Henry had never lost a moment's sleep about leaving his previous job. Somebody had accessed data they should not have done, and somebody had passed that data onto competitors - but it was not him.
Company boss Annabel suspected he was the culprit but had no evidence to back it up. Henry knew - even though she never explicitly said anything - she thought it was him. After that he realised he no longer wanted to work for a boss who did not trust him. He could not be bothered; as a good accountant with three years' experience since completing his training, he knew he would be able to find work elsewhere.
So, a matter of days after the issue surfaced, he submitted his resignation. Annabel accepted it without questioning. She did not want the spectre of Henry suing for constructive dismissal while he knew that she was powerless. Without evidence of wrongdoing, she could neither stand in his way nor mention anything in a reference.
Henry worked through his notice and left. Within weeks he had secured a job at a bigger firm in the city. And he thought no more about Annabel or the data leak until an email dropped into his inbox almost four years later.
+++
As soon as Annabel's IT manager told her that they knew who had leaked the data she felt terrible. Initially, she expected them to confirm her suspicions, but her mood quickly changed when she did not hear Henry's name. It was Adam, a man whom she had continued to employ for another three years and 10 months.
Once the formalities of working out what to do with her actual rogue employee were completed, she knew what she had to do next. Adam and Henry had been close; she guessed they still were. She could see they were connected on LinkedIn and therefore might still be in regular contact. Henry would surely find out the truth sooner or later.
She sighed, leaning back in her chair as she wrote, flicking back her medium-length blond hair with her right hand. She always kept her emails as brief and to the point as possible. This one was no exception.
"Henry,
Emailing to say that we now know who was responsible for the data leak.
They have now left the company and I felt it appropriate to let you know.
Wishing you well,
Annabel."
She clicked send and packed up her things, ready to leave the office.
+++
Henry only checked his personal email account once he got home so it was not until the evening that he picked up Annabel's message. He mulled over how to respond. He could just brush it off and let it pass but then he remembered how uncomfortable Annabel had made him feel. And why would she email unless she was in some way feeling guilty for what she had done?
"Annabel,
Thank you for your email.
I'm pleased you have established the truth.
You must be aware that during that period I had a very strong sense that you felt I was responsible for the data leak.
I enjoyed working with you and was very disappointed to leave as the situation left me very upset and uncomfortable.
I hope we can both put this behind us.
Thanks,