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The aftermath; betrayal and friendship






 It was a typical workday. I was always on time. As a department head, I used to have a very busy schedule for the day. In my department, there was a group of female employees. The company had provided them with accommodation in a hostel.

One day, Preet, from Chandigarh, came to me and said, "Sir, I want to leave the job. My family is being migrated to Canada. "

"OK, but have you or anyone in your family received a job offer from there?" I inquired with great care.

"Where in Canada are you relocating?" I asked.

"No, but my father has received approval for a PR Visa," she responded.

I said, "You are a permanent employee of this company. This is one of India's good companies. Please think about it and consult with your parents before resigning from your job. "

"Sir, I have already decided," she replied.

"Then you need to go to the HR department and submit your resignation for your formal exit procedure," I told her.

"Sir, I have already submitted my resignation," she stated.

"OK, then, best of luck," I replied.

I was in a hurry to get to my next meeting, so I left right away.

The next day, her colleague Rima came to me and said, " Sir, have you heard that Preet resigned?"

I said, " Yes, I know. She informed me yesterday. She intended to travel to Canada."

"No, Sir," Rima replied, "our HR department asked her to resign yesterday."

"What?" I asked.

"Yes sir, they may not have informed you because you were busy with clients," she said.

I was now intrigued. "Do you know what happened?" I inquired.

Then she told the story.

"Preet stole some money from her friend Geeta's ATM," she explained. "Geeta works in the production department at our company. You've met her, Sir. "

I simply nodded my head.

She continued, "Sir, They were roommates. They were like best friends. They used to share everything, including clothes and makeup kit. Geeta had such faith in her that when she needed money but didn't have time to withdraw it due to the company schedule, Preet would use Geeta's ATM  card with her permission to withdraw money. Then she would return her card in the evening. Geeta used to keep the card in her room. But 15 days ago, Geeta received a message informing her that INR 15,000 had been deducted from her account via an ATM in the same city. Geeta was perplexed because she had barely INR 20,000 in her account. She was managing her expenses in some way and used to send money to her parents because she came from a poor family. She came back to her room to see if her card was safe. But she noticed that her card was in its proper place. She then told Preet about it. However, she stated that there could be a problem with the bank. The bank may deposit it again. Geeta was losing her patience. The following day, she called customer service and complained that a certain amount had been debited from her bank account without a transaction being made. The customer service representative informed her that it was not possible because she had made a cash withdrawal transaction from an ATM using her card, and thus the money had been deducted from her account. Geeta became more concerned as a result of this. She immediately went to the bank branch and inquired about the reason for this transaction. The bank informed her that they could not assist her in this matter because she had made a withdrawal from the bank. Geeta spoke with the branch manager. The branch manager then asked one of the executives to verify the transaction details. If he could obtain CCTV footage of the transaction, It took several days to investigate and get the CCTV footage. When the manager and Geeta reviewed the CCTV footage, it was clear that Preet had withdrawn the money from the ATM. Geeta asked Preet right away. Now Preet had no choice but to accept responsibility for the theft. Preet had spent some money on a dress and other items. She returned some money she had. She admitted that she was tempted to take the card and withdraw some money while Geeta was away. She assumed Geeta would never find out who had withdrawn the money because such scams were common. Geeta was upset, sir. She told HR about this. And HR asked Preet to resign from the company. Sir, I thought you were aware of this. Our hostel girls are all familiar with this tale. "

I was astounded to learn this as well, but I pretended to be calm and said, "Okay, let it be. Let us concentrate on our work."

In my mind, I kept questioning whether this friendship betrayal had resulted in monetary loss or friendship loss. Both have lost friendship as a result of this theft. Friendship loss is far more devastating than financial loss. People correctly say that when the time is wrong, the mind loses consciousness.

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