Bianca Monty: Week 1

he second of our three Monty households in Veronaville is here at No. 20, Via Veronaville. The house is almost a twin of Antonio's place.

But it does not come with a fireplace, and the kitchen is on the left side of the stairs, while at Antonio's it is to the right.

Upstairs looks almost exactly the same as at Antonio's, with the only difference being the placement of toilet and shower. 

"Finally out of the Monty compound, Bianca is looking for love so she can start a family of her own.", according to Maxis. 

A Family Sim, she wants to become Education Minister. Also, she is in love with Kent Capp, as we know from the first week with him, his sister Regan and her husband Cornwall. Bianca is unemployed at the moment and has just under 5,000 Simoleons to further furnish her modest house. Fortunately, Mr Humble's computer is delivered promptly, and she is lucky in finding a position as Playground Monitor right away - the first step on her way to Education Minister! 

She returns from work on that Monday with a promotion to Teacher's Aide and knows just how to celebrate that, inviting Kent over as per her wish. 

Before the two have had time for more than a hug and a backrub, Oberon Summerdream rings and asks Bianca to join him and a group of friends at the One-Twenty-Five Café in Downtown Veronaville. As before (when I was playing Regan Capp and her family), Oberon's group turns out to be all friends with him, but many of them are enemies among each other. 

The fight between Bianca's mother Isabella Monty and Kent's father Cornwall Capp was predictable! 

Isabella wins, and Kent is mortified.

It does not change his feelings for Bianca, though - she pops the question there and then, and he accepts. Bianca and Kent are now engaged, in front of everyone! Make love, not war is Bianca's motto :-)

She makes an effort to befriend her fiancé's sister by joining Regan at one of the chess tables. Kent, however, is not as peacefully minded; he berates Isabella for having attacked his father. "He is an old man, and at your age, you should know better than to fight every time you happen to be in the same place!"

Still, Regan is greatly encouraged by Bianca's peace offering and expresses her wish to become friends.

Tuesday is quickly told: Bianca goes to work, and upon her return finds that a stray dog has dug a hole in her lawn. Filling in the hole, raking leaves, recycling yesterday's paper, paying today's bills and making a few phonecalls to friends and family keep her busy until bedtime. 

Wednesday sees her promoted to Substitute Teacher. The rest of the day passes pretty much like Tuesday, except that there are no bills to pay and no holes to fill in. 

The next set of bills are due on Thursday, but Bianca smiles when she pays them - with a regular income, she has still over 5,000 Simoleons left afterwards, and could start to think about some home improvements. 

She wishes to give Kent a backrub, and of course he needs to be invited over for that. Over a meal of Bianca's delicious minestrone, she tells Kent that she expects another promotion soon. 

"I am sure you'll get that promotion, and many more," he smiles. 

But her own prediction and Kent's belief in her do not come true - instead, Bianca is fired on Friday after she took the wrong decision with a chance card. Devastated, she calls Kent over for some comfort. 

Why did he bring Tybalt Capp along, of all people? she wonders as the three of them sit down to eat the leftover minestrone. It seems Kent has taken a leaf out of Bianca's book, encouraging friendships rather than enmity between the Capps and the Montys. 

The two men hog the computer, making it impossible for Bianca to try and get her job back. Instead, she takes care of much necessary gardening work.

It is already Saturday when Tybalt has left and Kent has gone to bed upstairs (he was invited to spend the night), and finally Bianca gets a chance to look online for her former job. She has to accept a position as Teacher's Aide again, but she's back in - only that she has to wait until Monday, since of course there is no school on the weekend.

Kent did not wait for Bianca to wake up - by the time she opens her eyes mid-morning on Saturday, she finds his side of the bed empty. Never mind, their love for each other remains unchanged.

She invites Emily Lee over, a recent graduate from uni who has moved to Veronaville and became her friend after they'd met at a community lot. It's a nice girls' day for Bianca, with her and Emily now best friends. 

Sunday is the big day! Bianca's wedding nerves mean she burns her pancakes. Good job nobody is there yet to witness it! 

It is too cold now to celebrate outside, and so the living room - which has been empty except for the desk and computer anyway - is chosen for their modest ceremony. Kent arrives, the two get into their wedding outfits, and the wedding begins. 

Look at Isabella's face! And note how Emily seems to have the hots for Oberon, while Antonio simply looks suitably serious for the occasion. 

In the end, even Isabella applauds as Kent and Bianca are declared husband and wife. 

Bianca is happy. One of her biggest wishes has come true! The cake, by the way, is called "Antonio's prize-winning wedding cake" in the buy catalogue :-) Did her brother create it? 

On the other side of the stairs, things aren't going well. "Don't think I have not seen how you are looking at my Oberon," Titania says through clenched teeth to Emily. The latter gets incredibly angry at having been found out, and not long afterwards, the two ladies engage in a most undignified fight - at their friend's wedding, too! 

Everybody calms down a little with pieces of the delicious wedding cake, but the atmosphere is a lot less cheerful and festive as Bianca had been hoping for.

Finally, everyone has gone (the party was still "a good time"), and the newlyweds change back into their regular clothes. Bowls of Bianca's minestrone and a bottle of champagne make up their dinner. "Here's to the new Mr and Mrs Monty", Kent exclaims.

Although they could not afford a honeymoon or at least to book into a nice hotel for their wedding night, rose-patterned curtains and a string of fairy lights at the headboard make their bed a suitably romantic place. 

A mixed week for Bianca! She got to marry her true love, but job-wise things were a bit bumpy, and the fighting between their two family members (and then even between two of Bianca's best friends, Titania and Emily) made for some less than happy Sims.