Grey Rock

When I wrote Happy Little Family a lot of comments said how much they liked the character of Michael, the therapist. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't find the inspiration for another story that I could involve Michael until now that is.

I will admit the story is a little far-fetched, but I hope it is entertaining.

This story revolves around the Grey Rock method where a narcissist or abuser is only given one word or short answers to starve them of the emotional reaction they crave from their victim. I've given it a little twist though.

I have created a series for these stories. Hopefully, Literotica will approve that soon.

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Assessment

Michael observed the three people in front of him. Valerie, who looked like she was about forty, with concern creased on her face. He assumed she was the mother. The nervous-looking man, Kyle, looked slightly older than Valerie but didn't appear to have any relation to the other two. Finally, the surly boy, Jack, who, according to the information in front of him, was fifteen.

Michael's heart sank, another blended family gone wrong. What secrets is he going to have to expose this time?

Michael put on his smile which he always put on for the assessment session when he met his clients for the first time,

"Welcome," he said warmly. "What brings you to me? What requires you to need therapy?"

Valerie gave Jack a worried sideways look, "It is Jack. Ever since Kyle has moved in with us, no, ever since he has met Kyle, he has been difficult."

"Difficult?" Michael looked quizzically at Jack. "In what way? Is he disruptive? Is he abusive? Is he violent?"

Valerie shook her head, "None of those things. On the face of it, he does everything we ask of him. He tidies his room, does his chores, and clears the table after meals. As far as that is concerned, we have no complaints."

"So, what is the issue?" Michael asked looking confused.

"Well, it is the way he communicates with Kyle. With me, I have no problems. He talks to me, as he has always done although he still holds a little anger towards me for divorcing his dad."

Michael shot a glance at Kyle, who met Michael's eyes, then looking slightly alarmed, he looked away.

"Here we go again," he thought. "So, how does he communicate with Kyle," Michael asked Valerie.

"It is just that his answer to every question is a one-word answer or as short as possible. Kyle will ask him how was school, and Jack will reply with good. Kyle will ask him if he wants to do something together with him, and Jack will reply with no thank you. Kyle will ask Jack if he needs help with his homework, and Jack will reply no. Kyle will ask-"

"Yes, I think I understand," Michael said interrupting. He gave Jack, who refused to meet his gaze, a slow look, "Clever boy," he thought.

Michael sat there tapping his notepad in thought thinking of how to proceed. It was time to confirm his suspicions.

"First things first, tell me about your family situation?" Michael asked.

"Well, Jack's father and I are divorced," Valerie reiterated.

"How did Jack take that?"

"Not very well," Valerie replied with disappointment.

"Okay," Michael said making notes for the first time. "When did your relationship with Kyle begin?"

"A few months after the divorce which was just over a year ago," the way she shifted uncomfortably in her seat told Michael she was being less than truthful.

"When did Jack first meet Kyle and when did Kyle move in with you?"

"Jack first met Kyle and his daughter, Tilly, about four or five months into our relationship and they moved in with us about three months ago," Michael was struggling to believe Valerie's time frame. He looked at Kyle again. He was suspiciously quiet like he had been told to not say a word.

"You and Kyle aren't yet married, correct?"

"No, we are not," Valerie admitted.

"Kyle and Tilly moved into your family home?"

"That is correct."

"How is your relationship with Tilly?"

"Oh, Tilly is a beautiful girl. We have a wonderful relationship."

"How old is Tilly?"

"She is eight years old," Valerie replied. Michael looked at Kyle again, "I'm asking questions about your daughter, and you haven't answered a single one," Michael thought disdainfully.

"What is your relationship with Tilly's mother, Kyle?"

"They are divorced," Valerie answered quickly for Kyle.

"Good grief," Michael thought. "Was it an amicable divorce?"

"Yes, it was," Valerie answered for Kyle again. "They just grew apart."

"So, it is just Jack who is the problem?"

"Yes, he just hasn't bought into our family unit."

"Does he have a good relationship with his father?"

"Yes, despite our differences, Dave is a very good father to Jack. I just wish Jack would realise he can have a good father and stepfather."

"Okay, I think our time is up," Michael smiled. "I think the best course of action is for me to talk to Jack alone then with both you and Jack together, Valerie. I think there is still some residual tension from your divorce from your ex-husband that you and Jack need to resolve, Valerie. I think we can let Kyle stay home with his daughter and save you the bother of finding someone to look after her. Shall we say same time and day next week?"

"How will we resolve Jack's and Kyle's relationship if Kyle isn't here?" Valerie asked looking confused.

"Let us resolve yours and Jack's issues before we cross that bridge," Michael replied with a reassuring smile.

Jack

"Hello, Jack," Michael said to the fifteen-year-old. "How are you?"

"I'm good," was the flat reply.

Michael smiled, "What year are you in school? Year 10 or Year 11?"

"Year 11," Michael nodded at his answer.

"Are you doing well?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad to hear it. This is Helen," Michael said, introducing his colleague sitting to one side. "She is here to keep me honest."

"Hello, Jack," Helen smiled. Jack looked at her looking at her a little disconcerted. Helen enjoyed sitting in with Michael. He had a way with children to get them to admit what they had been keeping from their parents.

"Hello," said Jack carefully keeping to his short answers.

"So, you live with Kyle now?"

"Yes."

"Do you like living with Kyle?"

"It's all right."

"Do you like living with Tilly?"

"It's all right."

"Grey Rock."

"What!?" Jack looked at Michael with an uncomfortable surprise. Helen tried to hide her smile. She saw what Michael had done. He knew what Jack was going to do before Jack had even arrived.

"The Grey Rock method, to act unresponsive or unengaged with someone. I have to say I'm impressed."

Jack continued to look uncomfortable.

"Come now, Jack," Michael continued. "Do you think I wouldn't spot it?"

Jack wasn't sure what to say or how to after at being caught out.

"Let's start again, shall we?" Michael asked the young man encouragingly. "I'm sure you don't want to be here, but this is an opportunity for you to have your say. Using the Grey Rock method on me is not going to help you with your mum or Kyle. I bet all this has been forced on you without anyone asking what you want. Why don't you tell me how you feel about it all?"

Jack looked extremely unhappy as he weighed up whether to engage, "I hate it," he said eventually.

"What do you hate?"

"That I am just expected to be happy about everything that is going on. I'm just expected to call Kyle, dad and treat Tilly as my sister. Tilly is hardly there. I barely know her. She only visits every other weekend."

Michael's brow furrowed, "So, you are only a family every other weekend?"

A look of disgust crossed Jack's face, "We're not a family. Mum likes to pretend we are. I don't like Kyle and Tilly only puts up with Mum but Mum acts like she has got a daughter."

Michael pursed his lips, "Why don't we back to the beginning? Your mum divorced your dad. Did you want to live with your Mum? You would have been asked at your age."

"I was but Dad moved too far away, so school would have been a problem, so I had to stay with Mum. It wasn't really a choice."

"Your Mum then introduced you to Kyle."

"Yeah," Jack looked unimpressed.

"What did you think of him?"

"You've met him. He is useless. We met not long after Mum and Dad got divorced. It wasn't hard to work out that they were together when Mum and Dad were married. Mum was being really shady just before Mum and Dad split up then she kicked Dad out and said she wanted a divorce. No way did Dad deserve that."

"How did you, behave when you met Kyle?"

"Mum said we were going out for dinner and when we got there, Kyle was waiting for us. I asked her what was going on and she said she was dating Kyle. I asked if she was being for real, and I went to walk out. She got angry with me and said if I didn't stay for dinner with Kyle, she would take away my phone and ground me."

"What happened then?"

"I said what I thought of it all and I told him that I didn't care if he was dating Mum, I didn't want to know him. Mum then grounded me and took away my phone. She told me I would remain grounded until I started to treat Kyle with respect."

"What did you do then?"

"What choice did I have? I had to be nice to Kyle," Jack pulled a disgusted expression. "When I got my phone back, I looked up other ways of dealing with Kyle, that was when I found out about Grey Rock. Doing Grey Rock makes them crazy," Jack said with a self-satisfied smile. "I do as I'm told; I study and act like a model son but at the same time I don't engage with Kyle. Because I don't misbehave, they can't punish me for it."

Helen smiled. She could see that Jack had begun to brag. Michael would have spotted that too. She knew Michael had his suspicions, but it was important to get his clients to admit it.

"What do you hope to achieve by using Grey Rock?"

"I want Mum and Kyle to split up."

"Do you think you will succeed?

"I hope so."

Michael gave Jack a hard look. Jack confirmed what he had suspected but something just didn't add up.

"Okay, Jack, do you want to send your mum in?" Michael said with a friendly smile. "Thank you, Helen," he said to his colleague who had an annoyed look on her face, "He always asks me to leave when it gets good," she thought.

Valerie

"Hello again, Valerie," Michael greeted her warmly. Valerie gave Michael a weak and nervous smile in return. "So, I had a very good conversation with Jack. You were right about the residual anger Jack feels about your divorce. It may be helpful to tell me why you divorced Jack's father."

Valerie's face appeared to harden, "We just grew apart. It was nobody's fault. It was sad but these things happen."

"I see," Michael said as he flicked through his notes. "What caused you to grow apart?"

"Sadly, Dave wanted to deviate from our life plans," Valerie explained. "I wasn't prepared to allow that."

"Allow?"

"Yes, when got married we agreed to a set of life plans that I put forward to him."

"Did Dave contribute to these life plans?"

"No, before I met Dave, I created a list of values and expectations that I wanted from my future husband."

"What kind of values and expectations?"

"For example, he needed to earn or have the ambition to earn six figures, I expected to live to a certain standard, and I wanted a boy and a girl for children. There are others.

Michael raised his eyebrows, "Those are quite the demands. Did Dave meet those expectations?"

"Almost, we only gave me a son so not having a daughter was an issue for much of our marriage. We had fertility issues. Jack was obviously a blessing, but I wanted a daughter to complete our family."

"Did you have treatment for your fertility issues?"

"Yes, we did. Dave had a low sperm count. We had Jack through fertility treatment, but we couldn't conceive through other courses of treatment. Money then became an issue," Valerie wiped away a tear.

"In what way?"

"Dave was unable to keep up a standard of living for us and continue with the fertility treatment. So, we had to stop."

"That was a problem for you?"

Valerie nodded.

"Didn't you contribute to the household income?" Michael asked.

Valerie looked at Michael confused, "I don't understand?"

"Well, couldn't have you got a job?"

"No, of course not. One of my expectations was to be a stay-at-home mom."

"I see, did Dave ask you to get a job?"

Valerie then made an expression like Michael had triggered a painful memory, "Yes, and it hurt that he wanted to deviate from what we agreed when we got married."

"Huh," Michael grunted. "How did Dave's low sperm count and his inability to fund the fertility treatment make you feel?"

"Like I had been deceived."

"That obviously put tension in your marriage. What was the final straw?"

"When he refused to fund anymore fertility treatment."

"Was that when you told him to leave and file for divorce?"

Valerie nodded, "At this point, I gave up the possibility of having any of my own children. So, I needed to find an alternative before it was too late."

"Ah! Okay!" Michael exclaimed almost like he understood. "So, once you were divorced you began dating. Would I be correct in thinking that Kyle having a daughter was what attracted you to him?"

"Yes!" Valerie said with a big smile, delighted that she had finally found someone who understood her point of view. "It was an expectation of my new partner."

"Thank you, Valerie. I think we will leave it there for now. I think next it would be helpful for both you and Jack to sit together with me. We can both discuss your relationship."

"But what about Jack and Kyle?" Valerie asked with a little edge to her voice.

"Before we deal with that, we need to resolve the problems in your and Jack's relationship. After speaking to both of you I think that I have a good idea of the problem, but I think it would be a good idea that you both expressed it together in a safe and mediated setting. Shall we say same time and date next week?"

Valerie and Jack

"Hello again," Michael smiled. Valerie looked angry and upset and Jack looked quite smug. "I sense there have been some developments since we last met."

Jack's smug smile became broader, and Valerie's expression became pained.

"Kyle and Mum have split up," Jack announced happily.

"Jack, can't you be more sensitive? I'm hurting a lot," Valerie's eyes were red and puffing like she had been crying.

Michael slid over a box of tissues towards Valerie, "What happened?" he asked looking concerned.

"I caught him on the phone to his ex-wife begging her to take him back," Valerie took a tissue and began to dab her eyes.

"He also said he had enough of Mum's unrealistic expectations and manipulation," Jack was also sniggering at his mother's misfortune.

Watching the mother and son interaction, Michael almost felt compelled to start looking at expensive holiday destinations. "They are going to need a lot of therapy," he thought to himself.

"I'm so sorry, Valerie. That must have been very difficult to hear. You were so close to getting your dream family." Jack snorted as he stifled his laughter. "I think it would be a good idea if we started the session. Valerie, why don't you start? Tell Jack how you feel about his behaviour?"

Valerie turned to Jack and dramatically closed her eyes before she opened them again and spoke, "Jack, I love you, but you have made me very sad with how you treated Kyle. Kyle meant a lot to me but by not accepting him and not talking to him you drove him away. That hurt so much. I deserve to be happy and have a partner to love me. You, me, Kyle and Tilly could have been such a happy family but now we will never know. I know you are angry about your father and I divorcing but we just drifted apart and-"

Jack looked up at the ceiling in exasperation and cried, "Bullshit!"

"Jack!" Valerie cried angrily. "How dare you!"

"For real, Mum! Are you seriously for real! I know you were dating Kyle while you were dating Dad. You were so shady before you got divorced. You disappeared in the evenings. How many nights out can someone have in a week? You showered at odd times, and I saw you kiss him outside our house."

Valerie went pale and her eyes wide. It was obvious that she had no idea that she had been seen by her son. She composed herself and responded to her son,

"Jack, honey, you have to understand that your father, hadn't made me happy for a long time. Kyle made me happy again. I'm sorry that you saw what you did but I felt so alive again with Kyle. Don't you want me to be happy? By doing what you did it feels like the person I love most in the world, didn't want me to be happy? Why did you do it?"

"If I didn't you would have never learnt what you did was wrong!" Jack snapped.

"What? You were trying to punish me?" Valerie looked incredulously at her son.

"Well, yeah!" Jack spoke like his mother was stupid.

Michael closed his eyes and began to massage his temple,

"Of course!" he said out loud in frustration. "I knew something didn't make sense!"

Valerie looked at Michael, not comprehending what was going on, "What do you mean? What doesn't make sense."

"Valerie, you are a very demanding and manipulative woman, but it looks like the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree."

"I don't understand," Valerie replied confusion covering her face.

"What Jack was doing with Kyle is called the Grey Rock method. It is a tactic to deal with abusive and narcissistic people. It drives abusers and narcissists crazy because they can't get an emotional reaction out of the person they are trying to abuse."

"What? Kyle wasn't abusive or narcissistic." Valerie replied. Jack began to look uncomfortable.

"No, he wasn't," Michael agreed with disdain. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have been interested in him. No, Kyle was just weak and easy to manipulate, just like how you want in a man. No, Jack's real target was you, Valerie."

"Jack, what is he talking about?" Jack didn't reply. He just looked like someone about to be in a world of trouble.

"Something felt wrong in our first session when you kept answering questions for Kyle, even the ones about his daughter. It was obvious you told him to keep quiet. When I spoke to Jack alone, he tried the Grey Rock method on me, but I saw through it, didn't I Jack? Jack then confessed that he hated the whole situation with you and Kyle. He hated the way you treated his father, your ex-husband. If this was true, then why was he using the Grey Rock method on Kyle?

"Bravo Jack! You are a very clever boy and you nearly had me fooled but not quite. You see, Valerie, you punished Jack severely for his initial attitude towards Kyle, but it didn't deter Jack. He discovered the Grey Rock method and decided to use it. However, using the Grey Rock method wouldn't work directly on you because you are his mother and he needed to communicate properly with you, but he could see how weak Kyle was, so he used him to get at his real abuser, you."

"What? I never abused Jack. I could never do that! I love him!" Valerie looked appalled at the mere suggestion.

"Really?" Michael looked unimpressed. "When a parent is unfaithful to the child's other parent it begins the process of breaking up a family unit. That is extremely traumatic for a child. That act of trauma is a form of abuse whether the unfaithful parent realises it or not.

"Jack has already said he holds you responsible for your divorce because of your infidelity. Because of your manipulative nature, he knew that using the Grey Rock method on Kyle would drive you mad because in everything else he behaved reasonably but at the same time his disengagement from Kyle showed he was not happy with him in his life like you wanted. By not accepting Kyle into his life yet not giving you a reason to punish him, you were at a loss for what to do which brought you both to me. It's in your nature, you manipulate people into doing what you want but Jack gave you nothing emotional to manipulate him with."