This happened around the time of Valentine’s Day. I started working at Boots when I wanted to pick up a second job so I could save money for a car. It was just a part-time gig as a cleaner. The other cleaner was this guy named Martin. He was twice my age, and despite us not having much in common, Martin suggested we have a drink down at some pub after work. I didn’t want to leave the guy hanging since he was my coworker, so I took him up on his offer. He paid for my first drink. Initially, I figured he was just being friendly, but then he also paid for my second drink. I told him this wasn’t a date, and that I was fine paying for myself. I could tell he looked defeated from being shot down, but after some time, he said he was okay with our relationship being purely platonic.
From there, we moved on like nothing even happened. I eventually paid for a final drink and walked home. For the following few weeks, Martin and I would still chat at work and occasionally go to the pub after work. But it was when we finally traded numbers that I realized Martin still had a thing for me. He texted and called me often, in the kind of way a teenager texts his crush. Martin even started showing up at Boots on his days off when I was working, just to pop in and say hi.
The whole situation was getting uncomfortable as hell by that point. He started asking me to hang out every single day. I tried to gently remind him that we were just friends, but he wouldn’t take the hint. I started to realize that Martin was really just a creepy and clingy old man. I ended up telling my friends about Martin, about how he was my coworker and was clingy and lonely, and tried to get in contact with me every other day. They made me realize just how crazy that was and convinced me to ghost his calls and messages, and to tell him in person that I just wanted to keep it a work relationship.
As soon as I made that clear to him through a phone call, he literally started confessing his love for me. I eventually hung up and just swept the whole ordeal under the rug. The next couple of weeks were awful. Martin called me non-stop, sending me messages every few minutes about how we were soulmates and that the Universe put me and him in the store for a reason. I could mostly ignore that, but I couldn’t avoid him at work. Our manager had to tell him that he couldn’t be there if he wasn’t working or shopping because he was hanging around me so much. His harassment made it damn near unbearable to work there, so I eventually told my boss that I would be quitting by the end of next week.
Eventually, on the day of Valentine’s Day, things took a turn for the absolute worst. During the morning, just before clocking into work, I remember seeing Martin holding a large bouquet of flowers while smiling like a freak. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said. I took the flowers out of spite and continued to work as if nothing happened. But things only got creepier from there. Later that night, I went out to get my mail. That’s when I saw Martin — staring at me from the other side of the curb in front of my house. I was freaked the hell out. He looked like he had been watching my house all night. I never told him where I lived, so I knew he had followed me home from work or something.
The situation had gone from a minor annoyance to a complete disaster. Before I knew it, he started walking toward me. I yelled at him to go away and slammed the door. I didn’t know whether I should call the cops or not. I called my mom, asking her how I would go about getting a restraining order, but ultimately decided to just finish out my last couple of shifts and then I’d have time to go to court.
I eventually finished my last day of work and started heading home for the night. Strangely, I hadn’t seen Martin all day. I was walking through the park between the workplace and my house when I heard something from behind a tree.
“Martin, what are you doing?” I asked.
“I came to give you this… uh, a love letter,” he said.
“Oh come on, Martin. I told you already, I don’t want you. When are you going to stop?”
“No! When are you going to stop denying the truth? We belong together. We were meant for each other!”
“No, Martin. I don’t want your flowers, I don’t want your letter, I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. Would you please just leave me alone? Please, I’m begging you.”
“I’ll do anything for some young love. You know what they say—the younger, the fresher,” he said.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Martin? Please stop!”
“Shh… no more words for me, my darling. I’ll never stop. Not until we can be together. I’ll never… never. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
This was a Valentine’s Day story inspired by a story based on a jealous worker who stalked and strangled a colleague he was obsessed with. The victim was Heather Jordan, whose remains were found in Lingford Park by dog walkers on the 18th of February. 52-year-old Martin Korns had denied taking her out, but it was later revealed that he did — in a fit of jealous rage after she shut down his advances.
The court heard Korns had become obsessed with Miss Jordan after meeting her at Boots, where they both worked as cleaners. They started a platonic relationship which she described as a committed friendship. The prosecution told the court he took her out after she told him she wanted to stop meeting him. Korns bombarded Miss Jordan with more than 2,000 texts and calls, watched her home, followed her around at work, and became increasingly possessive and jealous.
The jury heard he then took her out while she was walking from her home to her weekend cleaning job. A torn-up love letter was found scattered around her body, and the slaying was made to look like a robbery. She was found in a park shelter by dog walkers. Miss Jordan’s mother told jurors she intended to lodge a complaint of harassment against Korns with bosses at Boots. She also said she did not like receiving a dozen red roses from him on Valentine’s Day, two days before the slay.
The jury heard Korns was convinced Miss Jordan was seeing the supervisor at Boots and refused to accept her repeated denials. The courts found Korns guilty and jailed him for life, with a minimum of 17 years.
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