts of every fan in the stadium. Marianne sat calmly at her piano, nodding her head along with the music at the moment. The opening act was usually filled with their more energetic songs to get the crowd excited for the rest to come, and thus these songs didn’t call for any piano music just yet. Petra, Hilda, and Lysithea never stopped moving for a single number, often coming up to the edge to interact with the fans or to lean against each other as they played. Each girl took an opportunity to come up to Dorothea as she sang, or she would take her mic off the stand and move over to them.
Bernadetta made sure her camera was trained perfectly on Dorothea and Hilda during the third number, knowing that song was famous for the moments they shared on stage. The first concert she attended, she could barely look at the way Dorothea grinded herself against Hilda and she was wondering if she was allowed to capture the movements on camera. Now she barely flinched and was glad for the new angle she got. She knew the fans couldn’t wait for her to upload it on the internet later.
After a few songs the music cut off and Dorothea’s giggle was picked up on the microphone. Bernadetta could hear a few of the girls swoon from the pit.
“Well how was that for an opening?” Dorothea asked breathlessly into the mic. She ran her hand through her wild hair and the crowd screamed louder than they had all night. She smirked knowingly and caught her breath as Petra handed her a water bottle. “We had to start off with a bang, it’s almost the end of the tour.”
The crowd booed and the band played it up, faking sadness. Hilda sobbed exaggeratingly into Lysithea’s shoulder before the shorter girl was shoving her away.
“I know, I know. But hey we’ve been through this before guys. The end of our tours always leads to…” Dorothea trailed off and held her mic out to the crowd as they screamed the answer along with the band.
“ New music! ”
Dorothea nodded and walked along the edge of the stage, her eyes darting over the entire crowd. “Exactly! See? You guys get it.”
Something caught Dorothea’s attention backstage and she nodded before playfully rolling her eyes. “Mom’s giving us that look guys,” she said into the mic but directed at her bandmates. Every girl on stage turned to look backstage as well and most of them started to chuckle.
“15 minutes into the show and we’re getting the stink eye. That has to be some kind of record,” Hilda said, still looking backstage. Her words must have prompted a reaction because she was then quickly darting across the stage and hopping up on the platform to hide behind Marianne’s piano.
“Mom’s wanting us to introduce ourselves,” Ingrid explained to the crowd.
“You all bought tickets, I’m assuming you know who we are.” Bernadetta will never not be surprised at the amount of sass Lysithea contains in her tiny, tiny body.
“Well they definitely know who I am,” Dorothea replied cockily. The crowd cheered and laughed as the rest of the band booed their frontwoman. “And if you don’t, if you’re new here or you got dragged here by your friend, family, girlfriend, child, whatever, we’re Black Magic! I’m Dorothea Arnault, the lead vocalist and sometimes bassist,” she said with a wave, making sure to address the entire venue. As the cheers died down, she went on down the line. “Pinky over there cowering in the corner is Hilda, our lead bassist. Petra’s on lead guitar, Lysithea just graduated from kindergarten the other day so make sure you congratulate her on that. She’s our second guitarist.” Dorothea moved quickly a few steps away as Lysithea lunged towards her. She laughed gleefully as she moved to round Ingrid’s set up. “This is Ingrid, our drummer. Sorry to the person in Floor B, middle to back holding the sign asking Ingrid to marry you, she’s not single.”
“She’s dating our stylist,” Petra hissed into the microphone like it was some big secret.
Ingrid shrugged as she smirked. “Sorry ladies but Mercedes doesn’t like to share.”
The band laughed with the crowd as Dorothea rushed over to the platform and hopped up to place her hand on Marianne’s shoulder. “And last but most certainly not least, this is Marianne, our pianist. Sorry you guys haven’t heard her play yet tonight, but don’t worry because you’ll get to hear a bunch of her later on.”
Dorothea walked back up to her mic and bent to take another sip of her water before righting herself. “Oh, by the way we call our manager Mom as a joke. Her name is Leonie. We love her a lot.” The crowd gave a good cheer for Leonie as the band made big hearts for their manager backstage. “And that concludes the intros! Enough about us! How about a little throwback?”
At Dorothea’s question, the band launched into their first hit song. The crowd sang along to every word perfectly and Bernadetta thought back to hearing it on the radio in passing all those years ago.
Song after song was blasted around the venue as the band carved through 5 songs before calming down for another break to interact with the crowd. By this time, all of them were dripping in sweat and 90% of the crowd was losing their mind seeing them like that. Dorothea had stripped off the black and white flannel she had started the show with and was now in her trademark lace cropped tank top and a pair of black denim shorts. Her tattoos were on full display now and whenever she would reach down in the pit to grasp hands with the fans, some hands came up to trace the flowers blooming on her arms.
As Petra’s guitar slowly faded out Dorothea smiled out to the fans in the balcony as she started chuckling to herself. “Man, I love my job.” The crowd cheered loudly, making her smile grow larger. “You guys are just the best.” Her eyes moved back down to the ground floor and began slowly moving over the fans closest to the stage. “So…” she trailed off, holding out the syllable. “You guys remember earlier when we were talking about new music?” That quickly gathered the fans' attention. Dorothea paused for longer than necessary as she kicked her feet out with every slow step she took across the stage. The longer it went on, the more the fans started to laugh at her. “We kind of left out some important information.” She turned and looked at her bandmates knowingly, signaling with her body in a way that just confused them.
“What kind of information?” Lysithea eventually asked.
Dorothea seemed pleased with the question. “I’m so glad you asked, Lys!” The other girls rolled their eyes at Dorothea’s theatrics. “I mean, yes it’s true we’re putting out new music.” Her eyes were still looking across the crowd, though she seemed to have localized her gaze to the section Bernadetta was standing in.
“But it’s not just new music we’re putting out, though,” Ingrid said into her mic.
That quickly got the crowd’s attention.
“Oh, I think you’re right, Ingrid. But what’s different this time?” Dorothea played along. Her eyes were still moving. It almost looked like she was searching for something.
“Well, we always tour with a specific album. We’re touring and performing our most recent album.” Lysithea gestured comically to the backdrop of the stage that displayed the massive logo of their tour, Warring Hearts .
“And it’s no secret we’ve been working on our new album. It’s actually finished.” The crowd exploded in cheers at Petra’s announcement. Bernadetta could tell the fans wouldn’t be forgetting this show any time soon.
“But this upcoming album is special, isn’t it?” Hilda asked, feigning innocence.
“It is,” Dorothea said, slinging an arm around Hilda’s shoulder. “We can’t tell you too much about it because we don’t want to spoil it. It’s different from any of our other albums in many ways. But the most important part about it-” Dorothea stopped for dramatic effect and let the crowd settle again. Her eyes swept just behind Bernadetta before snapping back. Dorothea’s beautiful smile grew on her face as she finally found what she had been looking for. “- it’s not only the most personal album to date, it’s also the longest!”
Bernadetta turned around in the chaos of the crowd exploding in the loudest cheers of the night as she wondered what Dorothea could have seen. There were a few fans holding up their signs and she wondered if she had seen one of them and liked it.
She turned back as Dorothea started speaking again. “So really, I can’t wait for you all to hear it. We worked hard on it and it has lost us all countless hours of sleep. Even more so than usual for Marianne.” The crowd laughed as Dorothea turned to share a smile with their piano player.
“Hey! Leave her alone!” Hilda called from where she was standing.
“You can’t pull the protective girlfriend card every time we want to make a joke about Marianne’s sleep habits,” Lysithea retorted.
Hilda flipped a double bird as Dorothea set her mic back in the stand. “Alright, that's enough talking. Petra! Hit it!”
Music overtook the stadium once again as Dorothea’s voice floated out amongst the crowd. She was a beautiful sight to behold as she bounced around the stage. They only sang two songs before shifting into the second part of the show. As everyone’s ears were still ringing from the music, Hilda handed her guitar off to a staff member before taking the new one being offered to her and delivering it to Dorothea. They swapped places on stage as Dorothea took up the bass part and Hilda sang a few of the songs on their third album.
That album had shocked the fans as Black Magic had just solidified their rise to fame and then went and changed their lead vocalists around. They were lucky their idea had worked and that everyone loved Hilda’s voice just as much as Dorothea’s. Now they split the songs they sing lead on pretty evenly, though Dorothea still takes the lead on their tours more often than Hilda does.
Bernadetta loved how the energy changed with Hilda on vocals. The songs she performed were a little raunchier than Dorothea’s were. Her voice was also a little higher pitched than Dorothea’s was, but she was no less talented.
Her eyes drifted over to Dorothea as she approached the front of the stage as she played. Dorothea’s eyes were locked on something behind her and her smile was different than it had been at any other part of the show. She turned her camera slightly to the side to capture a few photos of her. She was sure those were going to be some of the best shots of the entire show.
It was as she was pulling her phone out to take a few more pictures of the bassist when she heard some fans next to her talking.
“Is she looking at-” the young woman’s words were cut off by the music.
Bernadetta looked to see a few girls right next to her little box looking back and forth between the stage and something behind her. She turned to see what they were looking at, but couldn’t tell with all the press in the way.
“Are they-”
“I knew it!”
“- never been to a show-”
“- still a secret?”
“- looking right at her! Look!”
Bernadetta turned back to observe Dorothea and noticed her eyes hadn’t moved and her smile had grown bigger. She was playing the bass from muscle memory alone.
“It’s Edelgard! She’s looking at her!”
That caught Bernadetta’s attention immediately. She had found it odd to see the young actress at the concert in the first place, but to think that she was here for Dorothea was another thing entirely. She didn’t take much stock in what the young girls were saying, knowing that it was easy for fans to come up with elaborate theories about things like that. But as she turned to catch a glimpse of Edelgard herself, something made her second guess.
The crowd had cleared a perfect path for her to now see the other girl staring up at the stage with what could only be described as Heart Eyes . She had her arms crossed, with one arm up holding a drink to her mouth. It did nothing to hide the sickeningly sweet smile on her face.
Ferdinand was still standing next to her enjoying the music, though Bernadetta could see him glance down at Edelgard with a knowing look in his eye before turning back to face the stage.
“- told you! They’re dating!”
“- trending on twitter right now! Edelthea’s at number-”
Bernadetta couldn’t hear what number Edelthea was trending at, but that didn’t stop her from growing curious. She didn’t even have to search for anything. It was at number 2 with over 100k posts already. The tag was flooded with fans taking pictures of Edelgard walking into the venue, in line for drinks, and in the crowd watching the show. Clips of her from all different angles singing along to the music, laughing along with what the band was saying, and smiling up at the stage had thousands of interactions.
Someone had even managed to clip together all the times Dorothea seemed to be looking for something in the crowd, and the exact moment Dorothea had found what she was looking for. Bernadetta could have argued that it was just a coincidence and that Edelgard was just a fan, but someone had taken two separate clips, one of Dorothea finally finding her target, and the other of Edelgard shyly waving, and pasted them together. Bernadetta knew they had happened at the exact same time because the color of the lights illuminating the stage and Edelgard’s face flashed in the same order. It had only been uploaded two minutes ago and it already had over 3,000 likes.
Dorothea had been searching the crowd for Edelgard, and when she found her, they had shared a private moment all to themselves. How they had managed that with thousands of fans also being in the same room, Bernadetta didn’t know.
She scrolled through the tag a little bit more, leading her to fan accounts dedicated to either one or both of the girls. She stumbled upon a popular post pinned to someone’s account, posted over a year ago captioned #Edelthea the power couple . It was a thread of pictures and clips and screenshots of articles and interviews each girl had done over the years showcasing all of their successes as individuals. A few posts hinted that they were dating in secret and Bernadetta had to admit, there was some merit there.
Some of the interviews had been ones she had conducted for the band herself. She remembered some of the girl’s hinting at their relationships, both those who were public about it and those who weren’t. Dorothea herself hinted at maybe seeing someone, but never confirmed it. That screenshot was posted with a screenshot from an interview Edelgard had done where she used the exact same wording that Dorothea had to answer an identical question about her relationship.
In her search, she had even learned that Edelgard had earned more than 10 times the awards her father had in his vast career. He had only earned 3 in all his years, while Edelgard had over 30 from various organizations. Edelgard had been acting since the age of 4 and had earned her first, small time award at age 7. Now at 25, she was one of the most sought after actresses of her generation.
That post had been immediately followed by a thread explaining all of Black Magic’s achievements, and listing all the music awards they’ve won in their career. Bernadetta had known about all of those moments and had even written a few articles about some of them. She really did have to appreciate how talented these girls were.
Bernadetta had gotten so lost in her scrolling that the now quiet venue shocked her and her attention was drawn to the stage once more.
Petra, Lysithea, and Dorothea had all put their instruments down on their stands. A staff member passed Petra an acoustic guitar and she took up a spot on a stool that had been placed on the same platform as the piano. Everyone else but Marianne and Dorothea had migrated backstage, leaving the trio to themselves. The crowd cheered as the others waved their temporary goodbyes.
“This next song is a little different, because it’s not ours. I heard this song years ago on the radio and it immediately spoke to me.” Dorothea paused and pulled away from the mic as she ran her hand through her hair. She seemed nervous about something. “I feel like where I’m at in my life is where I want to be. I’m surrounded by my friends and my bandmates and the family I’ve made with them and I love what I do. I love making music and sharing it with you guys and performing and I’m so grateful to have each and all of you as I take this journey. But I do have to say I’m a little biased towards one person in my life.”
Bernadetta doesn’t know what came over her, but she turned to look at Edelgard’s reaction to that. Edelgard’s jaw had dropped slightly and she was obviously anticipating what was coming next.
“I’ve never really confirmed or denied any dating rumors about me.” The crowd exploded in cheers. “Calm down! I haven’t even said anything yet,” Dorothea said through her laughter. “I met the most amazing girl at an event for a movie a few years back. We provided two songs for the soundtrack and got to meet the cast at a premier. And we started a little game that I like to refer to as “ The Most Frustrating 8 Months of My Life ”. The crowd laughed at Dorothea’s dry delivery. “I’m serious too! I could have married that girl within 5 seconds of talking to her. She was enchanting. I struggled to leave at the end of the night because I was afraid I would never see her again. Turns out Hilda had slipped her number to this girl and she then texted Hilda and asked for my number.” Dorothea paused to laugh with the crowd.
Even from this distance, Bernadetta could see Dorothea’s eyes grow distant as she was lost in her memory.
“And I heard this song a few months into whatever it was this girl and I were doing and I just thought it fit our situation perfectly. I never sent it to her or to anyone, I never told anyone I compared this song to the two of us. But I want to sing it now for all of you. So this is called Written in the Sand .” A gentle piano and guitar medley started and shocked the crowd. Black Magic didn’t do gentle.
Some of the fans obviously knew the song and sand along with Dorothea. The others just watched in awe as her voice echoed through the venue. Bernadetta didn’t need to turn around to see Edelgard’s reaction. The way Dorothea kept smiling as she sang was enough to know that each girl was enjoying themselves.
Some of the lines stuck out with Bernadetta. Dorothea’s smooth voice delivered lines such as “ Are we last call kissing or will we be reminiscing with each other for the next 40 years ” with so much emotion in them that she knew the story she had shared with the fans was true. She smiled softly to herself thinking of Dorothea growing frustrated with the girl she was talking about. That very stereotypical question of What are we was never fun for anyone to have to ask.
The song finished with an extended note on the piano and the crowd cheered once again. “You know, thinking back on it now, maybe if I had sent this song to her we wouldn’t have gone so long dancing around each other the way we did,” Dorothea said with thick laughter. She shook her head at herself before continuing. “But she is here tonight and I do have a few songs to keep singing to her. This next song is going to sound a little similar to the other and as we go through them, the girls are going to start coming back on stage. So please enjoy these next few songs.”
They played their own music next and the crowd sang along with Dorothea. It must be nice to be Dorothea’s girlfriend, and not only have her sing a song for you, but to have a stadium full of dedicated fans singing as well.
True to Dorothea’s word, they seamlessly transitioned from one song to the next and the rest of the girls slowly filtered back onto stage to pick up their instruments and join in again. After about four or five songs of their own, Bernadetta was starting to lose track as she focused on taking pictures and checking her video stream, a song she wasn’t familiar with started to play.
Dorothea spoke into the mic as the girls looped the melody for the moment. “This next song that we’re teasing here for you, is a new one.” The crowd cheered loudly in excitement. Bernadetta could see the band looked even more excited than the fans did to be sharing the music with them. “It’s going to be on that new album we told you about, but it’ll be dropping at midnight tonight as a single. And it’s also the first time I’m releasing a song I’ve written for my girlfriend.”
The crowd cheered louder than they had at any other point in the show. Not only were they excited about the new song, they were excited that Dorothea had finally confirmed their suspicions.
“Our label was a little apprehensive as they always are when we tell them we wrote a love song. Ingrid has written lyrics for Mercedes, Hilda and Marianne have written songs for each other, Petra’s got a crush that she’s written music for.” Petra rolled her eyes and did her best to ignore the crowd’s interest in that, but she couldn’t stop the small smile from growing on her face. “But they’re worried about us writing songs for people who we may then break up with down the line. They ask us “ What are you going to do if you break up with that person? ” and we all have the same answer. Then we still have written a love song for that person and that song will always be for the person it was written for. It’s out there in the world, we know who it’s for and the end of a relationship won’t change that. So I had to fight our label to get this song released and I’m just so happy to share it with you all. Edie, this is for you.”
Bernadetta flinched as the girls next to her screamed at sonic levels.
“Did she just say?”
“I fucking knew it!”
“- can’t believe she just said-”
Their words faded out as the music picked up and Dorothea started singing.
Bernadetta had to admit- it was a really good song. The crowd clapped along to the beat Ingrid provided as they all stood there taking in Dorothea’s words. When the second chorus came around, Bernadetta spared a glance back to Edelgard.
She was singing along word for word.
Bernadetta couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Both girls looked utterly devoted to each other, even from such a distance.
The song ended with most of the instruments fading out as Dorothea sang the chorus one more time, her angelic voice filling the venue. The crowd roared as she leaned back from the mic and took it all in. She looked proud of herself and rightfully so.
“This is always my least favorite part of the night, but we’ve only got one more song for you guys.” The crowd shared their disappointment. “I know, I know. I wish we could stay here all night and perform for you, but we saved a special song for last.”
Bernadetta knew what song was coming next. Black Magic had only written one song with their fans specifically in mind and they always saved it for the end of the night to dedicate to them all. The crowd sang their hearts out with every member of the band, the venue filled with each individual screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs.
Before the song was even over, some people had started to file out of the venue, probably those who weren’t die hards and were hoping to beat the traffic afterwards by getting a head start. Bernadetta noticed that Edelgard and Ferdinand stayed until the very end as the band gathered themselves at the front of the stage to say goodbye.
“We’re ending the show a little differently than we normally do. Usually we all play each other off one by one until Ingrid is left banging on her drums, but we have a very special announcement.” Hilda was heaving as she spoke, trying to catch her breath after the last few energy filled minutes.
“We mentioned that we’re releasing a new album at the end of the tour, and that’s completely true,” Ingrid continued before gesturing to Petra to continue.
“But we also have a few special bonuses involved with that.” Petra took her cue perfectly.
“We’re uh,” Dorothea started, looking around at the other girls. “We’re shooting four music videos for this album.” The venue erupted in cheers. “And we’re very pleased to announce that the main track will feature an award winning actress as one of our love interests for the music video.”
The other girls all pointed at Dorothea.
“ Her love interest,” Hilda clarified.
Dorothea smiled cheekily. “I was trying to keep that a surprise but I guess there’s no reason to. Anyway, for those of you who either missed it when I said it earlier or are just wanting me to explicitly say it, yes Edie and I are dating.”
The band gasped dramatically as the fans screamed once more. Bernadetta glanced back, as did most of the fans standing around her. Edelgard was red in the face but couldn’t tear her eyes away from the stage.
“Edie as in Edelgard? Edelgard von Hresvelg the Academy Award winning actress?” Ingrid asked in an over the top manner.
“Well, she’s just Edie to me.”
“Gross,” Lysithea quipped.
“So check her and us out when the new album drops in a week from today! We only have three shows left and we’re dropping the album the night after the tour is over! It’s super inappropriate and raunchy and we look really sexy in it,” Dorothea said with no shame. “And that’s all we have for you! Thanks so much for coming out tonight!”
The band slowly drifted backstage as they took in all the excitement from the fans, waving and blowing kisses as they went. They would usually stop to sign things and take pictures with the fans, but this show was obviously a little different from all of their others so Bernadetta understood why they didn’t do so this time.
She let the chaos of the crowd die down before she tried to start putting her equipment away. She took her time turning off her cameras and putting them back in their respective bags. By the time she was finished, the only people still near her were the security team and venue staff cleaning up after the show.
In the days after the concert, both Edelgard and Dorothea remained trending on various social media sites. They each took to their various social media accounts to post pictures of each other, either alone or pictures of the two of them. The article Bernadetta wrote about the concert was used in fan tweets, especially the parts where she talked about all Dorothea had to say about her and how she described them looking at each other.
She received a text from Dorothea within an hour of her posting the article thanking her for the publicity and for all the kind things she had to say about them. She even sent Bernadetta a file with their new album on it so she could listen to it earlier than anyone else. All in all, Bernadetta really loved her job.