32. Claire, you in danger girl.

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Claire

"I told you I would get rid of you."

Geez, that woman is scary.

I start looking in my bag for my inhaler, then in my desk. I can't find one anywhere, and I'm starting to wheeze.

"Drew," I whisper.

He's on his cellphone with his back to me, still facing the elevator his mother just left on.

"I'd like to file a restraining order..."

Did he seriously call the police? On his mother?

"Drew," I try again, louder, but I can't get enough air in. I bang my good fist on the desk. He's too caught up in the call to notice.

Jared comes out of his office. "What the hell happened out here? I saw Drew's mom and—"

He sees me and panics. "Claire? What's wrong? You can't breathe? Where's your inhaler?"

He starts digging through my bag and then yells, "DREW! GIVE ME CLAIRE'S INHALER!"

Drew turns instantly and starts sprinting toward me, pulling the inhaler from his pocket. He gently tilts my head up—I'd been hunched over trying to breathe.

"Ready? Inhale." He presses the inhaler and I pull in the medicine.

"Again," he says, rubbing my back.

Jared's on my other side, holding my hand, rubbing small circles with his thumb.

They work together to calm me down.

"Jared," I croak.

"Yeah, Claire?" He looks terrified—probably hasn't seen me have an asthma attack before.

"You're squeezing my hand too tight."

He looks down and drops it like it's on fire. "Sorry, Claire! I just thought you were dying! Do you always look like that when you have an asthma attack? Geez, girl. They should hire you at Halloween Horror Nights or something. That was terrifying. I was trying to calm you down but then I got scared and—well, yeah. You okay now though?"

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I breathlessly chuckle. "Yeah. I'm fine."

I turn to Drew, still huffing a little. "Did you call the cops on your mother?"

He's still rubbing my back, eyes flicking between me and Jared.

"Yeah," he says. "I want us to go down to the station and file a restraining order. I don't want her near you."

He glances at the envelope on my desk and frowns. "Do you have any idea what that is?"

I'm still stunned by the restraining order talk and barely notice him grabbing the envelope.

"No idea," I say. "Your mother and I aren't exactly pen pals."

He looks at me, silently asking for permission to open it. I nod. "Go ahead—I have nothing to hide."

Drew opens the letter. A few Polaroid-style pictures fall out. He bends to pick them up while I grab the letter and start reading aloud:

Claire,

I knew from the moment I met you that you weren't right for my family. What's sad is you took the one person Andrew loves—other than you—away from him.

I hate that Andrew has to find out this way, but if you don't end it with him, I'll send him these pictures of you and Jared.

All this time, under our noses, you proved to be the skank I always knew you were.

Sweet dreams, Claire. And take that baby with you.

With love,

Moira

"What the..."

I trail off when I glance at the pictures.

They're of me and Jared—laughing in a park, standing close, kissing... in bed?

What the hell?

I've never been anywhere with Jared that Drew didn't know about. And we've never even been that close physically. The pictures are fake. Badly photoshopped if you look hard enough. There's even some kind of powder or residue on them. I smell my hand—was she eating as she put all this together?

Jared reaches for the pictures, but Drew lays them out on my desk, studying each one.

Then he looks up at us, eyes wide. "Well? Explain. Is this why you wanted to work for him? Is this why you're always talking about her?" He laughs bitterly, tears starting to fill his eyes. "I always thought you were just being funny. I didn't take it seriously..."

He looks heartbroken.

Jared's mouth drops open. "Wait—Drew, you actually believe this? You think Claire and I have been sneaking around behind your back?"

Drew snaps. He starts throwing everything in sight—vase of flowers, smashed against the wall. Chairs go flying. He flips over Daisy's desk and storms toward his office, but Jared jumps in front of him.

"DUDE," Jared shouts. "The pictures aren't real! They have to be fakes! I've NEVER seen Claire naked, let alone been with her like that. I see her like a sister! I know I joke around with you man, but I would never!"

He turns to me. "I mean, Claire, if you ever want to—"

"Not the time, Jared."

He sobers immediately. "Drew, I would never. Claire and I would never. She's been in love with you and put up with so much. Why would she stay with you if she was with me? I've got money too. She would've been taken care of. There'd be no reason to stay unless she really loved you. Don't let your mom ruin another good thing, man."

I stay quiet, a tear sliding down my cheek—for Drew. His mother has been manipulating every part of his life for so long.

"Drew," I say gently, "we didn't do this. And even if it's over between us, you should know... I never cheated. I never would."

Drew kneels in front of me and wraps his arms around me. I let him hold me for as long as he needs.

When he finally pulls away, I whisper, "I think we've all had a long day. Let's go home and try again tomorrow."

Both guys nod.

I gather the photos and the letter, shove them back in the envelope, and toss it into my purse.

A little keepsake...

For the future episode of Snapped or I Survived I'll definitely end up on.