Layla hasn't been able to pay her bills for a while.

Layla lounged on the sofa, her legs curled beneath her as the glow of the television danced across her playful freckles. She was lost in the latest reality show drama, a guilty pleasure that turned her living room into a private theatre of absurdities. The night outside was a canvas of burnt orange and auburn hues, as autumn whispered sweet nothings to the city. She could feel the peace, and she relished it. Work had NOT been going her way for the past few months, and she was down to her last dollar. A nice lazy night at home cost her nothing, and she was glad to have the apartment to herself tonight.

The peace was shattered when the front door swung open with a bang that caused Layla to spill out of her seat and land sprawled out on the carpeted floor. Emi stormed in, arms laden with canisters of paint that clanked together like some avant-garde orchestra tuning up for a performance. Her entrance was loud, proud, and far too much for the exhausted Latina lying on the ground.

"Time to pay up, Layla!" Emi's singsong voice sliced through the apartment, sharp enough to cut through the thick tension that suddenly filled the air. Layla's blood ran cold.

She muted the TV, her heart thumping a nervous rhythm against her ribs. She felt a cold sweat slowly blanket her body. The freckled Latina had been dreading this day for a while now. Her nightly prayers had centered around it even. For the past three months, her gig work had run dry, and money had not been coming in the way she hoped. With the job market the way it is, as well? Yeah, like hell she could scrounge up the cash to pay.

Layla didn't think her monetary dry spell would last as long as it had, but Emi had assured her, time and time again, that she had it. After all, Emi's folks were loaded, and they still spoiled their baby girl to this day. But there was this feeling in the back of Layla's mind, this fear that Emi would not let it be that easy.

"Look, I don't have the cash right now. Like my bank account is 76 cents," she said, her words tumbling out sheepish and tinged with hope for leniency. "C-could we maybe get a rain check for now? I literally get paid next Friday. It won't cover everything but-"

Emi's lips twisted into a smirk that could seduce sin itself. She shook her head, her black hair cascading over her shoulders, the purple tips at the end of her ponytail flickering in the light. "Money? Oh, honey, that is NOT how I intend to get my repayment."