( chris messina, cis man, he/him, fifty two ) look who goes there! is that CLIFFORD 'CLIFF' GALLO ? i’ve seen them often around CEDAR RIDGE, which may be because they are an OWNER @ POUR DECISIONS. they’ve been in town for TWELVE YEARS and i’ve known them to be DISARMING but also RASH. for some reason, KING RAT by MODEST MOUSE reminds me of them, as well as BEGRUDGINGLY AGREEING TO GO ON A HIKE AND COMPLAINING THE WHOLE TIME, A LONG SIGH WITH A CIGARETTE IN HAND, A COLLECTION OF 'BEST DAD EVER' GIFTS THAT ONLY BREED SHAME. ( megan, 31, they/them, est and none )
this is an old muse from at least a year ago that i never got to explore (the group didn't open). i'm still figuring him out but i'm so excited to have a place to play an older muse!
meet cliff gallo
tw addiction
tldr; a jersey boy that's the walking embodiment of distress. he has strong opinions about things that don't matter and alternates between grumpy and playful. in spite of that, he's always trying new things. perpetual mess who thrives off of chaos.
from staten island, new jersey
inspo are those ben affleck smoking memes and bob belcher of bob's burgers. in a constant state of distress. bad at balancing life. looks exhausted no matter how much he sleeps.
owns the pour decisions coffee shop. the name is self deprecating. he's like this comic of 'the bear' where he'll complain about having to run a coffee shop even though he chose to open it. don't tell anyone, but he drives out of town to get starbucks. he doesn't want to be there any more than he has to be. probably not the most pleasant person to work for as he's always stressed out and bad at hiding it. that being said, he likes the chaos. he could easily sell it and walk away, but he likes being busy. he moved into town when he was 40 when the opportunity to buy the coffee shop came up. at the time, it was a struggling start up and he worked hard to turn it into something profitable.
in college, he was studying business and marketing. he dropped out during his third year after his girlfriend got pregnant. honestly, he was secretly hoping to play football professionally. he was good, but not good enough and her getting pregnant both gave him an excuse to fail and held him back from pursuing it. it was the mid 90s when he dropped out. he started selling pagers. as times changed, he went on to sell cell phones and bluetooth headsets. technology kept changing and he got tired of having to learn new products inside and out so he became a food and beverage vendor. he has been a milk vendor and a paper/disposable vendor (cups, lids, straw, napkins, etc). that gave him more experience seeing how businesses ran and made him think he could do it better.
likes reinvention. that's why you'll catch him in the gym everyday after not going for several months, trying on bold print outfits that don't match his personality, getting a haircut and immediately regretting it, or trying something trendy like iced matcha.
mentally stuck in the 90s and early 2000s. very much one of those guys that's like, "ugh, movies were so much better then! they don't make 'real' music anymore!"
lives to eat. is supposed to be watching his cholesterol but he smokes and likes all of the foods that are bad for you in excess.
tw addiction - he's a recovering alcoholic. he has struggled since college. of course, he didn't view it as a problem then since everyone was binge drinking, it seemed. he got sober around when his first child turned two. he had some slip ups, but ultimately stayed sober until he got divorced. it took him a while to get back on his feet after that. when he relapses, he has a habit of running away due to the shame. he relapsed two years ago after sleeping with an employee and feeling like he was making things messy and unprofessional and has been sober since.
some connection ideas
regulars at pour decisions
former employees
the (former?) employee he was hooking up with two years ago
someone he banned from the coffee shop. probably for a petty reason.
gym buddy
anyone that can give him a sense of routine. maybe they sit down and have coffee in his place most mornings or go out for lunch once a week
friends he had to drop once getting sober, be it because they're struggling with drugs and/or alcohol themselves or because they mostly want to hang out in situations that involve alcohol
friend who helped him get sober
friends that he ghosted due to shame. maybe he has reached out in the past two years. maybe not.
friends he shares with his ex-wife
his ex wife's friends that dislike him
someone who only knows him as the guy who owns the coffee shop. he likes that they don't know any of his history
best friend. preferably his age. they can talk about the 90s and early 2000s the way other people talk about the 80s. they've been friends for at least as long as both of them have lived in town, maybe longer.
the sunshine to his grumpy self. they're enthusiastic and optimistic and he's constantly complaining, even when he's having fun
someone he's trying to impress. maybe they're younger and cooler than him. probably platonic. he tries to learn newer slang and talks about tiktok and listens to current hit songs for them
someone working for his company in some way (other than regular employees). maybe they work on the website, maybe they take pictures, run the social media, do marketing, electrical work, etc.
morning friend. his job requires him to be up super early so maybe they meet up for either morning activities (hikes, gym, whatever) or they meet up at the end of their shifts.
some petty rivalry. maybe they fight about sports or parking spots.
a friend who got him into a hobby. could be anything.
neighbors
someone who asks for favors. he always helps, even though he'll pretend like they're inconveniencing him.
someone he can talk or argue with about old technology, music, movies, etc
someone he can be a father figure to. they've probably not young enough to actually be his kid (or maybe they're the same age as his eldest child), but he lectures them like he knows better anyway. he gets a chance to feel like a good father without any of the baggage.
someone he slept with ages ago. either there's still tension or it's just awkward. maybe he even gets annoyed at their presence.
a fling
exes
someone he just started dating and they're taking it slow
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