One day, while on a break from a story conference, Cristine decided to switch to her playful self. She pretended to go out and buy food.
She promptly returned to find Derek still busy with his spaghetti. All of a sudden, Derek heard a strange squeaking sound right beside him. Before he knew it, Cristine had thrown what looked like a rat into his spaghetti (it was actually a toy).
“Nagtatakbo ako. Napahiya ako sa lahat ng tao,” Derek recalls.
Turns out Cristine knew Derek has a phobia for rats.Derek’s knee jerk was to lash out at Cristine. But after the smoke finally cleared, he just learned to laugh it off.
“It only shows that our friendship is back to normal,” he told reporters on the set visit of his TV5 romance drama “For Love or Money.”
Besides, he has too many blessings to even think of getting angry or feeling bad.
Movie and TV roles cast him as the man beautiful women fight tooth and nail over (remember “No Other Woman” with Anne Curtis and Cristine?). Derek is Edward, the married man Alice Dixson’s character seduces in “For Love or Money.”
The roles are becoming a habit, Derek only hopes people will realize that it’s only make believe. He’s only playing a character.
Don’t get him wrong. Derek is not complaining.
“I’m a very happy man.”
He feels so blessed, he decided to share his good fortune to natives of Palawan where he marked his birthday last December 7.
“May maliit na bahay na ginawa ang mga katutubo don para sa retired kong mga magulang. They want fresh air out of the city. Binigyan ko ng laruan ang mga bata. Yung mga matatanda binigyan ko ng rosary. Nagpakain ako sa property namin.”
The act of kindness not only made the people he helped feel good, it also made Derek happy.
“Ang sarap ng feeling when you see those kids with smiles on their faces at masasaya ang mga magulang nila.”
Derek doesn’t stop at admiring the smiles on the Palawenos’ faces. He’s thinking of spending more time with them.
“I’ve seen how happy my dad is with his Palawan project. In this industry, I don’t get to see them much of them. I’m entertaining the thought of doing something else. I am at a point in my life where I’m wondering where my career will go, what the next chapter in my life will be.”
Derek’s fans need not panic. He just shot a new commercial endorsement and there’s his ongoing TV series with Alice Dixson and Ritz Azul to watch out for.
These should be enough to convince Derek to stay longer in the biz. If not, well, at least, the networks – and the companies who trust in him – tried.
By Maridol Rañoa-Bismark | Yahoo Southeast Asia Newsroom
