Not little

I mentioned yesterday after finding the Oscar Wilde piece and how the word little can sometimes be a bad word to me.  Being short isn't something I would rather be but something I am and will continue to live with.  I make my compensations in my own way which include a variety of heels that I find not only fashionable but comfortable.  Yes, they are.  I'm a runner, do you really think I will wear a bad pair of shoes?  And they are not only comfortable but comforting to me in that they usually add a good four inches to my height.  That puts me in the about average area.  Okay.  Maybe in just barely gets me out of the short range but still.  I have to work with what I've got.
Although, I know and have heard of others my height and shorter that do not have a problem with it (bless their foolish souls).  I have always known it is a sticking point with me and even used it into the fiction I have been writing.
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“And… Yes, and”…Pauli was rolling her hand impatiently trying to coax more information.  She stopped moving her hand and leaned into the table.  Her wavy brown hair had fallen forward and her eyes were questioning.  “Yes, go on.  Speak up now, what it is?” she finally demanded. 
Cassie finally shook herself out of her cloud of thought and said, “What about using the label Little Bird for your ready-to-wear line with us?”

"Little Bird!?"  Pauli frowned, leaned all the way back in her chair and crossed her arms.

This time Cassie leaned forward.  “Yes!”  Cassie pointed her index finger at Pauli, “you, Pauli Wren – Wren – bird.  Get it?”

Pauli uncrossed her arms and the eyebrow came up, “little?!”  She pointed her own index finger at her chest, “little?” she repeated loudly.

Cassie smiled and tilted her head to one side, “You don’t think every woman doesn’t want to fit into something little?"...Don’t you think?”

Pauli squinted her eyes but asked with some skepticism.  “So you are not referring to my height?”

“No! of course not", Cassie denied. "Why would you think that?  You are all of, what 5’1?” Cassie kidded.

Pauli face flushed and she sat straight in her chair. "I'm 5’2"," she demanded.  Don’t be taking that extra inch away from me now.  I need all the height I can get.”
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I am so cruel.  Pauli Wren is my fashion designer in the story and I have made her a whopping 5 feet 2" tall.  I made her even shorter than me.  So, yes, of course, she is going to think little is a bad word.  I mean, why wouldn't she?  She is even shorter than me and she isn't a foolish soul.  Or maybe she is...but not about being little.
TT