"You're going to be friends", Rick repeated after I had told him about the conversation.
"Yes Rick, friends". 
His face looked blank.
"You know like Bill and Ben, Burt and Ernie, you and me..." I continued.
"So friends... just friends", he said.
"Yes".
"Why?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Well why, I don't get it".
"Well Rick it's fairly simple.  I like him, he likes me so we thought we'd spend some time together as friends".
"Friends".
"Yes", I said, beginning to tire of the repetition.
"But what's the point of friends?" he said crinkling his nose up in confusion.
"What do you mean what's the point.  What's the point of you and me being friends?"
"That's different", he said.
"It's not different", I sighed.
"It is".
"What's so different about it?"
"Well I don't want to stick little Rick in you anywhere".
"That is charming Rick".
"Well it's true".
"It's not".
"What he doesn't want to stick..."
"Please don't finish that sentence Rick".
"So, do you fancy him?"
"Well I think he's lovely..." I said as if i were in a Jane Austen novel, "And he's quite good looking so usually I suppose, yes, but that's not the point, we're better as friends.  Don't you see?  It immediately makes everything much less complicated".
"But..." Rick said, still sounding uncertain, "I thought men and women couldn't be friends".
"No that's just a myth".
"What like the Bible?"
"Er... Kind of".
"Well I'm sure I heard somewhere that men and women can't be friends", Rick insisted.
"Well you heard wrong", I said irritably, "It's an excellent idea.  It means I can get on and sort out other things in my life withought stressing about will he call me, won't he call me, why hasn't he called me, maybe he'll never call me etc etc etc", I ranted.
"OK psycho I get the picture", said Rick raising his hands to me.
"Good".