Neither friend nor colleague

I have a penchant for putting my foot in my mouth. Some how things come out bad even with my best intentions. Not too long ago when I got promoted, I wanted to show some appreciation to some colleagues who weren't from my section. They weren't exactly so close that I would call them good friends. So instead of a lunch treat (which is for very close friends), I bought chocolates. In an effort to explain why I bought them chocolates, I said to one of them, that she "was neither friend nor colleague... that she belongs to somewhere in between... hence the chocs and no treat". My colleague was big-hearted and gave me a knowing look and said she understood. On hindsight, I realised how bad that sounded. I should have said that she meant more than just a colleague to me, hence I would like to share my joy with them... how much nicer that sounds.

Then 2 days ago, this incident came up as a converstion. My colleague asked me why I draw such a fine distinction between friends and colleagues. Well,... maybe I am anal about it. I classify friends as people I could count on when I'm in trouble, people I would not hesitate to cry infront of or to speak my mind without fear of being judged. Thus, I do not have many friends. Of course some colleagues are nice and I am not distant from them, but they are still not so close as to make me feel comfortable about ringing them up at 3am if I have a problem. Then I came up with this term to describe colleagues who are slightly more than colleagues but short of being a close friend. I call them "frileague"; an apt term I thought... untill you say it real fast and it sounds like "freak". Ha ha ha.