Miz Sarah Strikes Back

"Even so," Emily insisted. "Lola put her scheme in motion long before Stephen ever came to your office. That means she would have, er, sealed the deal before Lucius could put his cameras to work. How did you know she would, um, give a repeat performance with all three men?"

"Oh, that," I said, "I counted on human nature to give us a little hand."

"I don't understand," she asked.

"It's simple. A schemer is seldom content to leave her plans alone. She always has to do one more thing to ensure success. The 'one more thing' she did was Warren, Roger and Robert!"

"And as for the men," I said, with a twinkle in my eye, "well, let's just say that once they get a taste of honey, they always want another."

Sarah blushed.

In the silence that followed, I glanced at Stephen. Once again, I saw a mix of emotions on his face. He was still thrilled at the victory we had won, but I thought I detected a trace of sadness in his eyes.

I took a guess at what might be the cause. "Don't be sad about Lola, Stephen. I'm sure she loved you when you two first married. But a girl like that loves herself more than any man. When she figured out how to manipulate others to help her get her way, I doubt she thought twice about trading you in for a richer model."

"I guess you're right, Miz Sarah," he replied ruefully. "When I married Lola, she seemed like the perfect woman. Now that I've seen what she's really like, I'm just glad to be rid of her. But it still hurts."

"Of course it does, honey," I said. "But you're definitely better off with her out of your life. Now you just need to find a good woman who will love you for who you are."

Before he could respond, I asked him, "But right now, aren't you forgetting something?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you have a little girl waiting at home? I bet she's just dying to see her Daddy," I smiled.

His face brightened instantly. "Oh my gosh, you're right! Everything happened so fast that I almost forgot." He started to leave, then stopped, turned back to Emily and asked hopefully, "Would you like to come with me and meet Anita?"

Emily looked at him earnestly. "Oh yes, I'd like that very much."

Together the two turned and headed out the door. As they headed for the car, I thought I saw them holding hands.

I returned to my desk and made a note on my calendar for first thing in the morning: call the Dean of Students at Agnes Scott. "Better get started now," I thought, "I have a hunch I'm going to have to hire a new assistant pretty soon."