My Sister's Fiancé

Chapter 5: Confirmed

The following night, Drake and Derrek went to the place where he had seen the young woman. Their band wasn’t scheduled to perform until next week, so they still had time to explore.

"Bro, looks like she’s not coming tonight," Drake said, constantly checking his watch. "Look at the time."

"Let’s wait a little longer, bro. Her nanny said she’s always here every night. Maybe she’s sleeping under a different coconut tree."

"What!" Drake grew even more concerned for his friend. His only intention had been to cheer Derrek up, thinking he was just struggling again with missing his ex-girlfriend. But now he felt like he had made a mistake. "Don’t you think this is going too far, bro? Come on. Let’s just go home," he said worriedly. Whatever was going on with his friend, he wanted to comfort him—but not like this.

"Please bro—just a minute more," Derrek pleaded. They were waiting under a tree.

"Derrek, when are you going to accept that she’s gone—"

Drake was cut off when they noticed a commotion nearby. A crowd had gathered, and people were shouting. "Bro, looks like there’s a fight. Let’s get out of here."

Drake ran off. It was only his second night there, and he didn’t want to get involved in any trouble. But he quickly turned back when he realized Derrek wasn’t following him. When he went to look for his friend, he couldn’t find him anywhere.

"Unbelievable," he muttered. "This is really a bad idea."

He went to the crowd still gathered around and found his friend just in time—about to be punched by a foreigner. Drake quickly grabbed the foreigner’s hand and twisted it behind his back.

"What’s wrong with you?" the foreigner asked, struggling.

"He’s my friend, man, and I won’t let someone like you lay a hand on him," Drake said.

"Let me go, you filthy rat! Your friend just stole my girl—how do you expect me to react?"

Stole and girl? Drake glanced at Derrek, who was shielding a woman behind him. No wonder the foreigner was angry. Drake let go of the man’s hand and apologized.

"Stupid!" the foreigner spat before finally leaving. The crowd that had gathered began to disperse.

"Bro, what do you think you’re doing? Are you really that desperate?" Drake asked angrily. Sure, he could be a flirt, but stealing someone else's girlfriend was something he couldn't accept.

"Drake, come on. It's her. It's Sam."

Drake was stunned by what Derrek said—but even more shocked when he finally got a good look at the woman.

"What the—this is unbelievable," he whispered, his eyes widening. "S-Samantha?"

"Derrek. It’s you again?" said a woman nearby. "You’ve saved Sab again. Thank you so much. I really don’t know what to do with her anymore."

Drake frowned. Derrek then introduced him to the woman, who also explained how she and Derrek had first met.

"Ma’am, is her name really Sab?" Drake asked, just to confirm.

"Y-yes. Why, son?"

"It’s nothing, ma’am. Just wondering... why does she keep drinking?"

"Oh, that’s a long story, son. Here, give Sab to me—Jason’s already here."

Derrek handed over the completely drunk Sab, and Jason carried her away.

"Well then, we’ll be going. Thank you so much, boys," the woman said, bidding them goodbye.

Just as they were about to leave, Derrek remembered the bracelet he had found.

"I think this belongs to her, ma’am." He handed it to the woman, who thanked him before leaving with Sab and Jason.

"It wasn’t her, bro," Drake said as they were heading home. "So what now? You promised me, didn’t you? Are you really okay with this?"

"Yeah. At least I proved to you that I wasn’t imagining things or making stories up. I’ll admit, I haven’t fully moved on yet, bro. But I’m trying. So I hope you’ll give me another chance to prove to the group that I’m ready to perform again."

"I’m sorry, bro. I doubted you at first too. But I promise—from now on, I’ll listen to your side first. I’m really sorry, bro."

"It’s all good. I understand—same with Levi."

"On another note, about that girl—man, she really looks exactly like Sam. Anyone would have thought it was her. Do you think they’re related?"

"I don’t know, bro."

"So, what’s your plan? Will you ask her?"

"I still don’t know, Drake. I came here for work. Maybe I should just focus on that for now. By the way, thanks for saving me earlier."

"Oh, don’t mention it!" Drake said, throwing an arm around Derrek. "What are friends for if I just left you with that foreigner? And besides, we’re in the Philippines—no way should we let ourselves get pushed around by some foreign guy."

Derrek just laughed at his bold friend.

"Right—I totally smashed his face and he fell right away!" Drake proudly told their bandmates once they got home.

"Is that even true?" Ian asked skeptically.

"Of course not," Drake admitted. They all burst into laughter.

"Show-off!" Red said, tossing a small sofa pillow at Drake.

"So, how’d it go?" Levi asked seriously.

"Well, we saw her. She really does look like Sam—but sadly, it’s just the resemblance. Her name’s Sab. Man, at first I really thought it was Sam. If she wasn’t drinking like that… I never saw Sam drunk, so that alone told me they were different," he explained at length.

"I’m going to rest now," Derrek said, standing up and heading to his room. No matter how much he tried to hide it, every time someone mentioned Sam’s name, he still felt that aching loneliness. He didn’t want to hear her name anymore, hoping it would help him finally move on.

He lay down on the bed alone, staring at the ceiling.

"I’m sorry, bro," Levi said as he sat down at the edge of Derrek’s bed. Derrek glanced at him.

"For what? I know what you’re thinking, Lev. Honestly, if I were in your shoes, I might have reacted the same way. Who would believe me when everyone knows she’s long gone?" Derrek said sadly.

Levi could feel what his friend was going through.

"I’m really sorry, bro. I’ve been so focused on what’s best for the group that I forgot—I’m not just the manager, I’m your friend, too. I should’ve listened first. I hope you don’t hate me for it."

Derrek sat up again and faced Levi.

"Come on, I said it’s okay. I get why you acted that way. We lost a gig because of me. That’s my fault. But now, I promise—I’ll do everything I can to help our band rise again here. Just trust me, Lev."

Levi smiled at him.

"Thanks, bro. I really hope we get a permanent spot here—and that you finally move on. We all miss the old, playful Derrek."

A smile formed on Derrek’s lips. He missed that version of himself too. Back when he and Samantha were together. He was full of life, mischievous even. But everything changed when she left him.