You want the light coming from the sides of the cfl for sure. Less light comes out of the bottom of it than from the sides. If you can arrange it you want the 3 plants in a circle or triangle around the light, so 1 light vertical down lower and 1 above it vertical. If you do not have room for that, then have them in a row as in picture and the lights are in between the three plants.
Do not have any light above the plants, lower the light until it's base is even with the top of the plant, and you could go lower still. This is when they are flowering, but in veg it is usually better to have the light source overhead to encourage vertical stretch. But peeps veg with the lights to the side as well.
You will have good light coming out of the sides of the cfl for the length of the bulb and a little below the light, say an inch. When the plants get taller you have to place the light where it will hit most of the plant, like between the top of the plant and the base of the plant. I am guessing the 125 watt bulbs are around 10 inches long, so you can have a good 1 foot tall plant or a 1.5 foot plant at most. If it gets taller it will not have good light all the way down, but no big deal I guess.