A/N: I do not own Victorious


"Here are your keys, Ms. Valentine. Welcome to the Pointe Plaza."

"Thanks."

Cat accepted her new apartment keys from the receptionist, grabbed her suitcase, and headed for the elevator.

It was a new beginning for her- a fresh start. She wasn't going to let a boy ruin her life, no matter how ugly their break up had turned out to be. She was going to look past the fact that she wasted three years with a total a-hole but she was too blind to see that he changed her for the worse. She was holding her head up high and starting anew. And that new start began with living on her own, at a new place. The Pointe Plaza. Even the name sounded fancy. This luxurious 50-floor apartment building in the outskirts of New York City was the way to go, according to Cat. Hey, go big or go home, right? She had had about enough of sleepless nights, puffy eyes, and comfort eating… Ok, she enjoyed the ice cream, but it wasn't healthy.

Confidently, Cat walked up to the elevator doors. Remember how this place was fancy? Well this place in particular still had people operating everything. There were three doormen outside, restroom attendants, and yes, an elevator attendant.

"Hi there!" an elderly man greeted her once she stepped inside. One look at the man and she lost it.

"Miss? Miss, are you ok?" the old man tried to comfort her. She fell to her knees and started bawling into her hands, dropping her purse and suitcase to the floor ignoring them once she stepped inside.

"I'm S-s-sorry. I'm sorry," she mumbled. But the water works continued.

"Would you like some water?" he grabbed a water bottled from under his makeshift stool, which was really a ratty old crate standing on its side, and offered it to her. She accepted the kind gesture and shushed her tears enough to take a few sips. It calmed her a bit and cooled her down. Though she let the tears free fall from her cheeks.

"There we are!" the old man cheered like he cured a disease.

"Thanks," she mustered under her hiccups.

"It's nothing. I've been here for so long, crazy isn't even in the dictionary anymore," the old man cackled.

"I'm not crazy, I swear," Cat tried to explain.

"So you're telling me you're synthetic red hair doesn't scream crazy?" he joked.

"No, no," she couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not crazy, I swear."

"Suit yourself," he snickered to himself.

"Hey Sikowitz!" a brunette walked into the elevator. She immediately noticed Cat. "Oh. Hi. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, thanks," Cat shyly answered before wiping her tears.

"Why were you crying?" the brunette asked.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Hello Tori, this is… wait, I never caught your name."

"Cat."

"Ah Cat. Tori, this is Cat, she is not crazy, despite the fact that she has no idea why she's crying and her hair is synthetically red but she thinks that's perfectly normal," the elevator attendant said.

"Excuse him, he's psycho," the Brunette, Tori, responded.

"That's why they call me Sikowitz!"

"It's nice to meet you both," Cat answered.

"Are you new here?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, I just moved in today," Cat said.

"Here," Tori reached into her purse to pull out a tissue for Cat to finish wiping her now smudged mascara and tears from her face.

"Thanks," she accepted the tissue and wiped her face. "So, are we waiting for someone?"

"No, you just never gave me a floor to press," Sikowitz told her.

"What floor are you on?" Tori wondered.

"Uh… 34."

"No way, that's my floor too! Which side are you on?" the brunette squealed.

"North."

"Oh, you're the city side. I'm the hill side."

"Yeah, I like the peace, but I also need lights and noise and I don't know why I chose it really."

"You don't know why you do a lot of things, do you?" Sikowitz asked.

"Sometimes I like to do things without over thinking, you know?" she suggested.

"Interesting," he nodded. He hit the 34th floor button and they went up.

"So, do you work around here?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, I got a new job at the Daily Gazette on First street."

"Cool, are you a writer or something?"

"Or something. I'm the editor."

"Wow look at you Miss Wall Street," Sikowitz chuckled.

"That's really cool, Cat," Tori acknowledged. The elevator dinged and they were welcomed to the 34th floor.

"Well I'll be just down the hall if you need me and Sikowitz here is always a great person to talk to. I'll see you around, Cat!" Tori waved as she fled down the hall.

"Is she always that perky?" Cat asked Sikowitz since the two were still standing in the 34th floor lobby area.

"Yes she is," Sikowitz chuckled. She moved in here about two weeks ago and she's already learned everyone's name in this floor. I don't know how she does it."

"Well I know one person on this floor. Only 10 more to go. Thanks for the water," she waved.

"Anytime," he tipped his hat and stepped back into the elevator.

"Oh, and welcome to the Pointe Plaza."

That was their first encounter. Their next encounter happened about a week later, after Cat was fully settled in. Although it didn't last long and they barely made a conversation other than 'hi' and 'bye'. For a good while, Cat would step inside the elevator with a Bluetooth in one ear, blackberry in one hand, and a tablet in the other. Sikowitz had concluded that she was one busy girl.

After about a month of constant work, Cat had fallen into that routine of busying herself to distract her from everything else. One day, she stepped into the elevator after a hard day's work with no device at her attention.

"Well if it isn't the busy bee," Sikowitz greeted and hit the 34th floor button.

"Hey there, Mr. Sikowitz."

"Please, my father was Mr. Sikowitz. Lose the mister, dear."

"Well what's your first name?"

"Erin."

"Can I call you that instead?"

"Mm. I'd rather not. I don't like it."

"What's the matter with the name Aaron?"

"That it's spelled E-R-I-N."

"Wait, it's not A-a-r-o-n?"

"Unfortunately," he sighed. "My mother was expecting a girl and she already got everything prepared, custom clothes, baby albums engraved and all, but when I popped out, she decided to keep the name AND the spelling," he chuckled.

"Oh, no. That's horrible," Cat giggled.

"It's alright. It's unique, I guess. But I certainly kept the tradition and named my son Tracy. Then he named his daughter Jordan."

"Jordan's a great name for a girl. I wish I had that."

"Catherine is a nice name," Sikowitz said.

"Caterina."

"I beg your pardon?"

"My full name's Caterina. Cat for short. It's a different name that's for sure."

"Nonsense, it's unique!" Sikowitz exclaimed.

The elevator dinged. Cat stepped out and turned back around to the old man.

"Tell you what. I'll call you Sikowitz if you call me Cat. Deal?" she stuck her hand out.

"Deal," he shook it. "Have a nice evening, Cat."


"Good evening, Cat. Have a nice day?"

"Long and exhausting is more like it," she said as she stepped into the elevator. "I'm just glad it's Friday."

"Ah yes, the end of the work week and the start of the weekend. Are you going to, what do the kids say these days, paint the town red?"

"Oh gosh, that's an old term," Cat giggled. "But yes, I'm going out tonight."

"Oooh, are you going out with a fella?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yes, but he's just a coworker and a friend. Plus, it's a group thing. My coworkers Jade and Robbie are showing me the city."

"Ah, you kids should go outdoors, it's a clear sky tonight. Very lovely moon. Like a marshmallow," he chuckled.

"Like a marshmallow?" she laughed.

"Yes. So round and fluffy," he giddily smiled.

An hour later, Cat stepped back into the elevator in very sophisticated eveningwear.

"Whoa, Cat. I thought this was a group event."

"It is," she told Sikowitz.

"Are you sure that Robbie fella isn't courting you or anything?"

"Sikowitz," Cat blushed unconsciously. "It's a friendly outing with Robbie AND Jade."

"Well you better make sure this Robbie fella behaves himself," Sikowitz lectured.

"Oh gosh," Cat embarrassingly shook her head.


"Hey Sikowitz."

"Hello there, Cat. Whatcha got there?"

"Just some gifts."

"Oooh special occasion?"

"Kind of. It's my birthday."

"Oh, well happy birthday!" He greeted.

"Thanks."

"What did you get?" he asked.

"Um a new pair of Steve Madden Heels from Jade and a Tiffany bracelet from Robbie."

"Mhm, and Robbie's just a friend?" he quipped an eyebrow.

"Yes, it was a friend giving another friend a birthday gift. That's all," she clarified.

"What are you doing tonight? Throwing a bit of a soiree?"

"Yeah a soiree for one," she chuckled. "I don't really have much time to celebrate."

"Why, everyone deserves a special treat on their birthday. Why don't you go have fun tonight?"

"I am, I'm reading a bunch of articles tonight," she sarcastically said.

"You are a party animal," he chuckled. "Did you have any cake?"

"No."

"Balloons?"

"No."

"Did you get to blow out any candles?"

"You can't blow out candles if there's no cake, right?" she giggled.

"But you need to make your birthday wish! It's tradition!" he exclaimed.

"It's ok, birthdays aren't really that big of a deal in my family. Never really had time to celebrate."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to the 34th floor lobby.

"Well Miss Cat, I hope you have a lovely birthday," Sikowitz playfully bowed.

"Thanks Sikowitz, goodnight!"

An hour later, there was a knock on Cat's door.

"Hey Tori," Cat was surprised.

"Happy Birthday!" Tori hugged her.

"Thanks, but how-"

"Sikowitz told me," Tori laughed. "You should have told me. We could have gone out and celebrated."

"It's ok, Tori. It's not that big of a deal," Cat told her.

"Well it is a big deal and every person deserves to celebrate even for a little bit."

Tori walked out to the hallway and picked something up to bring inside.

"Happy Birthday!" she handed Cat a red velvet cupcake and several balloons.

"Tori, you didn't have to do this," Cat was in shock.

"I didn't. Sikowitz asked me to get this for you," she told her. "Now come on, make a wish and blow out the candle!"

Cat smiled to herself. How can a kind man like him always know how to cheer her up? She could have wished for a lot of things – a better love life, an easier time at work – but being with a good friend and having a kind gesture done to her by an elderly old man was all she could really wish for on her birthday.


"Wow, it's only eight in the morning and you've got your gidgets and gadgets glued to your face."

"Good morning to you too, Sikowitz," Cat said while she attached her earpiece and turned on her phone.

"What do you need all that stuff for? Aren't you on your way to the office?"

"Yeah but even my boss can't wait for the ten minute commute for me to answer her grueling questions."

"You work to much little miss. You need to have more fun. You're young. Take advantage of it."

"I did. Remember when I went out with Robbie and Jade?"

"Yes for only three hours. And that was a month ago. Why, back in my day I stayed out for hours on end. And that was before there were shopping malls and IMAX theaters around."

"Well what did you do for so long?"

"I had fun. Enjoyed company with my friends."

"Eventually I'll get to that, Sikowitz."

The bell dinged and the door opened.

"Well, hopefully eventually is sooner rather than later. Have a nice day, Cat."

"Thanks, Sikowitz. Bye!"

At the end of the day, Cat stepped inside the elevator, her devices in hand.

"Yes, Sasha. I told the freelance writers to have their articles on my desk by tomorrow. Then I'll read them and send them over to your desk by the end of the day…. All right. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." *click*

"Busy day?" the old man asked.

"You have no idea," Cat said while checking her email.

"Going up?" he suggested.

"Yes, please," she sighed.

"Why do you need all these devices anyways?"

"Well I need my Bluetooth to answer calls while I go on my phone for texts and emails. And then my tablet is here so I can access files quickly to read."

"You know, back in my day, we didn't have these raspberries and blacktooths or magical notepads. It was a simple black and white cellular phone that only had one function – answering phone calls."

"Ok first of all," Cat laughed. "My phone's called a blackberry, this earpiece is a Bluetooth, and my magical notepad is otherwise known as a tablet."

"You say to-may-toe I say to-mah-toe," he reasoned. "My point is that technology, no matter how amazing and easily available it may be, it's making the human mind more prone to social behavior."

"What do you mean? It makes communicating so much easier."

"I agree. But you're braver when you text or email, even talk on the phone because you're not physically in front of the person you're speaking with. You rely so much on that that when it comes to socialization, we can't ever find the words to say to keep a conversation going. And I may an old timer, but face-to-face is always better than any form of communication. It's more personal."

"I never thought of it that way," Cat said.

"Technology I tell you. Pretty soon they're going to implant chips in our brains and we'll forever be brainwashed under the dictatorial power of the government," Sikowitz joked.

"Oh Sikowitz, you are a man of wit and utter intelligence."

"Well I'm here for your entertainment," he tipped his hat. "Have a nice evening, Cat."

When the elevator door closed, Cat chuckled to herself. She had a feeling that with Sikowitz, it was just the start of a beautiful friendship.


A/N: Well, here it is. The next Victorious fic. I was going to wait a few days to post something new, but I just felt like publishing this. I wrote this story back in high school, so it might sound very raw.

Thanks for those amazing reviews from Begin Again. If I find time, I'll try to respond to everyone. But for those 'guest' reviews, I wish you had accounts so I could personally thank you all.

Have you ever had such a stressful day that you just don't know what else to do? Crying takes too much effort, there's really nothing in you to scream out loud, and Murphy just loves to mess with you at a time like that? As you can probably figure, I'm not really having a great... week. And it's only Tuesday. That's probably why I'm on FF. I find some kind of comfort here. Anyway, tomorrow's busy. I'll update on Thursday. By the way, this is only a Three-shot since this was a school assignment and we had to write a brief three-act-screenplay. Talk to you guys later.