Awkward money situation

(tl;tr: had to reschedule an appointment because the clients are broke, and feel kinda bad for it, it was really sketchy)

Sooo, hi guys

I am a shop apprentice and already on human skin. I can make my own prices, but i always talk about with my mentors and their usually less than what they would charge, if they did my tattoo.

So far so good.

I would have had a client today, that i know for quite a while. She and her bf got plenty of tattoos, when i still did them for free and just took tips. I told her, yeah, your tattoo will be 120 bucks. She agreed and wished me well.

Today, like 2h before the appointment her bf texts me, if its okay, if he brings me the money next week because he didn't get his paycheck today. I was hesitant, because i don't like to work without getting my money immediately. I have to pay rent too, you know.

So i say, okay, if u bring me half of the price today, you can bring the other half next week.

He told me, that they are totally broke. I was really unsure what to do. My mom advised me to reschedule the appointment and don't tattoo her today.

Thats what i did, and send her a message, containing that.

I went to the shop anyways and told my mentors, and they fully supported my decision and would have done the same.

I still had an really awkward feeling and it brought my mood down quite a bit.

(But then my mentor let me tattoo him, which was really rad)

What would u have done in my situation?