"The Perfect Date"

“25 words or less” summary – Love blossoms after a girl agrees to be her friend’s wedding date just so he can impress his successful ex-girlfriend

Full summary:
Michael Claiborne, a professional man in his early thirties, comes home to his NYC apartment one day to find an invite to a destination wedding in the mail. Knowing that his ex-girlfriend will be in the wedding party with him, he immediately starts stressing out about finding a date. Since she moved away, his ex-girlfriend became a successful small business owner married to a top brain surgeon, so he knows he can’t just take anyone. Mike decides to institute an interview process to find the “perfect” date.

He goes on a succession of dates to find the right girl, but for one reason or another he finds the most trivial things wrong with all of them – one isn’t tall enough, another’s cheek bones are too high, one isn’t proportional enough. Having no luck, two months before the wedding Mike begins to worry that he won’t have a date. While at brunch with a couple of female friends, Mike mentions that he wants to ask a girl that he knows through work, but the problem is that he really only knows her through their phone conversations and he’s hardly ever seen her in person. He wonders aloud if she’d even contemplate going with him, but aurely enough his friends encourage him and give him enough confidence to ask her.

So Mike invites Emma out to brunch and finally builds up the nerve to ask her to the wedding. At first she’s apprehensive about going, but he’s so desperate that he offers her money and positions the invite purely as a “business arrangement.” She’s still apprehensive but eventually agrees to go as a friend just so he doesn’t have to deal with his ex by himself. She declines payment in lieu of a favor for whatever she wants, payable at a later date whenever she asks for it.

They fly down to Puerto Rico for the wedding weekend and Emma plays the dutiful date perfectly – lavishing praise on Mike and telling everyone how awesome he is – whenever his ex-girlfriend is within earshot. The two grow closer to each other as they spend more time together. Slowly, Mike’s focus begins to move away from his ex-girlfriend and towards Emma. Although the two get closer, Mike secretly wonders if Emma will reciprocate the feelings. As the wedding reception begins, Emma surprises Mike by cashing in her favor which ends up turning their trip into something much more than a simple “business arrangement.”
The Perfect Date Screenplay